The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

dense ayenia, little-leaf ayenia, shrubby ayenia

dwarf ayenia, hairy ayenia

Habit Shrubs, erect or spreading, 0.2–0.6 m. Stems hairy, hairs stellate, arms appressed. Subshrubs, decumbent, 0.1–0.2(–0.3) m. Stems hairy, hairs simple and retrorse, or simple, fasciculate, and stellate.
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.

petiole 0.5–1 cm;

blades of proximal leaves broadly ovate to orbiculate, 0.5–1.3 × 0.5–1.1 cm, distal ovate to oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, unlobed, 0.5–2(–3.5) × 0.4–1.4(–1.7) cm, base cordate, margins serrate to doubly serrate, ciliate with 1+ bristles per tooth, apex acute, 3–5-veined from base, surfaces moderately to sparingly hirsute, hairs usually simple, bifurcate, and fasciculate, sometimes also stellate.

Pedicels

to 4 mm.

1.5–2 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.

sepals persistent, not reflexed at anthesis, ovate, 2 mm, sparingly stellate-hairy abaxially;

petal claws 4 mm, lamina rhombic, 1 × 1 mm, base attenuate on claw, margins entire, apex notched, surfaces sparingly hairy abaxially, hairs simple, multicellular, abaxial appendage cylindric to slightly clavate, 0.5 mm;

androgynophore 1.5 mm;

stamen filaments present;

stigmas slightly exserted.

Capsules

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

subspheric, 3–3.5 × 3.5 mm, sparingly stellate-hairy, prickles 0.5 mm.

Seeds

3 mm, tuberculate.

2–2.5 mm, sparingly tuberculate.

Cymes

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

peduncle to 4 mm.

axillary, not borne on short shoots (brachyblasts), (1 or)2 or 3-flowered;

peduncle 2–3 mm.

Ayenia microphylla

Ayenia pilosa

Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–early fall. Flowering and fruiting year-round.
Habitat Dry limestone, igneous rocky slopes Edges of thickets
Elevation 600–1400 m (2000–4600 ft) 600–1200 m (2000–3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas)
[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.)

Leaf shape and vestiture are the principal characters used to distinguish Ayenia pilosa from A. filiformis. Where they co-occur in southwestern Texas there are intermediates in which the leaves are oblong-ovate as in A. pilosa but the vestiture is more like that of A. filiformis.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 206. FNA vol. 6, p. 206.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Byttnerioideae > Ayenia Malvaceae > subfam. Byttnerioideae > Ayenia
Sibling taxa
A. compacta, A. euphrasiifolia, A. filiformis, A. jaliscana, A. limitaris, A. pilosa
A. compacta, A. euphrasiifolia, A. filiformis, A. jaliscana, A. limitaris, A. microphylla
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 24. (1852) Cristóbal: Opera Lilloana 4: 185, fig. 65. (1960)
Web links