Flora of North America species comparison

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Bernardia

Bernardia incana

myrtlecroton, oreja de raton

western bernardia
Habit Shrubs [herbs or subshrubs], dioecious [monoecious]; hairs stellate [unbranched or absent]; latex absent. Shrubs to 1.5 m. Leaves: stipules persistent, yellowish brown to black, base thickened, with dark resinous exudate; petiole 1.5–2.5(–3.4) mm; blade usually broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, rarely cuneate, 0.8–2.5 × 0.3–1.1 cm, margins revolute, crenate, laminar glands (0–)2–4(–6), abaxial surface grayish white, densely appressed stellate-pubescent, adaxial surface green, glabrate; veins prominent abaxially.
Leaves

persistent, alternate, simple;

stipules present, persistent or caducous;

petiole present [absent], glands absent;

blade unlobed, margins coarsely crenate to crenate-serrate [serrate or entire], laminar glands usually abaxial, proximal, crateriform, occasionally absent on some leaves [absent];

venation pinnate (with strong secondary veins ascending from base).

Inflorescences

unisexual, axillary, often on short, lateral shoots;

staminate spicate thyrses, pistillate flowers solitary [terminal spikes];

glands subtending bracts 0.

staminate thyrses 5–20 mm.
Pedicels

staminate present, pistillate absent [present].

Staminate flowers

sepals 3(–4), valvate, distinct;

petals 0;

nectary intrastaminal, 1 to several glands;

stamens 3–15(–20)[–50], ± straight in bud, distinct;

pistillode absent.

stamens (3–)5–7, nectary glands peltiform.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 3–5, distinct;

petals 0;

nectary absent [present];

pistil 2–3-carpellate;

styles 2–3, distinct, 2-fid, branches flattened, adaxial surface stigmatic.

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles 3, lobulate adaxially.
Fruits

capsules.

Capsules

6 mm, 3-lobed.
Seeds

subglobose;

caruncle absent.

x

= 13.

Bernardia

Bernardia incana
Phenology Flowering spring–summer; fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Protected slopes in desert canyon washes.
Elevation 700–1600 m. (2300–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
sw United States; sc United States; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora)
Discussion

Species ca. 70 (3 in the flora).

The species that occur in the flora area are distinct from most species of the genus in being shrubs with relatively small leaves and stellate vestiture; most Bernardia species are perennial herbs or subshrubs. The rounded shrubs native to the flora area grow well in cultivation and would make attractive native borders within their range.

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

As indicated by V. W. Steinmann and R. S. Felger (1997), Bernardia incana is readily distinguished from B. myricifolia, with which it has often been merged (for example, G. L. Webster 1993b), by its dark persistent stipules that are thickened by a dried, resinous exudate. Within the flora area, B. incana occupies a mostly montane Sonoran Desert range in southern Arizona and California (extending just into the southern Mojave Desert), with outlying populations in the Grand Canyon. No specimens have been located to document a reported distribution in Nevada, but it is present to within a few miles of the border along the Grand Wash Cliffs in Arizona.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces green, sparsely spreading stellate-pubescent, veins not prominent abaxially; pistils 2-carpellate.
B. obovata
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces grayish white, densely appressed and/or spreading stellate-pubescent, veins prominent abaxially; pistils 3-carpellate.
→ 2
2. Stipules persistent, yellowish brown to black, bases thickened, with dark resinous exudate; stamens (3–)5–7.
B. incana
2. Stipules caducous, green to straw colored, bases not thickened, without dark resinous exudate; stamens (10–)12–15(–20).
B. myricifolia
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 182. Author: Mark H. Mayfield. FNA vol. 12, p. 183.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae > Bernardia
Sibling taxa
B. myricifolia, B. obovata
Subordinate taxa
B. incana, B. myricifolia, B. obovata
Name authority Houstoun ex Miller: Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4, vol. 1. (1754) C. V. Morton: J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 29: 376. (1939)
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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