Firmiana major

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Extinct in the Wild

Interesting Facts

Description

Family Sterculiaceae

Trees or shrubs , rarely herbs or liana; young growth usually stellately hairy ; bark mucilaginous and rich in fibers. Leaves alternate; stipules usually present caducous ; leaf blade simple , rarely palmately compound , entire, serrate, or parted . Inflorescence axillary or rarely terminal , paniculate , corymbose , racemose, or cymose , rarely solitary. Flowers unisexual , bisexual or polygamous. Sepals (3-) 5, ± connate , rarely free , valvate . Petals 5 or lacking, free or adnate to base of androecium, convolutely imbricate. Androgynophore usually present; filaments usually connate into a single tube ; staminodes 5, tonguelike or filiform , opposite to sepals, sometimes lacking; anthers 2-celled, longitudinally dehiscent . Pistil consisting of 2-5(or 10-12) ± connate carpels, or a single carpel; ovary superior, 2-5(or 10-12) -loculed; ovules 2 or more per locule; style 1 or as many as carpels. Fruit usually a capsule or follicle, dehiscent or indehiscent, very rarely a berry or nut. Seeds with abundant endosperm or endosperm lacking; embryo straight or curved .

About 68 genera and ca. 1100 species: tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres, a few in temperate regions ; 19 genera (two introduced ) and 90 species (39 endemic, three introduced) in China.

The Chinese genera fit into four distinct clades which can be treated as subfamilies of an enlarged Malvaceae or as distinct families. These are Sterculioideae/Sterculiaceae s.s. (genera 1-4), Helicteroideae/Helicteraceae (genera 5 and 6), Byttnerioideae/Byttneriaceae (genera 7-13), and Dombeyoideae/Pentapetaceae (genera 14-19) .[1]

Genus Firmiana

Trees or shrubs , deciduous. Leaves simple , palmately 3-5-lobed or entire. Inflorescence paniculate or rarely racemose, axillary or terminal . Flowers unisexual or polygamous, sometimes appearing before leaves. Calyx orange-red or golden, funnel-shaped or cylindrical, (4 or) 5-lobed or -partite, lobes short or divided nearly to base , reflexed . Petals absent. Male flowers: stamens 10-20, in capitate cluster at apex of androgynophore ; anther 2-celled, anther cells curved ; undeveloped pistil present. Female flowers: ovary 5-locular, ovoid or globose , basally enclosed by undeveloped anthers; styles basally connate ; stigmas as many as carpels; ovules 2 to many per locule. Follicles stipitate , endocarp membranous, dehiscent long before maturity, foliaceous . Seeds 1 to many per follicle, on inner margin of foliaceous endocarp, globose, endosperm flat or plicate ; cotyledons flat, very thin.

About 16 species: tropical , subtropical , and temperate Asia; seven species (five endemic) in China.

The relationship between Firmiana and Hildegardia Schott & Endlicher is unresolved. Kostermans (Reinwardtia 4: 281-310. 1957) used a follicle character, dehiscence vs. indehiscence, to separate the two genera. Molecular data, based on limited sampling , support a division based on floral characters, especially relating to calyx morphology, but there are unpublished molecular data that suggest that Firmiana and Hildegardia may not be distinct . Firmiana is the older of the two names .[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: Between 1,700 to 2,500 m. [3].

Taxonomy

Similar Species

Members of the genus Firmiana

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

F. simplex (Chinese Parasol Tree)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• Li-kuo, F. and Jian-ming, J. (eds) 1992. China Plant Red Data Book – Rare and Endangered Plants 1. Science Press, Beijing.
• Li-kuo, F. and Jian-ming, J. 1992. China Plant Red Data Book Rare and Endangered Plants 1. Science Press, Beijing.
• National Environment Protection Bureau. 1987. The list of rare and endangered plants protected in China. Botanical Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academy Press, Beijing.
• Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. and MacKinven, A. (compilers). 1998. The World List of Threatened Trees. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, UK.
• Sun, W. 1997. Completed data collection forms for trees of Yunnan.
• Hsue Hsiang-hao. 1984. Sterculiaceae. In: Feng Kuo-mei, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 112-189.
• Hsue Hsiang-hao. 1984. Sterculiaceae. In: Feng Kuo-mei, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 112-189.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Sun, W. 1998. Firmiana major. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 01February2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5969390
• IUCN ID: 209826
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1020747

Footnotes

1. Ya Tang, Michael G. Gilbert & Laurence J. Dorr "Sterculiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 240, 264,299, 302. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Firmiana". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 302, 310. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Sun, W. 1998. Firmiana major. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.