Adelia barbinervis is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae that is native to southern Mexico and northern Central America. The Huastec Maya cultivated the plant as a famine food.
| Adelia barbinervis | |
|---|---|
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| Adelia barbinervis with fruit | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Adelia |
| Species: | A. barbinervis
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| Binomial name | |
| Adelia barbinervis | |
Description
editAdelia barbinervis is a shrub, or as a tree[2] that grows to be 2-9 meters tall.[3] The bark is spinescent, thin, and gray to whitish.[3][4]
The leaves grow with an alternate (spiral) pattern.[5][6] The upper side is dark green and hairless while the underside is paler and pubescent (covered with short, soft hairs) along the veins.[3] Rarely, the underside of the leaf is tomentose, i.e. densely covered in short, matted hairs.[5] The leaves have 5-7 lateral veins. The axils of the veins have tufts of hair called domatia.[3][5] The leaves are lanceolate (pointy at both ends) with a length of 4-9 cm and a width of 2-3.5 cm. The margins are entire. The leaves are connected to their twig by a 2-5 mm petiole, which is pubescent. The inconspicuous stipules at the base of the petiole are pubescent and, like the leaves, lanceolate.[5]
Plants flower from November to January.[3] The species is dioecious: male and female flowers are not found on the same plant. Flowers grow from the axils of the leaves.[5] The male flowers grow in cymose fascicles of 10-30 flowers. The male pedicels are pubescent and just 3.5-7 mm long. Male flowers have 3-5 greenish or whitish ovate sepals, which are about 2 mm long and pubescent on both sides. Male flowers have 8-12 whitish stamens, each with 2-mm filaments and globose anthers, that are joined at the base. The female flowers have longer pedicels, 15-30 mm long. Female flowers have 5-7 green, linear-lanceolate sepals 2-3 mm long, the upper surfaces of which are puberulent. The ovary is tomentose.[3][5] The three[3] yellow or white[7] 1.5- to 2-mm styles are flat and widened, joined at the base, and have lacerate (jagged) edges at the apex.[3][5]
The species produces fruit from January to April.[3] The fruit is a green, pubescent, three-lobed capsule 1.1 mm in diameter[3] that dehisces when dry.[8] The smooth, pale seeds inside are 3.5-4.5 mm long and subglobose.[5]
Taxonomy
editAdelia barbinervis was first described by Cham. & Schltdl. and was published in Linnaea 6: 362 in 1831.[2] Ricinella barbinervis (Cham. & Schltdl.) Müll.Arg., published in Linnaea 34: 154 (1865), is a homotypic synonym of Adelia barbinervis.[2]
The specific epithet barbinervis means “bearded veins”[9] and refers to the leaves’ domatia.[3]
Adelia barbinervis is closely related to A. triloba.[5]
Distribution and habitat
editAdelia barbinervis is native to seasonally dry climates from Mexico to Nicaragua,[2] where it is found in tropical rainforests,[5] tropical deciduous forests, and secondary forests[3] at elevations of 0-500m. It is common in milpa regrowth ecosystems.[1]
Uses
editThe Huastec Maya cultivated the plant as a famine food, cooking the shoots and tender leaves as greens.[1] The wood is used as firewood.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Freedman, Robert (2010-05-12). "EUPHORBIACEAE The Spurge family". Famine Foods. NewCROP. Archived from the original on 2010-05-16. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ a b c d "Adelia barbinervis". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De-Nova, Jose Arturo; Victoria Sosa; Kenneth J. Wurdack (2006). "Phylogenetic Relationships and the Description of a New Species of Enriquebeltrania (Euphorbiaceae s.s.): An Enigmatic Genus Endemic to Mexico" (PDF). Systematic Botany. 31 (3): 533–546. doi:10.1600/036364406778388719. JSTOR 25064183. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-10.
- ^ Brewer, Steven W. "Brewer - 4600 - Belize". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Webster, Grady. "Adelia" (PDF). Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Brewer, Steven W. "Brewer - 4304 - Belize". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Palmer, William J. "Palmer - 4 - Belize". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Amith, Jonathan D. "Comparative Nahuatl Ethnobiology". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. University of Michigan Herbarium. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ "barba-jovis - beatus". Dictionary of Botanical Epithets. Retrieved 30 June 2024.