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Sonora rosewood

Habit Shrubs or trees, sometimes subshrubs or herbs.
Young stems

densely white-tomentulose, becoming canescent.

Leaves

petiole (4–)6–16(–22) mm;

blade bicolor, abaxially white, adaxially green and nonlustrous, linear to linear-lanceolate, (2.5–)5–11(–15) × (0.6–)0.7–1.2(–1.4) cm, surfaces villous-tomentulose, soon or tardily glabrescent except for hairy midveins.

alternate, sometimes opposite, simple, sometimes pinnately compound;

stipules present or absent.

Flowers

hypanthium 2–2.5 × 3–3.5 mm, exterior white villous-tomentulose, interior glabrous except at base;

sepals 1.3–1.8 × 1.6–2 mm, villous-tomentulose;

petals 4–5 × 2.4–3 mm;

filaments 3–5 mm.

torus absent or minute;

carpels 1–5(–8), distinct or +/- connate (Maleae), free or +/- adnate to hypanthium (many Maleae), styles distinct or +/- connate (some Maleae);

ovules (1 or)2(–5+), collateral, clustered, or biseriate.

Fruits

follicles aggregated or not, capsules, drupes aggregated or not, aggregated drupelets, pomes, or aggregated nutlets, rarely achenes or aggregated achenes;

styles persistent or deciduous, not elongate (elongate in Gillenieae).

Capsules

5–6 × 3.5–4 mm.

Seeds

3.5–4 × 0.9–1.2 mm.

Corymbs

1.5–4.5 × 2–6.5 cm, villous to tomentulose.

x

= 8, 9, 15, 17.

Vauquelinia californica subsp. sonorensis

Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Canyon margins and hillsides of the Sonoran Desert
Elevation 700–1500 m (2300–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Baja California)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
HI; North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Madeira); Australia
Discussion

Subspecies sonorensis is known from the Ajo Mountains in Pima County. Some plants from the Baboquivari Mountains of Pima County have somewhat similar narrow leaves but lack the dense vestiture on stems, inflorescences, and abaxial leaf surfaces.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Cyanogenic glycosides are usually present in Amygdaloideae; sorbitol is present.

The name Amygdaloideae Arnott (1832) has priority over Spiraeoideae Arnott (1832), used by D. Potter et al. (2007), because Amygdalaceae (1820) is an earlier conserved name.

Tribes 9, genera 55, species ca. 1300 (9 tribes, 38 genera, 361 species, including 20 hybrids, in the flora)

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 431. FNA vol. 9, p. 345. Author: Luc Brouillet.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Vauquelinia > Vauquelinia californica Rosaceae
Sibling taxa
V. californica subsp. californica, V. californica subsp. pauciflora
Subordinate taxa
Name authority W. J. Hess & Henrickson: Sida 12: 130, figs. 11a–c. (1987) Arnott: Botany, 107. (1832)
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