Flora of North America species comparison

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Ayenia microphylla

dense ayenia, little-leaf ayenia, shrubby ayenia
Habit Shrubs, erect or spreading, 0.2–0.6 m. Stems hairy, hairs stellate, arms appressed.
Leaves

petiole 0.4–1.2 cm;

blades of proximal leaves orbiculate to suborbiculate, 0.5 × 0.4 cm, distal ovate to narrowly ovate, unlobed, 0.5–2.1(–3) × 0.4–1.8(–2) cm, base rounded or obscurely subcordate, margins serrate, stellate-hairy (not ciliate), apex acute to rounded, 3(–5)-veined from base, surfaces minutely, densely stellate-hairy.
Pedicels

to 4 mm.
Flowers

sepals caducous, not reflexed at anthesis, ovate-lanceolate, 2.5–3.2 mm, densely stellate-pubescent abaxially;

petal claws 4 mm, lamina reniform-deltate, 1.4–1.6 × 1.5 mm, base lobed, lobes ± rectangular, margins entire, apex with 2 widely spaced teeth, surfaces glabrous, abaxial appendage absent;

androgynophore 0.5–1 mm;

stamen filaments present;

stigmas scarcely exserted.
Capsules

subspheric, 4–5 × 4–5 mm, puberulent to densely stellate-pubescent, prickles 0.5 mm.
Seeds

3 mm, tuberculate.
Cymes

axillary, borne on short shoots (brachyblasts), 1- or 2-flowered;

peduncle to 4 mm.

Ayenia microphylla
Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–early fall.
Habitat Dry limestone, igneous rocky slopes
Elevation 600–1400 m (2000–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ayenia microphylla can be distinguished from other Ayenia species in the flora area by the presence of short shoots (brachyblasts) from which leaves and inflorescences emerge. In Texas, the species is known from the trans-Pecos region.

(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. limitaris, A. pilosa
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 24. (1852)
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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