Flora of North America species comparison

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Paxistima myrsinites

description, falsebox, mountain-lover, myrtle box-leaf, Oregon boxleaf, Oregon boxwood
Habit Shrubs 5–10 dm.
Stems

prostrate to spreading.
Leaves

petiole 1 mm;

blade ovate, elliptic, or oblanceolate, 8–34 × 3–12 mm, base cuneate, margins serrate, apex rounded to acute.
Inflorescences

1–3-flowered.
Flowers

sepals obtuse-deltate, 0.8–1 mm;

petals ovate, 1–1.2 mm;

filaments 2 times longer than anthers.
Capsules

obovoid, 4–7 × 2–4 mm.
Seeds

dark brown to black, obovoid;

aril white.

Paxistima myrsinites
Phenology Flowering spring–summer; fruiting summer.
Habitat Shaded forests in mountains.
Elevation 600–3400 m. (2000–11200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The leaves of Paxistima myrsinites vary in size and shape with elevation and latitude, but the variation is continuous and no differences to separate infraspecific taxa have been found.

Paxistima myrsinites was reported from Bexar County, Texas, based on a specimen collected by E. H. Wilkinson in 1900 (C. L. Lundell 1942–1969, vol. 2; D. S. Correll and M. C. Johnston 1970). However, it was not reported from Texas by B. L. Turner et al. (2003) and no appropriate habitat occurs in that county.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 130.
Parent taxa Celastraceae > Paxistima
Sibling taxa
P. canbyi
Synonyms Ilex myrsinites, P. myrsinites subsp. mexicana
Name authority (Pursh) Rafinesque: Sylva Tellur., 42. (1838)
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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