Pyrularia pubera
Cervantesiaceae
buffalo nut
buffalo nut family
blades ovate-oblong, obovate, or elliptic, (4.2–)10(–21) × (2–)4(–8) cm, base acute to rounded, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces puberulent when young.
alternate, simple;
stipules absent;
petiole present;
blade margins entire [spinose];
venation pinnate.
(5–)10(–19) mm.
staminate terminal on axillary branches, erect, 3–8 cm, 15+-flowered; pistillate terminal or axillary, to 9-flowered;
bracts caducous, pilose.
unisexual, terminal or axillary, racemes [spikes, cymes, panicles].
unisexual [bisexual];
perianth and androecium perigynous or epigynous;
hypanthium completely adnate to ovary;
sepals 0;
petals (4–)5(–6), distinct, post-staminal hairs present;
nectary present;
stamens (4–)5(–6), opposite petals, distinct, adnate to petal base;
anthers dehiscing by longitudinal slits;
staminodes present in pistillate flowers;
pistil 1, carpel number unknown;
ovary 1/2 inferior (staminate flowers) or almost superior (pistillate flowers), becoming inferior during fruit development, 1-locular, placentation free-central, pendulous;
ovules 2–3 per locule, anatropous;
style 1;
stigma 1;
pistillode present in staminate flowers.
green, turbinate, 4 mm diam.;
pistillode stigma above anthers.
green, turbinate, 5–6 mm diam.;
stigma at same height as staminode anthers.
pseudodrupes (mesocarp hard).
1 per fruit.
yellowish, pyriform or subglobose, 2–3 × 1–2 cm;
exocarp splitting irregularly when mature, releasing mesocarp/seed.
= 38.
Pyrularia pubera
Cervantesiaceae
Pyrularia pubera can be locally abundant in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Plateau, often forming dense stands in second-growth forests. The species is apparently a host generalist (D. J. Leopold and R. N. Muller 1983) and has been reported to parasitize planted fir trees (Abies fraseri) in Virginia (L. J. Musselman and S. C. Haynes 1996). The seeds are very high in oil. Cytotoxic and antimicrobial peptides called thionins are present in P. pubera (L. P. Vernon et al. 1985).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 8, species 20 (1 in the flora).
Cervantesiaceae show a trend from bisexual to fully unisexual flowers, with intermediate stages seen by the presence of staminodes and pistillodes, as well as trioecy in Scleropyrum Arnott. Carpel number in Cervantesiaceae is unclear and the necessary anatomical studies have not been done. The fruits in this family (the largest in Santalales) have a hard or crustaceous mesocarp. Because the mesocarp is hard, not the endocarp, these are considered pseudodrupes, not true drupes. In Jodina Hooker & Arnott ex Meisner, the endocarp is apparently consumed during endosperm development (S. P. Bhatnagar and G. Sabharwal 1969); this interpretation is extended to other members of the family.
The affinity of the eight genera of Cervantesiaceae, first noted by H. U. Stauffer (1957, 1961), was confirmed using molecular phylogenetic methods (J. P. Der and D. L. Nickrent 2008; Z. S. Rogers et al. 2008). The segregation of Cervantesiaceae from Santalaceae in the broad sense follows the classification of Nickrent et al. (2010). Pyrularia is the only genus in the family with species occurring in both the Old and New Worlds.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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