Styrax redivivus
Styrax platanifolius
bitternut, California snowdrop bush, California styrax, chaparral snowbell, drug snowbell, snowdrop bush
sycamoreleaf snowbell
petiole 3–14 mm;
blade with (6–)7–8(–9) secondary veins, broadly elliptic, ovate, obovate, or orbiculate, 3–7.5(–11.7) × 2.5–6.5(–8.8) cm, margins entire, longest arms of abaxial hairs 0.1–0.4 mm.
petiole 6–20 mm;
blade with 5–6 secondary veins, depressed-orbiculate or broadly ovate, 4.5–9(–12) × 4.2–9(–11.5) cm, margins entire, coarsely toothed, or 3-lobed, longest arms of abaxial hairs to 1 mm.
4–9 mm, 0.5–1.4 times as long as calyx.
4–9 mm, 1.3–2.3 times as long as calyx.
calyx 4–7 × 5–7 mm;
corolla 16–26 mm, tube 5–6 mm, lobes 5–7(–8), imbricate in bud, slightly reflexed, elliptic, 10–21 × 4–7 mm;
filaments connate 2–7 mm beyond adnation to corolla.
calyx 3–5(–6) × 4.5–5.5 mm;
corolla 12–21 mm, tube 3–4 mm, lobes 5–6, imbricate in bud, slightly reflexed, elliptic, 11–18 × 3–7 mm;
filaments connate 1–6 mm beyond adnation to corolla.
globose, 11–15 × 10–12 mm (broader when 2–3-seeded), tawny or fulvous stellate-pubescent, at least when mature, dehiscent nearly or completely to proximal end, broadly exposing seed(s);
fruit wall 0.3–0.5 mm thick.
globose, 7–10 × 7–11 mm (broader when 2–3-seeded), grayish white stellate-pubescent, dehiscent nearly or completely to proximal end, broadly exposing seed(s);
fruit wall 0.3–0.5 mm thick.
-terminal inflorescences 2–6-flowered or solitary flower, 2–5 cm;
axillary flowers absent.
-terminal inflorescences 2–7-flowered or solitary flower, 2–5 cm;
axillary flowers absent.
= 16.
Styrax redivivus
Styrax platanifolius
Of conservation concern.
Styrax redivivus has often been treated as an infraspecific taxon in S. officinalis Linnaeus of the eastern Mediterranean region. Morphological and molecular data (P. W. Fritsch 1996, 1999, 2001) provide evidence that strongly supports its species status. These data also establish the Texas species S. platanifolius as the closest relative of S. redivivus, and the two species together form a clade that is sister to S. officinalis.
Characters used to justify recognition of var. fulvescens of southern California have been shown to be clinal from north to south across the range of Styrax redivivus (P. W. Fritsch 1996b) and are here considered taxonomically inconsequential.
Another binomial sometimes used for Styrax redivivus is S. californicus, but this name does not have priority, having been published two years later than the basionym Darlingtonia rediviva (that generic name was applied later by Torrey to the genus of pitcher plants and is now conserved). Styrax californicus is a superfluous name, based on the same type as Darlingtonia rediviva.
Although Styrax redivivus extends from Shasta County to San Diego County, its occurrence is sporadic and infrequent. The ecological factors involved in the maintenance of this species, such as seed ecology, fire tolerance, and habitat requirements, are poorly known (P. W. Fritsch 1996b).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 5 (4 in the flora).
The treatment presented here is based on the morphological and molecular analyses of P. W. Fritsch (1996, 1997).
The only subspecies of Styrax platanifolius to occur outside the flora area is subsp. mollis P. W. Fritsch, from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, Mexico. It grows in wooded canyons along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Madre Oriental. All five subspecies are narrow endemics; of the four subspecies in the flora, three (subspp. platanifolius, stellatus, and texanus) occur only in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas; the fourth (subsp. youngiae) is known only from the Davis Mountains of western Texas and from northern Coahuila, Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades with abaxial surface nearly glabrous or visible through pubescence | → 2 |
1. Leaf blades with abaxial surface completely covered and obscured by pubescence | → 3 |
2. Leaf blades glabrous except for scattered, orange-brown or dark-brown, stalked, stellate hairs abaxially on some; pedicels and calyces glabrous. | subsp. platanifolius |
2. Leaf blades with scattered, white, stellate pubescence in addition to scattered, orange-brown or dark-brown, stalked, stellate hairs abaxially on some; pedicels and calyces with white, stellate hairs. | subsp. stellatus |
3. Young twigs faintly glaucous; leaf blades glabrous adaxially; styles pubescent from proximal end to ca. 15-35% of total length; abaxial surface of leaf blades, pedicels, and calyces white stellate-tomentose. | subsp. texanus |
3. Young twigs stellate-pubescent; leaf blades stellate-pubescent adaxially; styles pubescent from proximal end to ca. 60-80% of total length; abaxial surface of leaf blades, pedicels, and calyces white stellate-lanate. | subsp. youngiae |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
