Manihot
Manihot grahamii
cassava, manioc, yuca
Graham's manihot, Graham's manihot or cassava, hardy tapioca
erect, angled when young;
nodes not swollen;
leaf and stipule scars not elevated.
persistent or deciduous, alternate, simple [palmately compound];
stipules present, deciduous;
petiole present [rudimentary], glands absent;
stipels present at apex;
blade usually palmately lobed, rarely unlobed, lobes undivided or secondarily lobed, margins entire, repand, or serrate, laminar glands absent;
venation palmate (pinnate in lobes).
deciduous;
stipules linear, remotely serrate;
petiole 5–33 cm;
blade basally attached, 5–13-lobed, median and adjacent lobes with pair of weakly defined rounded secondary lobes distal to middle, lateral lobes without secondary lobes, median lobe 5–24 cm, margins neither thickened nor revolute, entire, apex acuminate, surface glabrous, abaxial smooth.
bisexual (pistillate flowers proximal, staminate distal), terminal or axillary, racemes or panicles;
glands subtending each bract 0.
axillary, panicles, to 30 cm.
present, pistillate often elongating in fruit.
staminate 4–10 mm;
pistillate 10–40 mm in fruit, straight.
sepals 5, petaloid, 7–20 mm, valvate, connate 1/2 length;
petals 0;
nectary intrastaminal, cushion-shaped, lobed;
stamens (6–8)–10, in 2 whorls, distinct;
pistillode absent.
calyx campanulate, 10–15 mm, lobes erect or spreading;
stamens 10.
sepals 5, petaloid, distinct;
petals 0;
nectary annular, lobed or unlobed;
pistil 3-carpellate;
styles 3, connate basally, unbranched, flabellate, prominently papillate.
capsules.
1.8 cm, smooth, not winged.
globose to oblong;
caruncle present.
oblong, 10–12 mm.
= 9.
Manihot
Manihot grahamii
Species ca. 100 (6 in the flora).
Manihot is one of the most economically important members of Euphorbiaceae, primarily because of the starchy food-bearing roots of M. esculenta, now cultivated throughout the tropics. Also, M. glaziovii Müller Arg., from northeastern Brazil, was once an important source of Ceará rubber. Manihot appears to be most closely related to Cnidoscolus, a conclusion supported by morphological (G. L. Webster 1994) and DNA sequence data (K. Wurdack et al. 2005). Four species of sect. Parvibracteatae, as defined by D. J. Rogers and S. G. Appan (1973), barely extend across the borders of Arizona and Texas from Mexico. In addition, two species are naturalized in the southeastern United States.
Leaf blade lobe characters (length, outline) are best developed in the median and immediately adjacent lobes; lateral lobes are progressively smaller and tend to have simpler outlines with distance from the median lobe.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Manihot grahamii is native to northern Argentina, southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and is sometimes cultivated for its distinctive, attractive foliage. The flowers are relatively inconspicuous, but are much-visited by bees. This is the most cold-tolerant Manihot species; above-ground stems survive light frosts and if severe cold kills the aerial shoot system outright, new stems can regenerate from underground parts. It survives well and self-sows in garden settings as far north as tidewater Virginia; northern limits for the persistence of plants escaping from cultivation have yet to be established. In addition to characteristics noted in the key, herbarium specimens frequently exhibit contracted petiole bases.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Shrubs or trees; inflorescences panicles; Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. | → 2 |
2. Leaf blade lobes without secondary lobes; stipules lanceolate, entire; stem nodes conspicuously swollen; leaf and stipule scars elevated, especially on older stems; capsules usually winged. | M. esculenta |
2. Median and adjacent leaf blade lobes with secondary lobes, lateral lobes without secondary lobes; stipules linear, remotely serrate; stem nodes not swollen; leaf and stipule scars not elevated; capsules not winged. | M. grahamii |
1. Herbs or subshrubs; inflorescences racemes; Texas and Arizona. | → 3 |
3. Leaf blade secondary lobes acute, proximal; leaf blade margins remotely serrate. | → 4 |
4. Leaf blade margins neither thickened nor revolute; inflorescences axillary; capsules finely tuberculate; s Arizona and adjacent Mexico. | M. angustiloba |
4. Leaf blade margins thickened and revolute; inflorescences terminal; capsules smooth; s Texas and adjacent Mexico. | M. subspicata |
3. Leaf blade secondary lobes rounded, distal or distal and proximal to middle; leaf blade margins entire. | → 5 |
5. Leaf blades basally attached; staminate calyces campanulate; capsules nearly smooth; s Arizona and adjacent Mexico. | M. davisiae |
5. Leaf blades peltate; staminate calyces tubular, midsection constricted; capsules verrucose-rugose; s Texas. | M. walkerae |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
LA Plants
