Flora of North America species comparison

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Garrya lindheimeri

Garryaceae

Lindheimer's silktassel

silk tassel family
Habit Shrubs or trees 1–3.5(–5) m, branchlets puberulent, glabrescent. Shrubs or trees, evergreen, dioecious.
Leaves

blade green, flat, oblong-elliptic to broadly elliptic or obovate, 4.5–8 × 2.5–5 cm, length 2 times width, margins flat, smooth, without callose rim, apex rounded and mucronulate, abaxial surface persistently sparsely to densely puberulent-tomentulose, hairs coiling to recurved, adaxial surface glossy, glabrous or glabrate.

opposite (decussate), simple;

stipules absent;

petiole present, basally connate with that of opposite leaf;

blade margins entire, serrate, or dentate;

venation pinnate.
Inflorescences

unisexual, axillary aments or terminal panicles.
Flowers

unisexual;

perianth epigynous;

hypanthium absent (staminate flowers), completely adnate to ovary (pistillate flowers);

sepals 2, 4, or rudimentary, distinct or connate proximally;

petals 0 or 4, distinct;

nectary absent or present, intrastaminal, sometimes rudimentary;

stamens 4, distinct, free;

anthers dehiscing by longitudinal slits;

pistil 1, 1-carpellate, ovary inferior, 1-locular, placentation apical;

ovules 1–2 per locule, anatropous;

styles 1–2(–3), distinct;

stigmas 1–2(–3).
Fruits

drupes or berries.
Berries

5–10 mm diam., glabrous, usually glaucous.

Seeds

1–2 per fruit.
Aments

staminate 2–3 cm;

pistillate loose, internodes 4+ mm, sometimes branched, erect, 2–8 cm;

pistillate bracts distinct or connate basally, each usually subtending 1 flower, elliptic to ovate, at least proximal similar in size and shape to distal leaves, minutely puberulent, hairs tightly coiling to strongly recurved.

2n

= 22.

Garrya lindheimeri

Garryaceae
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Rocky hills, ledges, cliffs, bluffs, canyons, ravines, along streams, limestone substrates, usually in oak-juniper woodlands.
Elevation 200–400 m. (700–1300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Nuevo León)
w United States; Mexico; Central America; West Indies (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica); e Asia [Some species of both genera are cultivated and introduced widely]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Judgments have varied regarding the rank Garrya lindheimeri, as illustrated by the synonymy above. Evidence counter to uniting it with Garrya ovata includes their ecological distinction and allopatry over most of their ranges. Morphological differences between G. lindheimeri and G. ovata are at least comparable to those among some of the California species, which intergrade to a greater extent than these do.

Garrya lindheimeri and G. goldmanii are allopatric in Texas, with the former restricted to the Edwards Plateau and adjacent Lampasas Cut Plain and the latter found only in trans-Pecos Texas. They become sympatric in Coahuila, Mexico, and remain distinct although hybrids and perhaps introgressants may be formed. Garrya goldmanii occurs in more xeric habitats, as indicated by the differences in distribution and ecology in Texas, and the ecological distinction also apparently exists in Coahuila. Their distinction where sympatric implies a degree of reproductive isolation and provides rationale for maintaining both at specific rank.

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

Genera 2, species 27 (2 genera, 9 species in the flora).

Aucuba and Garrya are strikingly different, especially in their inflorescences, and Aucuba usually has been placed in Cornaceae or in Aucubaceae. However, plants from the two genera have many chemical similarities (A. Liston 2003) and can be readily intergrafted. B. Bremer et al. (2002) and Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003) united them in Garryaceae on the basis of molecular, chemical, and morphological evidence indicating that the two have a sister relationship. Aucubaceae was maintained as distinct from Garryaceae in the Flora of China (Xiang Q. Y. and D. E. Boufford 2005).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Inflorescences axillary aments; styles 2(–3), linear-lanceolate.
Garrya
1. Inflorescences terminal panicles; style 1, cylindric.
Aucuba
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 551. FNA vol. 12, p. 548. Author: Guy L. Nesom.
Parent taxa Garryaceae > Garrya
Sibling taxa
G. buxifolia, G. elliptica, G. flavescens, G. fremontii, G. goldmanii, G. veatchii, G. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
Aucuba, Garrya
Synonyms G. ovata subsp. lindheimeri, G. ovata var. lindheimeri
Name authority Torrey: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 136. (1857) Lindley
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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