Common Name: QUASSIA or SIMAROUBA FAMILY Habit: Shrub, tree; generally dioecious. Stem: occasionally thorny; bark often bitter. Leaf: generally alternate, simple, entire, or pinnately compound, leaflets subentire to toothed near base. Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, or flowers 1. Flower: unisexual, inconspicuous; sepals generally 4--5, generally fused at base, generally erect; petals generally 5, free, generally spreading; stamens generally 10, generally on disk, filaments often with a basal scale; pistils 1--8, ovaries superior, 1--2-chambered, 1-ovuled [if pistil 1, chambers generally 2--5, 1-ovuled], styles free or partly fused. Fruit: winged achenes or drupes [berry, nut], in clusters [not]. Genera In Family: 22 genera, 100 species: tropics, warm temperate; some cultivated. Note: Bark, leaves used traditionally to treat malaria, other ailments. eFlora Treatment Author: Robert E. Preston & Elizabeth McClintock Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Leaf: linear to lanceolate on young stems, scale-like on mature. Flower: calyx lobes 4--8; petals 4--8; stamens 8--24; ovaries 4--8, adherent near middle, style bases fused, tips spreading. Fruit: dry, 4--8, spreading. Etymology: (René R.L. Castel, French botanist, poet, editor, opera librettist, 1759--1832) Note:Holacantha still recognized by some (e.g., Clayton et al. 2007). Unabridged Reference: Moran & Felger 1968 Trans San Diego Soc Nat Hist 15:31--40
Castela emoryi (A. Gray) Moran & Felger
NATIVE Habit: Plant often < 1 m, occasionally to 4+ m, intricately branched; young parts densely puberulent. Leaf: ephemeral, rarely seen. Inflorescence: panicle, much-branched, 2.5--5 cm, stiff. Flower: 6--8 mm diam. Fruit: +- 6 mm, flat-topped; base +- rounded, sometimes persisting several years. Seed: 1. Ecology: Dry, gravelly washes, slopes, plains; Elevation: +- 650 m. Bioregional Distribution: s DMoj (exc DMtns), DSon; Distribution Outside California: Arizona, northwestern Mexico. Flowering Time: Jun--Jul Note: Common name used for 2 other desert pls. Unabridged Synonyms: Holacantha emoryi A. Gray Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Elizabeth McClintock Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Castela Next taxon: Simmondsiaceae
Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Castela emoryi, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=18147, accessed on April 24, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.
Geographic subdivisions for Castela emoryi:
s DMoj (exc DMtns), DSon
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