Gaylussacia

Last updated

Gaylussacia
Gaylussacia pulchra Pohl127.png
Gaylussacia pulchra [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Subfamily: Vaccinioideae
Tribe: Vaccinieae
Genus: Gaylussacia
Kunth
Type species
Gaylussacia buxifolia
Kunth

Gaylussacia is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to the Americas, where they occur in eastern North America and in South America in the Andes and the mountains of southeastern Brazil (the majority of the known species). Common English names include huckleberry (shared with plants in several other genera) and "dangleberry".

Contents

Gaylussacia plants are often a component of an oak-heath forest. [2] [3] They are deciduous or evergreen shrubs growing to a height of 0.4–1.8 metres (1 ft 4 in – 5 ft 11 in).

Ecology

Gaylussacia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) species including Coleophora gaylussaciella (which feeds exclusively on Gaylussacia) and Coleophora multicristatella .

Classification

Gaylussacia is named in honor of the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778–1850). It is closely related to Vaccinium , [4] and it is still unclear whether the commonly understood line between Vaccinium and Gaylussacia is justified. [5] A 2002 paper found that molecular data did not support past divisions of Gaylussacia into sections. [4]

Fossil record

Pliocene seed and fruit fossils of †Gaylussacia rhenana are described from sand-filled river-channels in the brown coal pit of Fortuna-Garsdorf near Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. [6]

Species

Gaylussacia brasiliensis Gaylussacia brasiliensis.jpg
Gaylussacia brasiliensis

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ericaceae</span> Heather family of flowering plants

The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it the 14th most species-rich family of flowering plants. The many well known and economically important members of the Ericaceae include the cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron, and various common heaths and heathers.

<i>Vaccinium</i> Genus of berry-producing shrubs in the heath family

Vaccinium is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whortleberry), lingonberry (cowberry), and huckleberry. Like many other ericaceous plants, they are generally restricted to acidic soils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bilberry</span> Species of shrub with edible berries

Bilberries or blueberries are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species.

<i>Psidium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae

Psidium is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Myrtaceae. It is native to warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere. Many of the species bear edible fruits, and for this reason several are cultivated commercially. The most popularly cultivated species is the common guava, Psidium guajava.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic coastal pine barrens</span> Temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Northeast United States

The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once controlled by frequent fires.

<i>Dichorisandra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Dichorisandra is a genus of perennial monocotyledonous flowering plants in the dayflower family (Commelinaceae). It is found in the Neotropics. The genus is characterised by its slightly zygomorphic flowers with large anthers usually releasing pollen by means of pores at the apex, as well as by its seeds that are embedded in a red or sometimes white aril, and tubers that often form at the tips of the roots. Both morphology and an analysis of DNA sequences indicate it is very closely related to the genus Siderasis.

"Blue huckleberry" refers to either of two plants native to North America:

<i>Gaylussacia brachycera</i> Species of plant

Gaylussacia brachycera, commonly known as box huckleberry or box-leaved whortleberry, is a low North American shrub related to the blueberry and the other huckleberries. It is native to the east-central United States.

An oak–heath forest is a plant community association and type of forest ecology. It is a deciduous forest type of well-drained, acidic soils, characterized by oaks (Quercus) and plants of the heath family (Ericaceae). It is commonly found in the high elevations of the eastern United States. Such forest areas typically have a dense fibrous root layer at the surface of the soil, and in many areas predominate on south-facing or southwest-facing slopes. Many of the existing oak–heath forests once featured American chestnut as an important canopy species.

<i>Gaylussacia baccata</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia baccata, the black huckleberry, is a common huckleberry found throughout a wide area of eastern North America.

<i>Luziola</i> Genus of plants

Luziola (watergrass) is a genus of New World in the grass family, native to North and South America including the West Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huckleberry</span> Berry and plant

Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.

<i>Vaccinium membranaceum</i> Species of plant

Vaccinium membranaceum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, known by the common names thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, and ambiguously as "black huckleberry".

<i>Gaylussacia dumosa</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia dumosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dwarf huckleberry, bush huckleberry, and gopherberry. It is native to eastern North America from Newfoundland to Louisiana and Florida. It occurs along the coastal plain and in the mountains.

<i>Gaylussacia frondosa</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia frondosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dangleberry and blue huckleberry. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs from New Hampshire to South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccinieae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

Vaccinieae is a tribe of over 1000 species in the plant family Ericaceae. The tribe consists of morphologically diverse woody plants. Species within Vaccinieae can be found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Genetic analysis indicates that Vaccinieae is not a monophyletic group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccinioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants in the heather family Ericaceae

Vaccinioideae is a flowering-plant subfamily in the family Ericaceae. It contains the commercially important cranberry, blueberry, bilberry, lingonberry, and huckleberry.

<i>Gaylussacia bigeloviana</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia bigeloviana, also known as the northern dwarf huckleberry or in French as the gaylussaquier de Bigelow, is a plant species native to the coastal plains of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It grows from Newfoundland to South Carolina in swamps and marshes, including acidic bogs alongside Sphagnum peatmosses.

<i>Gaylussacia pulchra</i> Species of fruit and plant

Gaylussacia pulchra is a plant species in the family Ericaceae. It is native to the States of Bahia and Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil.

Gaylussacia tomentosa, commonly known as the hairy dangleberry or hairytwig huckleberry, is a plant species native to the coastal plains of the southeastern United States.

References

  1. 1827 illustration from Plantarum Brasiliae icones et descriptiones hactenus ineditae. Vol. 1. Author: Johann Baptist Emanuel Pohl
  2. The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Community Groups (Version 2.3), Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2010 Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Schafale, M. P. & A. S. Weakley (1990). "Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina" (PDF) (third approximation ed.). North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25.
  4. 1 2 Floyd, Jennifer Whitehead (2002). "Phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns in Gaylussacia (Ericaceae) based on morphological, nuclear DNA, and chloroplast DNA variation". Systematic Botany . 27 (1): 99–115. doi:10.1043/0363-6445-27.1.99 (inactive 2024-07-30). JSTOR   3093898.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2024 (link)
  5. Kathleen A. Kron, E. Ann Powell and J. L. Luteyn (2002). "Phylogenetic relationships within the blueberry tribe (Vaccinieae, Ericaceae) based on sequence data from matK and nuclear ribosomal ITS regions, with comments on the placement of Satyria". American Journal of Botany . 89 (2): 327–336. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.2.327. PMID   21669741.
  6. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology Volume 26, Issues 1–4, September 1978, Pages 173-211, The pliocene flora of Fortuna-Garsdorf I. fruits and seeds of angiosperms by J. Van Der Burgh https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-6667(78)90011-8