Sideroxylon tenax

Not to be confused with a similar looking and related plant, Sideroxylon mascatense.

Tough bully
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Sapotaceae
Genus:	Sideroxylon
Species:	S. tenax
Binomial name
Sideroxylon tenax L. 1767
Synonyms [2]
Synonymy Bumelia chrysophylloides(Michx.) P.Watson Bumelia chrysophylloides(Michx.) Pursh Bumelia lacuumSmall Bumelia megacoccaSmall Bumelia tenax(L.) Willd. Chrysophyllum carolinenseJacq. Chrysophyllum glabrumJuss. ex Lam. Lyciodes tenax(L.) Kuntze Sclerocladus tenax(L.) Raf. Sclerozus tenax(L.) Raf. Sideroxylon carolinense(Jacq.) Sarg. Sideroxylon chrysophylloidesMichx. Sideroxylon sericeumWalter

Sideroxylon tenax, called the tough bully, ^[3] is a plant species native to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the southernmost part of North Carolina. It grows on dry, sandy soil in pine forests, pine-oak woodlands, and hummocks at elevations less than 100 m. ^{[4] [5]}

Sideroxylon tenax is a shrub or tree up to 8 m (almost 27 feet) tall. Stems are armed with thorns. Leaves are up to 7 cm (2.8 inches) long, upper side green and sometimes shiny, underside covered with a layer of brown hairs. Flowers are white, up to 5 mm (0.2 inches) across, borne in groups of up to 40 flowers. Berries are very dark purple, almost black, spherical to egg-shaped, about 10 mm (0.4 inches) across. ^{[4] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

Gallery

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  Illustration of Sideroxylon tenax with the synonym Bumelia tenax

References

1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Bumelia". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
2. The Plant List, Sideroxylon tenax
3. NRCS. "Sideroxylon tenax". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 November 2015.
4. Flora of North America Sideroxylon tenax
5. Goldblatt, P. 1991. In M. Johnson, Cytology. Pp. 15--22 in T. D. Pennington, The Genera of Sapotaceae. Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens.
6. BONAP (Biota of North America Project) 2014 county distribution map, Sideroxylon tenax
7. Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1840. Autikon Botanikon (2): 73.
8. Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1838. Sylva Telluriana 35.
9. Pennington, T. D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Flora Neotropica 52: 1–771.
10. Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
11. Plant Information Center, photos of specimens from University of North Carolina Herbarium, Sideroxylon tenax