Flora of North America species comparison

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Orbexilum

Orbexilum stipulatum

leather-root, snakeroot or leather-root

largestipule leather-root
Habit Herbs, perennial, unarmed; with lignescent rhizome, tuber, or fusiform taproot. Herbs to 10 dm, eglandular.
Stems

erect to ascending, usually gland-dotted, pubescent or glabrous.

striate, sparsely pubescent or glabrous.
Leaves

alternate, unifoliolate, palmate, or odd-pinnate;

stipules present, persistent or caducous;

petiolate;

stipels absent;

leaflets 1–7, blade margins entire, surfaces glandular-punctate or eglandular, pubescent or glabrous.

pinnately 3-foliolate;

stipules narrowly oblong, 10–13 mm;

petiole 10–35 mm;

leaflet blades elliptic to oblanceolate, 37–55 × 15–30 mm, surfaces eglandular, glabrate.
Inflorescences

pedunculate, 5–50-flowered, terminal, spicate;

bracts present;

bracteoles absent.

ovoid, 1–2 cm.
Peduncles

4–10 cm.
Flowers

papilionaceous;

calyx tubular-campanulate, lobes 5, lobes 2–3 times tube length;

corolla violet, purple, or purplish blue, banner, wings, and keel well developed, keel connate apically;

stamens 10, diadelphous or proximally monadelphous;

anthers in 2 series, proximal dorsifixed, distal basifixed, introrse.

10–11 mm;

calyx 6–8 mm, eglandular, sparsely pubescent;

corolla color unknown, banner elliptic.
Fruits

loments, dark brown to black, subsessile, asymmetric or curved, flattened, round-obovate to obovate, 0.4–1.2 cm, indehiscent, thickly leathery, rugose or papillose, glandular-punctate or eglandular, glabrous.

Legumes

unknown.
Seeds

1, reniform, obovate, depressed-obovate, or round-obovate.

unknown.
x

= 11.

Orbexilum

Orbexilum stipulatum
Phenology Flowering Jun.
Habitat Flood-scoured riverbank bedrock, gravel bars, limestone barrens and glades.
Elevation 100–150 m. (300–500 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
c United States; se United States; Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
KY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 11 (8 in the flora).

As treated by J. W. Grimes (1990), Orbexilum comprises closely related species confined to North America, this largely confirmed by DNA data (A. N. Egan and K. A. Crandall 2008). B. L. Turner (2008b) proposed three additional species known from Mexico [O. chiapasanum B. L. Turner, O. melanocarpum (Bentham) Rydberg, and O. oliganthum (Brandegee) B. L. Turner], bringing to 11 the number of species recognized for the genus.

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

Orbexilum stipulatum is known only by collections from Rock Island, a locality just below the falls of the Ohio River where it descends into the state of Kentucky. First collected by C. W. Short in 1841, it was last collected in 1881 and now is presumably extinct (C. A. McCormick 2007). J. W. Grimes (1990) placed it in Orbexilum, but placement is uncertain since fruits are unknown (P. A. Rydberg 1928).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaves unifoliolate.
O. virgatum
1. Leaves 3–7-foliolate (sometimes unifoliolate in O. simplex).
→ 2
2. Leaves mostly palmately (3–)5–7-foliolate.
O. lupinellus
2. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate (sometimes unifoliolate or palmately 5–7-foliolate in O. simplex).
→ 3
3. Leaflet blades: base cordate.
O. macrophyllum
3. Leaflet blades: base not cordate.
→ 4
4. Herbs eglandular; stipules narrowly oblong, 10–13 mm.
O. stipulatum
4. Herbs ± glandular-punctate, at least adaxial leaflet surfaces; stipules long-triangular, lanceolate, or linear, 3–10 mm.
→ 5
5. Legumes papillose or warty.
O. onobrychis
5. Legumes rugose.
→ 6
6. Flowers 8–10 mm.
O. simplex
6. Flowers 4–7 mm.
→ 7
7. Bracts, calyces, and legumes markedly glandular-punctate; bracts ovate, 5–8 × 2–4 mm; Atlantic Coastal Plain.
O. psoralioides
7. Bracts, calyces, and legumes eglandular; bracts lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 5–8 × 1–2.5 mm; sc United States.
O. pedunculatum
Source FNA vol. 11. Author: Billie L. Turner†. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Orbexilum
Sibling taxa
O. lupinellus, O. macrophyllum, O. onobrychis, O. pedunculatum, O. psoralioides, O. simplex, O. virgatum
Subordinate taxa
O. lupinellus, O. macrophyllum, O. onobrychis, O. pedunculatum, O. psoralioides, O. simplex, O. stipulatum, O. virgatum
Synonyms Rhytidomene Psoralea stipulata, Lotodes stipulatum
Name authority Rafinesque: Atlantic J. 1: 145. (1832) (Torrey & A. Gray) Rydberg in N. L. Britton et al.: N. Amer. Fl. 24: 6. (1919)
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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