Flora of North America species comparison

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Ayenia limitaris

kidney petal, Rio Grande ayenia, Tamaulipan kidney petal, Texas or Rio Grande ayenia
Habit Shrubs, erect, to 1.5 m. Stems hairy to glabrate, hairs minutely stellate, ± appressed.
Leaves

petiole to 2.5(–4) cm;

blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, unlobed, (3–)5–12.5 × (1.7–)3.2–7.5 cm, noticeably reduced in size distally on stem, base rounded to cordate, margins irregularly dentate to dentate-crenate, apex acute to acuminate, 7-veined from base, surfaces: abaxial tomentulose, adaxial sparingly stellate-pubescent.
Pedicels

3–7 mm.
Flowers

sepals caducous, not persistent in fruit, reflexed at anthesis, ovate-lanceolate, 3 mm, stellate-pubescent abaxially;

petal claws 2.5 mm, lamina reniform, 1 × 1.5 mm, base deeply lobed, lobes ovate-rounded, margins ± entire, apex entire, surfaces glabrous, abaxial appendage absent;

androgynophore 0.2–0.3 mm;

stamen filaments absent or nearly so;

stigmas slightly exserted.
Capsules

oblate, 6–7 × 8–10 mm, densely short stellate-pubescent, prickles 1–1.5 mm.
Seeds

3–5 mm, tuberculate.
Cymes

axillary, not borne on short shoots (brachyblasts), 2 or 3(or 4)-flowered;

peduncle to 10 mm.

Ayenia limitaris
Phenology Flowering summer; fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Subtropical thorn woodlands or tall shrublands, calcareous or fine sandy loam to heavy clay alluvial soil
Elevation 0–30 m (0–100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Ayenia limitaris was designated an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. In the flora area, the species is known only from near the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Ayenia limitaris is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 206.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Byttnerioideae > Ayenia
Sibling taxa
A. compacta, A. euphrasiifolia, A. filiformis, A. jaliscana, A. microphylla, A. pilosa
Synonyms Nephropetalum pringlei
Name authority Cristóbal: Opera Lilloana 4: 61, fig. 17. (1960)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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