Decodon verticillatus

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Decodon verticillatus
Decodon verticillatus flower.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Lythraceae
Subfamily: Lythroideae
Genus: Decodon
J.F.Gmel.
Species:
D. verticillatus
Binomial name
Decodon verticillatus

Decodon verticillatus, the sole living species in the genus Decodon, is a flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. It is commonly known as waterwillow or swamp loosestrife. It is native to wetlands in the eastern half of the United States and Canada.

Contents

Description

Typical arching habit of Decodon verticillatus. Decodon verticillatus habit.JPG
Typical arching habit of Decodon verticillatus.

Waterwillow is a clump-forming shrubby perennial that grows in swamps or shallow water. The stems are arching, angular, smooth and woody near the base, and up to eight feet (2.4 m) tall. They sometimes root at the tip when they bough over and touch the mud. The leaves are lanceolate, either in opposite pairs or in whorls of three or four. They are up to five inches (130 mm) long and one inch (25 mm) wide, smooth above and hairy beneath, on very short stalks. The rose-pink flowers grow in axillary clusters. The calyx is cup shaped, the corolla under one inch (25 mm) wide with usually five petals narrowing at the base. The ten stamens are projecting with five longer than the rest. There is one pistil, one style and a superior ovary. The fruit is a spherical dark brown capsule with numerous reddish seeds. Flowering takes place in June and July. [2] [3] [4]

Habitat

Waterwillow is found in swampland, in ditches, besides streams and in shallow water at the edges of ponds and lakes. It often forms thickets and occurs in the United States from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota, Tennessee and Louisiana, as well as in eastern Canada. [5]

Fossil record

Seeds of Decodon from the late Campanian (73.5 MA) of northern Mexico are the earliest fossil record of the genus. [6] A "whole plant" description has been give for the Ypresian age Decodon allenbyensis described from the Eocene Okanagan Highlands Princeton Chert site. [7] [8] Seeds of the genus are known in Europe from Pliocene to lower Pleistocene. These seeds are assigned to an extinct species, D. globosus. A seed very similar to the modern American species has been found in sediments from Ipswichian in Ireland, and it is possible that the plant survived until the last interglacial in western Europe. [9]

Associated species

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lythraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Chert</span> Fossilized Flora

The Princeton Chert is a fossil locality in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises an anatomically preserved flora of Eocene Epoch age, with rich species abundance and diversity. It is located in exposures of the Allenby Formation on the east bank of the Similkameen River, 8.5 km (5.3 mi) south of the town of Princeton, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allenby Formation</span>

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<i>Betula leopoldae</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Betula leopoldae is an extinct species of birch in the family Betulaceae. The species is known from fossil leaves, catkins, and inflorescences found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and similar aged formations in British Columbia, Canada. The species is placed as basal in Betula, either as a stem group species, or an early divergent species.

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Uhlia is an extinct genus of coryphoid palm containing a single species Uhlia allenbyensis. The species is known from permineralized remains recovered from the Princeton Chert in British Columbia, Canada. Leaves of Uhlia have "tar spot"-like fungal infections of the extinct ascomycete Paleoserenomyces, which in turn are hyperparasitized by the ascomycete Cryptodidymosphaerites.

Paleoserenomyces is an extinct monotypic genus of pleosporale fungus of uncertain family placement. When described it contained the single species Paleoserenomyces allenbyensis. The genus is solely known from the Early Eocene, Ypresian aged, Princeton Chert deposit of the Allenby Formation. Palaeoserenomyces is one of only three described fossil fungus species found in the Princeton Chert, being a tar spot like parasite of the fossil palm Uhlia allenbyensis, and is host for the hyperparasite Cryptodidymosphaerites princetonensis.

Cryptodidymosphaerites is an extinct monotypic genus of pleosporale fungus of uncertain family placement. When described it contained the single species Cryptodidymosphaerites princetonensis. The genus is solely known from the Early Eocene, Ypresian aged, Princeton Chert deposit of the Allenby Formation. Cryptodidymosphaerites is one of only three described fossil fungus species found in the Princeton Chert, and is a hyperparasite of Palaeoserenomyces allenbyensis, itself a tar spot-like parasite of the fossil palm Uhlia.

The Paleobiota of the Klondike Mountain Formation comprises a diverse suite of Early Eocene plants and animals recovered from North Central Washington State. The formation outcrops in locations across the north western area of Ferry County, with major sites in Republic, north west of Curlew Lake, and on the Toroda Creek area. The formation is the southern most of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands, sharing much of the paleoflora and paleofauna with site across Central and southern British Columbia.

Allenbya is an extinct genus of water lilies in the family Nymphaeaceae containing a single species Allenbya collinsonae. The species is known from permineralized remains recovered from the Early Eocene Princeton Chert in British Columbia, Canada.

References

  1. Maiz-Tome, L. (2016). "Decodon verticillatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T64311180A67729231. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64311180A67729231.en . Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  2. Homer D. House, Wild Flowers Of New York University of the State of New York, 1918
  3. Water Willow (Decodon verticillatus). Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center]
  4. Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map. Bonap.net (2014-12-15). Retrieved on 2016-01-22.
  5. Swamp Loosestrife; Willow-Herb – Decodon Verticillatus. Chestofbooks.com. Retrieved on 2016-01-22.
  6. Fossil Records in the Lythraceae Graham, Shirley A. The Botanical Review79.1 (Mar 2013): 48-145.
  7. Cevallos-Ferriz, S. R.; Stockey, R. A. (1988). "Permineralized fruits and seeds from the Princeton chert (Middle Eocene) of British Columbia: Lythraceae". Canadian Journal of Botany. 66 (2): 303–312. doi:10.1139/b88-050.
  8. Little, S.A.; Stockey, R.A. (2003). "Vegetative growth of Decodon allenbyensis (Lythraceae) from the Middle Eocene Princeton chert with anatomical comparisons to Decodon verticillatus". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (3): 453–469.
  9. Godwin, Harry (1975). The History of the British Flora: A Factual Basis for Phytogeography (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 207. ISBN   0-521-20254-X.
  10. Oehlke, Bill. Darapsa versicolor (Harris, 1839) Choerocampa versicolor Hydrangea Sphinx. silkmoths.bizland.com
  11. Endangered Species/Biodiversity Conservation. Lloyd Center for the Environment