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Litsea nigrescens

Overview

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Endangered

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Description

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Family Lauraceae

Shrubs to tall trees , evergreen or rarely deciduous ( Cassytha a parasitic vine with leaves reduced to scales ), usually aromatic . Leaves alternate, rarely whorled or opposite, simple , without stipules, petiolate . Leaf blade : unlobed (unlobed or lobed in Sassafras ), margins entire, occasionally with domatia (crevices or hollows serving as lodging for mites ) in axils of main lateral veins (in Cinnamomum ) . Inflorescences in axils of leaves or deciduous bracts, panicles (rarely heads ), racemes , compound cymes, or pseudoumbels (spikes in Cassytha ), sometimes enclosed by decussate bracts. Flowers bisexual or unisexual , bisexual only, or staminate and pistillate on different plants , or staminate and bisexual on some plants, pistillate and bisexual on others; flowers usually yellow to greenish or white, rarely reddish; hypanthium well developed, resembling calyx tube , tepals and stamens perigynous; tepals 6(-9), in 2(-3) whorls of 3, sepaloid , equal or rarely unequal, if unequal then usually outer 3 smaller than inner 3 (occasionally absent in Litsea ) ; stamens (3-) 9(-12), in whorls of 3, but 1 or more whorls frequently staminodial or absent; stamens of 3d whorl with 2 glands near base ; anthers 2- or 4-locular, locules opening by valves ; pistil 1, 1-carpellate; ovary 1-locular; placentation basal; ovule 1; stigma subsessile , discoid or capitate. Fruits drupes, drupe borne on pedicel with or without persistent tepals at base, or seated in ± deeply cup-shaped receptacle (cupule), or enclosed in accrescent floral tube . Seed 1; endosperm absent.

Genera ca. 50, species 2000-3000 (9 genera, 13 species in the flora ) : pantropical , a few species also in subtropical and temperate regions

Cassytha is sometimes placed in its own family , Cassythaceae; it is here retained in Lauraceae.[1]

Genus Litsea

Shrubs [or trees ], deciduous [or evergreen ]. Leaves alternate, not aromatic . Leaf blade pinnately veined, rarely with 3 primary veins, leathery; surfaces glabrous or variously pubescent ; domatia absent. Inflorescences appearing with or before new leaves, axillary , pseudoumbels, subtended by decussate bracts. Flowers unisexual , staminate and pistillate on different plants ; tepals deciduous, yellow, green, or white, equal, glabrous. Staminate flowers : stamens 9 (or 12) ; anthers 4-locular, 4-valved, introrse . Pistillate flowers: staminodes 9 (or 12) ; ovary globose . Drupe red, globose, seated in small, single-rimmed cupule.

Species ca. 400: North America, Mexico, Central America, mostly in Asia.

Mexico has four species of Litsea, one of which extends to Costa Rica in Central America. Litsea merits revision and, as accepted here, it is probably polyphyletic. It is very similar to Lindera and best recognized by its 4-locular anthers (2-locular in Lindera ).[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: Submontane forest .[3].

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Litsea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

L. aestivalis (Pondspice) · L. californica (California Bay Tree) · L. cubeba (Litsea) · L. glutinosa (Indian-Laurel) · L. japonica (Litsea)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Henk van der Werff "Lauraceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Henk van der Werff "Litsea". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Litsea nigrescens. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/22/2012