Sideroxylon celastrinum |
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bumelia, coma, saffron plum |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, to 10 m. |
Stems | armed, villous, glabrescent. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 1–6.5 mm, glabrous; blade (dark green adaxially), broadly elliptic, obovate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, 6–38 × 3–23 mm, base attenuate to cuneate, margins plane, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous, tertiary and smaller veins not prominent (inconspicuously reticulate), midrib flat, marginal vein present. |
Inflorescences | 4–12-flowered. |
Pedicels | 3–6 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | calyx 1.8–3 mm diam.; sepals 5, 1.7–3 × 0.9–1.9 mm, glabrous; petals 5(–6), white to yellowish, median segment elliptic, 1.9–2.3 mm, lateral segments lanceolate, 1.3–2.3 mm; stamens 5(–6), 2.2–2.9 mm; staminodes lanceolate, 1.7–2.1 mm, minutely erose; anthers lanceolate, 0.7–1 mm; pistil 5-carpellate; ovary 5-locular, 0.9–1.3 mm, hirsute to strigose basally; style 2.2–2.8 mm. |
Berries | purple to purplish black, ellipsoid, 8–12 mm, glabrous. |
Seeds | 6–11 mm. |
Sideroxylon celastrinum |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Nov. |
Habitat | Scrub thickets, coastal marshes and hammocks |
Elevation | 0-100[-900] m (0-300[-3000] ft) |
Distribution |
FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America
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Discussion | Sideroxylon celastrinum is widespread in the Neotropics. It differs from other North American species of the genus by its glabrous twigs, leaves, pedicels, and sepals, and its narrowly ellipsoid fruits. The fruits are edible (T. D. Pennington 1990). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 238. |
Parent taxa | Sapotaceae > Sideroxylon |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Bumelia celastrina, Bumelia angustifolia, Bumelia celastrina var. angustifolia |
Name authority | (Kunth) T. D. Pennington: in Organization for Flora Neotropica, Fl. Neotrop. 52: 123. (1990) |
Web links |