Ehretia anacua | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Boraginales |
Family: | Boraginaceae |
Genus: | Ehretia |
Species: | E. anacua |
Binomial name | |
Ehretia anacua | |
Natural range | |
Synonyms | |
Ehretia elliptica DC. Contents |
Ehretia anacua is medium-sized tree found in eastern Mexico and southern Texas in the United States. It is a member of the borage family, Boraginaceae. [1] One of its common names, anacua, is derived from the Mexican Spanish word anacahuite, as is that of the related Cordia boissieri , the anacahuita. [2] That word in turn is derived from the Nahuatl words āmatl , meaning "paper," and cuahuitl, meaning "tree," [3] possibly referring to the bark. It is also known as knockaway, a corruption of anacua, and sandpaper tree. [2] Alternate spellings are anaqua and anachua. [4]
Anacua reaches a height of 20–45 ft (6.1–13.7 m) [2] and a diameter of 0.3 m (0.98 ft), [5] often producing suckers or multiple trunks. [2] The bark is reddish-brown to gray with narrow furrows and peeling scales. The dark green leaves are 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) and 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) wide and elliptical or ovate. Their upper surfaces are remarkably rough, feeling like low-grade sandpaper. [5] Anacua is a partial evergreen, replacing some of the leaves in early spring. Abundant white flowers [2] form in panicles or cymes [6] 5–7.5 cm (2.0–3.0 in) in length at the ends of twigs, [5] making trees appear to be covered in snow when in bloom from spring to summer. [2] Flowers are 8 mm (0.31 in) wide and have 5 corolla lobes. The fruits are spherical [5] drupes [7] 8 mm in diameter and yellowish-orange. [5] The drupes contain two stones, each with two seeds. [5] In addition to being edible by humans, the drupes are eaten by mammals and birds [2] such as the clay-colored thrush. [8] The lifespan of an Anacua is at least 50 years. [9]
Anacua is found on dry hillsides as a shrub, but reaches tree size in the moist soils of riparian zones and floodplains. It can be found at elevations from sea level to 1,000 ft (300 m). [5]
The leaves of E. anacua are the sole food source of the Texas tortoise beetle ( Coptocycla texana ). [10]
Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; it has also been reported from parts of Central America and, as an introduced species, from Pakistan. Various other systematic names have been used for this plant in the past, including Erythrina arborea, Erythrina hederifolia, Erythrina humilis, Erythrina rubicunda, Corallodendron herbaceum and Xyphanthus hederifolius.
Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America.
Taxodium mucronatum, commonly known as Montezuma bald cypress, Montezuma cypress, or ahuehuete, is a species of Taxodium that is primarily native to Mexico and Guatemala, with a few populations in the southwestern United States. Ahuehuete is derived from the Nahuatl name for the tree, āhuēhuētl, which means "upright drum in water" or "old man of the water."
Populus deltoides, the eastern cottonwood or necklace poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar native to North America, growing throughout the eastern, central, and southwestern United States as well as the southern Canadian prairies, the southernmost part of eastern Canada, and northeastern Mexico.
Prunus subcordata, known by the common names Klamath plum, Oregon plum, Pacific plum and Sierra plum, is a member of the genus Prunus, native to the western United States, especially California and Oregon.
The Tamaulipan mezquital is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the Southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 141,500 km2 (54,600 sq mi), encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, northern Tamaulipas, northeastern Coahuila, and part of Nuevo León.
Erythrostemon mexicanus, formerly Caesalpinia mexicana, is a species of plant in the genus Erythrostemon, within the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Mexican holdback, Mexican caesalpinia, and tabachín del monte. It is native to the extreme lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and to parts of Mexico: in the northeast and further south along the Gulf coast as well as the Pacific coast in Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and a small portion of Sinaloa.
Guaiacum angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. Common names include Texas guaiacum, Texas lignum-vitae, soapbush and huayacán. It is native to southern and western Texas in the United States and northern Mexico. The specific name is derived from the Latin angustus, meaning "narrow," and -folius, meaning "-leaved".
Cordia boissieri is a white-flowered, evergreen shrub or small tree in the borage family (Boraginaceae). Its native range extends from southern Texas in the United States south to central Mexico. Common names include anacahuita, Mexican olive, white cordia, and Texas wild olive. It is named after the Swiss explorer and botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier.
Ehretia acuminata is a deciduous tree found in Japan, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, New Guinea and Australia. Fossil evidence suggests an ancient Laurasian origin. This group of plants spread to Australia and South America via Africa, when these continents were still joined.
Sabal mexicana is a species of palm tree that is native to far southern North America. Common names include Rio Grande palmetto, Mexican palmetto, Texas palmetto, Texas sabal palm, palmetto cabbage and palma de mícharos. The specific epithet, "mexicana", is Latin for "of Mexico."
Diospyros texana is a species of persimmon that is native to central, south and west Texas and southwest Oklahoma in the United States, and eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Common names include Texas persimmon, Mexican persimmon and the more ambiguous "black persimmon". It is known in Spanish as chapote, chapote manzano, or chapote prieto, all of which are derived from the Nahuatl word tzapotl. That word also refers to several other fruit-bearing trees.
Celtis reticulata, with common names including netleaf hackberry, western hackberry, Douglas hackberry, netleaf sugar hackberry, palo blanco, and acibuche, is a small- to medium-sized deciduous tree native to western North America.
Suriana is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing only Suriana maritima, which is commonly known as bay cedar.
Solanum erianthum is a species of nightshade that is native to southern North America and northern South America. It has been introduced to other parts of the world and has a nearly pantropical distribution. Common names include mullein nightshade, velvet nightshade, and salvadora. The potatoes are not the fruits of the trees, they are the leaves.
Chiococca alba is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) native to Florida and the extreme southern tip of Texas in the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Galápagos, and tropical South America. Common names include David's milkberry, West Indian milkberry, cahinca and West Indian snowberry. The specific epithet, alba, means "white" in Latin and refers to the color of its fruits.
Esenbeckia runyonii is a species of flowering tree in the citrus family, Rutaceae, that is native to northeastern Mexico, with a small, disjunct population in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States. Common names include Limoncillo and Runyon's Esenbeckia. The specific epithet honors Robert Runyon, a botanist and photographer from Brownsville, Texas, who collected the type specimen from a stand of four trees discovered by Harvey Stiles on the banks of Resaca del Rancho Viejo, Texas, in 1929. Conrad Vernon Morton of the Smithsonian Institution received the plant material and formally described the species in 1930. Some consider it a synonym of E. berlandieriBaill. ex Hemsl..
Populus fremontii, commonly known as Frémont's cottonwood, is a cottonwood native to riparian zones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico. It is one of three species in Populus sect. Aigeiros. The tree was named after 19th-century American explorer and pathfinder John C. Frémont.
Manihot walkerae, commonly known as Walker's manihot, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States and Tamaulipas in Mexico. The specific name honours amateur botanist Thelma Ratcliff Walker, who discovered the type specimen near Mission and La Joya, Texas in 1942.