Xyris ambigua

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Common Names

Description

Family Xyridaceae

Herbs perennial or rarely annual . Roots fibrous . Leaves mostly basal, distichous or sometimes polystichous , sheathing ; leaf blade ensiform , linear , or filiform . Scapes or peduncles usually numerous . Inflorescence terminal , a globose to cylindric head or dense spike; bracts conspicuous , spirally imbricate or decussate, persistent or sometimes caducous in fruit. Flowers bisexual , 3-merous. Sepals 3, sometimes median sepal reduced or absent, lateral sepals 2, chaffy-scarious, keeled . Corolla actinomorphic or rarely zygomorphic, usually ephemeral ; petals 3, yellow, less often white or blue, free , base clawed or sometimes connate , or forming a long tube . Stamens usually 3, inserted opposite petals; filaments short, adnate to petals, rarely free; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscing longitudinally. Staminodes present or absent. Ovary superior. Style filiform, apex 3-branched or simple . Capsule oblong , 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds with copious and ± mealy endosperm; embryo small.

About five genera and ca. 300 species: widespread in tropical and subtropical regions; one genus and six species (one endemic) in China.Guofang Wu & Robert Kral "Xyridaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 4. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Genus Xyris

Herbs, perennial , occasionally annual , rosulate. Stems simple , erect , sometimes caudiciform, short to branching, elongate . Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, equitant; blade mostly linear to filiform , flattened to nearly terete , margins smooth to variously papillate or scabrous . Inflorescences: scapes variously elongate; spike bracts imbricate, the proximal sterile , decussate, distal ones fertile , in spiral [decussate], bearing medially, usually subapically, a distinct and mostly differently textured and colored "dorsal area" or this indistinct or absent. Flowers solitary in bract axils; sepals 3, distinct, unequal, lateral (outer) sepals distinct [connate ], chaffy , boat-shaped , chaffy, inner one membranous, capping corolla; keel papery , or scarious , variously winged , variously margined ; petals 3, distinct [to connate], equal, strongly clawed; blade ephemeral, spreading , yellow to white; staminodes 3, distinct, strongly clawed, apically yoked, bearded with moniliform hairs (rarely reduced, beardless) ; stamens 3, epipetalous ; anthers 2--4-locular; ovaries y thin-walled, placentation marginal to parietal [basal, free-central , axile ]; styles elongate, tubular , 3-branched; stigmas 3, U-shaped or funnelform . Capsules 3-valved, usually thin, loculicidal. Seeds [1--]15--90 or more, mealy or translucent , ovoid to cylindric , 0.3--1(--4) mm, variously lined and cross-lined; endosperm starchy and proteinaceous; embryo basal-lateral, minute. x = 9.

Species more than 250: North America, West Indies, Central America, South America, Asia, Africa, South Pacific Islands.

Most species of Xyris occur in the Guiana Highlands, Amazonia, and Brazilia in South America, with other smaller centers of endemism in Africa and Australasia."Xyris". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 537 meters (0 to 1,762 feet).Mean = 48.080 meters (157.743 feet), Standard Deviation = 73.180 based on 279 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Xyris ambigua Bey. ex Kunth
2. Xyris ambigua Beyr.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Publishing author : Beyr. ex Kunth Publication : Enum. Pl. (Kunth) 4: 13 1843

Similar Species

Members of the genus Xyris

There are approximately 516 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

X. aberdarica · X. acrophila · X. acuminata · X. acutifolia · X. adusta · X. aemula · X. affinis · X. alata · X. albescens · X. almae · X. altissima · X. ambigua (Coastalplain Yellow-Eyed Grass) · X. ambiqua · X. americana · X. amorimii · X. anceps · X. anceps var. minima · X. andina · X. angularis · X. angustifolia · X. anisophylla · X. applanata · X. apureana · X. aquatica · X. aracamunae · X. arachnoidea · X. araracuarae · X. araracuare · X. archeri · X. arescens · X. aristata · X. asperata · X. asperula · X. asterocephala · X. asterotricha · X. atrata · X. atriceps · X. atriceps marahuacae · X. atriceps neblinensis · X. atriceps subsp. chimantensis · X. atriceps subsp. marahuacae · X. atriceps subsp. neblinensis · X. atrovirida · X. augusto-coburgii · X. aurea · X. bahiana · X. bahiensis · X. bakeri · X. baldwiniana (Baldwin's Yelloweyed Grass) · X. bampsii · X. bancana · X. baronii · X. barteri · X. batokana · X. baumii · X. bialata · X. bicarinata · X. bicephala · X. bicostata · X. bicostata var. tillettii · X. bissei · X. blanchetiana · X. blepharophylla · X. bobartioides · X. boliviana · X. borneensis · X. boyacana · X. brachyfolia · X. brachysepala · X. bracteata · X. brasiliensis · X. brevifolia (Shortleaf Yelloweyed Grass) · X. brownei · X. brunnea · X. byssacea · X. cachimbensis · X. caerulea · X. calcarata · X. calcicola (Limestone Yellow-Eyed Grass) · X. calderoni · X. calderonii · X. calocephala · X. calostachys · X. capensis · X. capensis var. schoenoides · X. capillaris · X. capnoides · X. carinata · X. caroliniana (Carolina Yelloweyed Grass) · X. caroliniana f. phyllolepis · X. caulescens · X. celia · X. celiae · X. cheumatophila · X. chimantae · X. chinensis · X. chlorocephala · X. ciliata · X. cipoensis · X. columbiana

Bibliography

• Wu Kuo-fang. 1997. Xyridaceae. In: Wu Kuo-fang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 13(3): 11--19.
• Kral, R. 1966b. The genus Xyris (Xyridaceae) in the southeastern United States and Canada. Sida 2: 177--260.
• Kral, R. 1988. The genus Xyris (Xyridaceae) in Venezuela and contiguous northern South America. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75: 522--722.

More Info

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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, van Hertum J, eds (2008). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Taxonomic Classification. CD-ROM; Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 22, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 8 providers.
• MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 18, 2008.
• World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 22, 2007:

• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Virtual Herbarium Darwin Core format
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2669820
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-272475
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13763249
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:871317-1
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 505779
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 321292-2
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: XYAM
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 68936

Footnotes

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