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Tournefortia obtusiflora

Overview

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Critically Endangered

Threat status

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 Tournefortia

Shrubs , climbing shrubs, trees , or herbs. Leaves alternate, petiolate , entire. Cymes terminal or axillary , corymbose , ebracteate . Calyx 4- or 5-parted, not changing in fruit; lobes narrow. Corolla white or pale green, usually funnelform ; tube pubescent outside, usually exceeding calyx; throat unappendaged; lobes 4 or 5, overlapping or valvate in bud, spreading at anthesis . Filaments short, inserted on corolla tube; anthers ovate to oblong , mucronate or obtuse at apex. Disc slightly convex or sometimes nearly cupular. Ovary 4-loculed; ovules 1 per locule, pendulous. Style terminal; stigma entire or 2-cleft, base fleshy , ringlike, inflated . Drupes with watery, sticky, or corky mesocarp , endocarp divided at maturity into 2 2-seeded or 4 1-seeded mericarps, sometimes 1 seed sterile . Seeds oblique ; cotyledons ovate or elliptic .

About 150 species: tropical and subtropical regions; four species in China.

Argusia (including Messerschmidia) has often been regarded as a distinct genus of three species of seashore plants . It is distinguished from Tournefortia by the corky mesocarp, which is an adaptation to dispersal by seawater. True Tournefortia has fleshy fruit, and none of its species is a seashore plant. For a detailed discussion of the generic limits of Argusia and Tournefortia, see Al-Shehbaz (J. Arnold Arbor ., suppl. ser., 1: 1-169. 1991).[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: Dry coastal forest (0–500 m ).[3].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Tournefortia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 9 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

T. argentea (Tree Heliotrope) · T. bicolor (Niguita) · T. filiflora (Cold Withe) · T. hirsutissima (Chiggery Grapes) · T. laurifolia (Laurel-Leaf Soldierbush) · T. maculata (Bejuco De Masa) · T. pubescens (White-Haired Tournefortia) · T. scabra (West Indian Soldierbush) · T. volubilis (Twining Soldierbush)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

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. "Tournefortia". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 341. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Pitman, N. 2003. Tournefortia obtusiflora. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 05 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/22/2012