Flora of North America species comparison

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Paxistima myrsinites

Paxistima canbyi

description, falsebox, mountain-lover, myrtle box-leaf, Oregon boxleaf, Oregon boxwood

Canby's mountain-lover, cliff green, rat-stripper
Habit Shrubs 5–10 dm. Shrubs 1–4 dm.
Stems

prostrate to spreading.

diffuse, creeping.
Leaves

petiole 1 mm;

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

petiole absent;

blade usually linear to narrowly elliptic, rarely oblanceolate, 5–20 × 2–4 mm, base obtuse, margins serrulate, apex obtuse.
Inflorescences

1–3-flowered.

1–5-flowered.
Flowers

sepals obtuse-deltate, 0.8–1 mm;

petals ovate, 1–1.2 mm;

filaments 2 times longer than anthers.

sepals obtuse-deltate, 0.8–1 mm;

petals obovate, 1.5 mm;

filaments shorter than anthers.
Capsules

obovoid, 4–7 × 2–4 mm.

ellipsoid, 3–4 × 1.5–2 mm.
Seeds

dark brown to black, obovoid;

aril white.

black, ellipsoid;

aril yellow or white.

Paxistima myrsinites

Paxistima canbyi
Phenology Flowering spring–summer; fruiting summer. Flowering spring; fruiting summer.
Habitat Shaded forests in mountains. Limestone cliffs, shaded banks, dry gravelly soils.
Elevation 600–3400 m. (2000–11200 ft.) 0–600 m. (0–2000 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]
from FNA
KY; MD; NC; OH; PA; TN; VA; WV
[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.)

There are only about 50 to 60 extant populations of Paxistima canbyi.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 130. FNA vol. 12, p. 130.
Parent taxa Celastraceae > Paxistima Celastraceae > Paxistima
Sibling taxa
P. canbyi
P. myrsinites
Synonyms Ilex myrsinites, P. myrsinites subsp. mexicana
Name authority (Pursh) Rafinesque: Sylva Tellur., 42. (1838) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 623. (1873) — (as Pachystima)
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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