Flora of North America species comparison

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Ayenia pilosa

dwarf ayenia, hairy ayenia
Habit Subshrubs, decumbent, 0.1–0.2(–0.3) m. Stems hairy, hairs simple and retrorse, or simple, fasciculate, and stellate.
Leaves

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

1.5–2 mm.
Flowers

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

2–2.5 mm, sparingly tuberculate.
Cymes

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

peduncle 2–3 mm.

Ayenia pilosa
Phenology Flowering and fruiting year-round.
Habitat Edges of thickets
Elevation 600–1200 m (2000–3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Byttnerioideae > Ayenia
Sibling taxa
A. compacta, A. euphrasiifolia, A. filiformis, A. jaliscana, A. limitaris, A. microphylla
Name authority Cristóbal: Opera Lilloana 4: 185, fig. 65. (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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