Miconia bicolor

Last updated

Miconia bicolor
Starr 031118-0032 Tetrazygia bicolor.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Genus: Miconia
Species:
M. bicolor
Binomial name
Miconia bicolor
(Mill.) Triana (1871 publ. 1872)
Varieties [2]
  • Miconia bicolor var. bicolor
  • Miconia bicolor var. patentisetosa(Borhidi) Judd, Bécquer & Majure
Synonyms [2]
  • Melastoma bicolorMill. (1768)
  • Tetrazygia bicolor(Mill.) Cogn. (1891)

Miconia bicolor is a species flowering plant in the glory bush family, Melastomataceae, that is native to southern Florida in the United States and the Caribbean. Common names include Florida clover ash, [3] Florida tetrazygia, and West Indian lilac. [4]

Contents

Description

Miconia bicolor is a shrub that reaches a height of 3 to 9 m (9.8 to 29.5 ft). The shrub is multi-trunked, the stems' colour can be green or reddish. Its evergreen lanceolate leaves are 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in) long and have three parallel conspicuous veins which run lengthwise. The plant flowers during the spring and summer. The flowers are white or pinkish and the oval fruit is brown and attracts birds.

The shrub grows in the subtropical wetlands of Everglades. It prefers partial shade and grows in acidic, alkaline, sand, loam and clay soils. It has a high drought tolerance but will also grow on well-drained soils.

In the novel Jurassic Park (1990) by Michael Crichton and subsequent film adaptation (1993) Dr. Ellie Sattler, in an attempt to diagnose a sick dinosaur, discovers West Indian lilac in the triceratops paddock. Dr. Sattler suspects the toxicity of the plant is the root cause of the dinosaur's illness. After inspecting the dinosaur's droppings Dr. Sattler determines the animal is not grazing on the West Indian lilac. This mystery is only resolved in the book which later explains that the berries are being accidentally ingested together with gizzard stones and later regurgitated.

Related Research Articles

<i>Elaeagnus umbellata</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus umbellata is known as Japanese silverberry, umbellata oleaster, autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, spreading oleaster, autumnberry, or autumn berry. The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from the Himalayas eastwards to Japan. It is a hardy, aggressive invasive species able to readily colonize barren land, becoming a troublesome plant in the central and northeastern United States and Europe.

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

Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various other plants.

<i>Erythrina herbacea</i> Species of legume

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.

<i>Gaillardia pulchella</i> Species of plant

Gaillardia pulchella is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family.

<i>Miconia calvescens</i> Species of tree

Miconia calvescens, the velvet tree, miconia, or bush currant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Mexico and Central and South America and it has become one of the world's most invasive species.

<i>Cordia sebestena</i> Species of tree

Cordia sebestena is a shrubby tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, native to the American tropics. It ranges from southern Florida in the United States and the Bahamas, southwards throughout Central America and the Greater Antilles. Common names have included siricote or kopté (Mayan) in 19th Century northern Yucatán, scarlet cordia in Jamaica, and Geiger tree in Florida.

<i>Miconia crenata</i> Species of flowering plant

Miconia crenata, commonly called soapbush, clidemia or Koster's curse, is a perennial shrub. It is an invasive plant species in many tropical regions of the world, causing serious damage.

<i>Euonymus atropurpureus</i> Species of flowering plant

Euonymus atropurpureus is a species of shrub in the bittersweet family. It has the common names American wahoo, eastern wahoo, burningbush and hearts bursting with love. It is native to eastern North America.

<i>Chionanthus virginicus</i> Species of tree

Chionanthus virginicus is a tree native to the savannas and lowlands of the northeastern and southeastern United States, from Massachusetts south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas.

<i>Aesculus parviflora</i> Species of tree

Aesculus parviflora, the bottlebrush buckeye or small-flowered buckeye, is a species of suckering deciduous shrub in the family Sapindaceae. The species is native to the southeastern United States, where it is found primarily in Alabama and Georgia, with a disjunct population in South Carolina along the Savannah River. Its natural habitat is in mesic forests, on bluffs and in ravines.

<i>Cornus amomum</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus amomum, the silky dogwood, is a species of dogwood native to the southern Ontario and eastern United States, from Michigan and Vermont south to Alabama and Florida. Other names include red willow, silky cornel, kinnikinnick, and squawbush.

<i>Hamelia patens</i> Species of flowering plant

Hamelia patens is a large evergreen perennial shrub or small tree in the family Rubiaceae, that is native to the American subtropics and tropics. Its range extends from Florida in the southern United States to as far south as Argentina. Common names include firebush, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead. In Belize, this plant's Mayan name is Ix Canaan and is also known as "Guardian of the Forest".

<i>Zanthoxylum flavum</i> Species of tree

Zanthoxylum flavum is a medium-sized tree in the family Rutaceae. Common names include noyer, West Indian satinwood, yellow sanders, tembetaria, and yellow sandalwood. It is native to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Florida Keys, exclusive of Key West where it has been extirpated. It is threatened by habitat loss and harvesting for its dense, durable wood used in fine woodworking.

<i>Dichrostachys cinerea</i> Species of legume

Dichrostachys cinerea, known as sicklebush, Bell mimosa, Chinese lantern tree or Kalahari Christmas tree, is a legume of the genus Dichrostachys in the family Fabaceae.

<i>Xylococcus bicolor</i> Tree or shrub from North America

Xylococcus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the heather family which contains the single species Xylococcus bicolor, commonly known as the mission manzanita. It is a burl-forming, evergreen shrub with leathery leaves and smooth dark reddish bark. From December to February, white to pink urn-shaped flowers adorn the foliage, often attracting hummingbird pollinators. It is native to southern California and the Baja California Peninsula, south to the Sierra de la Giganta. There is growing concern over the future of this plant, referred to as the "queen of the elfin forest, " as it may possibly lose up to 88% of its habitat and its wild seedlings are failing to survive more than a full year.

<i>Chiococca alba</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Prunus caroliniana</i> Species of tree

Prunus caroliniana, known as the Carolina laurelcherry, Carolina cherry laurel, Carolina cherry, or Cherry laurel, is a small evergreen flowering tree native to the lowlands of Southeastern United States, from North Carolina south to Florida and westward to central Texas. The species also has escaped into the wild in a few places in California.

<i>Prunus angustifolia</i> Species of tree

Prunus angustifolia, known commonly as Chickasaw plum, Cherokee plum, Florida sand plum, sandhill plum, or sand plum, is a North American species of plum-bearing tree. It was originally cultivated by Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. The species' name angustifolia refers to its narrow leaves. It became the official state fruit of Kansas in 2022.

<i>Lespedeza bicolor</i> Species of legume

Lespedeza bicolor is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names shrubby bushclover, shrub lespedeza, and bicolor lespedeza. It is native to eastern Asia, ranging from southeastern Siberia to eastern China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. and it is widely grown as an ornamental plant. In some regions, such as the southeastern United States, it grows in the wild as an introduced and invasive species.

<i>Trema lamarckianum</i> Species of tree

Trema lamarckianum, Lamarck's trema, West Indian nettle tree, or pain-in-the-back is a plant species in the genus Trema of the family Cannabaceae. It is a small evergreen shrub that is native of Florida and the West Indies. It has several common names such as pain-in-back, cabrilla and Lamarck trema. It is 6 m tall growing all year.

References

  1. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI); IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Tetrazygia bicolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T144281974A149043009. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T144281974A149043009.en . Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 Miconia bicolor (Mill.) Triana. Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  3. NRCS. "Tetrazygia bicolor". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. Rogers, George K. "Tetrazygia Tetrazygia bicolor (Mill.) Cogn". Landscape Plants for South Florida. Palm Beach State College. Retrieved 2010-04-05.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Miconia bicolor at Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies-logo.svg Data related to Miconia bicolor at Wikispecies