Ayenia microphylla
Malvaceae subfam. byttnerioideae
dense ayenia, little-leaf ayenia, shrubby ayenia
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.
blades usually unlobed, rarely lobed (Hermannia), margins serrate, dentate, or entire.
axillary, terminal, or leaf-opposed, usually antisepalous or absent (Hermannia and Waltheria);
gynoecium syncarpous.
to 4 mm.
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 or schizocarps, dehiscence loculicidal or septicidal.
subspheric, 4–5 × 4–5 mm, puberulent to densely stellate-pubescent, prickles 0.5 mm.
3 mm, tuberculate.
(1–)5–10, usually glabrous.
axillary, borne on short shoots (brachyblasts), 1- or 2-flowered;
peduncle to 4 mm.
Ayenia microphylla
Malvaceae subfam. byttnerioideae
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.)
Genera 26, species ca. 650 (4 genera, 16 species in the flora).
Byttnerioideae comprise five tribes previously ascribed to the family Sterculiaceae (B. A. Whitlock et al. 2001). It is sister to Grewioideae; together they represent the earliest branching taxa in the family (C. Bayer et al. 1999; R. Nyffeler et al. 2005).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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