TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Perennial, shrub, tree
Stem: bark often peeling distinctively
Leaves simple, generally cauline, alternate, opposite, rarely whorled, evergreen or deciduous, often leathery, petioled or not; stipules 0
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers solitary, generally bracted; pedicels often with 2 bractlets
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals generally 45, generally free; petals generally 45, free or fused; stamens 810, free, filaments rarely appendaged, anthers awned or not, dehiscent by pores or slits; nectary generally at ovary base, disk-like; ovary superior or inferior, chambers generally 15, placentas axile or parietal, ovules 1many per chamber, style 1, stigma head- to funnel-like or lobed
Fruit: capsule, drupe, berry
Seeds generally many, sometimes winged
Genera in family: ± 100 genera, 3000 species: generally worldwide except deserts; some cultivated, especially Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, Vaccinium
Reference: [Wallace 1975 Wasmann J Biol 33:188; 1975 Bot Not 128:286298]
Subfamilies Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Vaccinioideae sometimes treated as families. Nongreen plants obtain nutrition from green plants through fungal intermediates.
Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (Greek: bird cluster, for obscure reasons)
Native |
Shrub, glabrous to hairy, rigidly branched, burled
Stem erect, < 2 m; bark thin
Leaves opposite to whorled, 2.58 cm, 36 mm wide, ± linear, evergreen, leathery; margins rolled under
Inflorescence: panicle, bracted; bractlets 2; pedicels not jointed to flower
Flower: sepals (4)5, ± 1/2 fused; petals (4)5, ± 2/3 fused, ± spheric to urn-shaped, white; stamens generally 10, anthers dehiscent by separate gaping slits, awned; ovary superior, chambers 5, placentas axile
Fruit: drupe; stones 5, fused into a unit
Seeds generally 10
Ecology: Chaparral
Elevation: 100800 m.
Bioregional distribution: South Coast (San Diego Co.)
Distribution outside California: n Baja California
Horticultural information: In cultivation.