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Cordia ambigua

Interesting Facts

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Description

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Family Boraginaceae

Herbs perennial , biennial, or annual , less often lianas, shrubs , or trees , usually bristly or scabrous-pubescent. Leaves simple , exstipulate , alternate, rarely opposite, entire or serrate at margin . Inflorescences often double scorpioid cymes, rarely solitary; bracts present or absent. Flowers bisexual , actinomorphic , rarely zygomorphic. Calyx usually 5-parted or lobed , mostly persistent . Corolla tubular , campanulate , rotate, funnelform , or salverform ; tube appendages 5, rarely more, mostly trapeziform, rarely absent, sometimes a ring of hairs present; limb usually 5-parted; lobes overlapping, rarely twisted in bud. Stamens 5, inserted on corolla tube or rarely at throat , included or rarely exserted; anthers introrse , 2-loculed, usually dorsifixed at base , less often medifixed , dehiscence longitudinal . Nectaries at base of corolla tube or on disc below ovary. Ovary superior, 2-carpellate; locules 2 and each with 2 ovules, or 4 and each with 1 ovule; ovules nearly atropous , semianatropous, or anatropous . Style terminal or gynobasic , branched or not. Gynobase flat, fastigiate , or subulate . Fruit 1-4-seeded drupes or nutlets (mericarps) ; nutlets mostly dry, often ornamented with wings , prickles and/or glochids (stiff bristles with barbed or anchorlike tips ) . Seeds vertical or oblique , coat membranous; embryo straight, less often curved ; cotyledons flat, fleshy .

About 156 genera and 2500 species: temperate and tropical regions , centered in the Mediterranean region; 47 genera and 294 species in China, of which four genera and 156 species are endemic.[1]

Genus Cordia

Trees or shrubs . Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, usually evidently petiolate , margin entire or serrate, rarely lobed . Cymes mostly corymbose , ebracteate . Flowers bisexual , frequently heterostylous or ± functionally unisexual . Calyx tubular or campanulate , enlarged after anthesis , persistent . Corolla white, yellow, or orange-red, campanulate to funnelform , usually (4- or) 5(-8) -lobed; lobes antrorse or recurved. Stamens usually well developed; filaments often pubescent at base . Ovary 4-loculed, glabrous ; ovule 1 per locule. Style twice 2-cleft, each branch with a spatulate or capitate stigma. Drupes ovoid , globose , or ellipsoid , frequently with watery or sticky fleshy mesocarp and bony endocarp, rarely with corky mesocarp or nutlike without fleshy mesocarp. Seeds 1-4, without endosperm; cotyledons plicate .

About 325 species: mostly in tropics of North and South America, poorly represented in Africa and Asia; five species in China.[2]

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,225 meters (0 to 4,019 feet).[3]

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Varronia Ambigua

Notes

Publishing author : Cham.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Cordia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 34 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. alliodora (Cypre) · C. angustifolia (Basora) · C. bahamensis (Bahama Manjack) · C. bellonis (Serpentine Manjack) · C. boissieri (Anacahuita) · C. borinquensis (Muneco) · C. collococca (Clammy Cherry) · C. decandra (Carbonillo) · C. dichotoma (Fragrant Manjack) · C. dodecandra (Canalete) · C. gerascanthus (Yauco) · C. globosa (Bloodberry) · C. globosa var. globosa (Curaciao Bush) · C. globosa var. humilis (Curaciao Bush) · C. laevigata (Glossy Cordia) · C. lima (Lija) · C. lutea (Muyuyo) · C. millenii (Drum Tree) · C. myxa (Assyrian Plum) · C. obliqua (Clammy Cherry) · C. panamensis (Hairy Lay-Lay) · C. parvifolia (Little Leaf Cordia) · C. platythyrsa (West African Cordia) · C. podocephala (Texas Manjack) · C. polycephala (Black-Sage) · C. rickseckeri (San Bartolome) · C. rupicola (Puerto Rican Manjack) · C. salicifolia (Cha De Bugre) · C. sebestena (Aloe Wood) · C. subcordata (Kou) · C. sulcata (Mucilage Manjack) · C. verbenacea (Erva Baleera) · C. wagneriorum (Luquillo Mountain Manjack) · C. wagnerorum (Luquillo Mountain Manjack)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Gelin Zhu, Harald Riedl & Rudolf V. Kamelin "Boraginaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 329. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Cordia". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 331. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 582.770 meters (1,911.975 feet), Standard Deviation = 653.480 based on 48 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/20/2012