Flora of North America species comparison

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Manihot walkerae

Texas tapioca, Walker's manihot
Habit Herbs or subshrubs, to 1.5 m. Roots thickened.
Stems

decumbent to ascending (often growing through associated vegetation), terete when young;

nodes not swollen;

leaf and stipule scars not elevated.
Leaves

stipules lanceolate, entire;

petiole 1–7 cm;

blade peltate, 3–5-lobed, lobes with rounded secondary lobes distal to middle or with 2 pairs of rounded secondary lobes of nearly equal width proximal and distal to middle, median lobe 2–7 cm, margins neither thickened nor revolute, entire, apex cuspidate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial smooth.
Inflorescences

axillary, subspicate racemes, 5–10 cm.
Pedicels

staminate 1–3 mm;

pistillate 15 mm in fruit, downcurved.
Staminate flowers

calyx tubular, base gibbous, midsection constricted, 10–20 mm, lobes erect or spreading;

stamens 6–8.
Capsules

1 cm, verrucose-rugose, not winged.
Seeds

globose, 8–9 mm.

Manihot walkerae
Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep, following rains.
Habitat Shrublands and grasslands.
Elevation 20–200 m. (100–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Manihot walkerae is a globally endangered species known from Duval, Hidalgo, and Starr counties and nearby Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is restricted to areas of sandy or gravelly calcareous soils overlying caliche or limestone bedrock. An estimated 95 percent of its habitat in the United States portion of the lower Rio Grande Valley has been converted to largely agricultural uses (www.natureserve.org).

The stamen number (6–8) of Manihot walkerae is notable relative to that of other species in the genus, which typically have 10 stamens per staminate flower.

Manihot walkerae is in the Center for Plant Conservation's National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 196.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Manihot
Sibling taxa
M. angustiloba, M. davisiae, M. esculenta, M. grahamii, M. subspicata
Name authority Croizat: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 69: 452. (1942)
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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