Dirca palustris

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Eastern leatherwood
Dirca palustris Arkansas.jpg
Dirca palustris [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Genus: Dirca
Species:
D. palustris
Binomial name
Dirca palustris
L.

Dirca palustris, or eastern leatherwood, is a shrub that grows to a maximum height of about three meters. It is native to the eastern half of North America but abundant only locally. It is most likely to be encountered in the northern part of its range, and is a dominant shrub in some hardwood forests of the upper Great Lakes Region. Rich woods, swampy in some cases, provide its main habitat, and it is occasionally cultivated. The species name, "palustris", means "of the swamps," although it also occurs in well-drained areas provided that the soils are moisture-retentive. It is often hard to recognize because the flowers, which come out just before leafing, last a very short time and D. palustris may be mixed in with the much more frequent Spicebush, which also has small yellow flowers that appear before the leaves and do so at just about the same time in the early spring. Its closest relative, the western leatherwood, lives across the continent in the San Francisco Bay Area. [2]

D. palustris branches and leaves. Near North Fork Mountain, West Virginia, USA Dirca palustris rt2.jpg
D. palustris branches and leaves. Near North Fork Mountain, West Virginia, USA
D. palustris habit. Taxus canadensis (Canadian yew) to rear. Forested ravine in western Indiana, USA Dirca palustris rt1.jpg
D. palustris habit. Taxus canadensis (Canadian yew) to rear. Forested ravine in western Indiana, USA
Botanical plate Dirca palustris - Edwards.jpg
Botanical plate

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

Dirca is a genus of three or four species of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to North America. The genus is named after Dirce in Greek mythology. The general common name for this deciduous shrub is leatherwood; other names include moosewood, ropebark and the Powhatan-derived name wicopy. The stems of Dirca are exceptionally pliable and the bark is difficult to tear by hand; for this reason, its stems were used by Native Americans in eastern North America as thongs or ropes. Members of the genus can grow to a maximum height of about three meters, and are often associated with rich, moist woods or slopes above creeks or streams.

<i>Eucryphia lucida</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Comarum palustre</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Rosa palustris</i> Species of shrub

Rosa palustris, the swamp rose, is a shrub in the rose family native to much of eastern North America. It can be found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the north, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Ontario. It is a host of the blinded sphinx moth and Coptotriche admirabilis.

<i>Persea palustris</i> Species of tree in the family Lauraceae

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Palustris is a Latin word meaning "swampy" or "marshy", and may refer to:

<i>Dirca occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Dirca occidentalis, the western leatherwood, is a deciduous shrub with leaves three to seven centimeters in length. Yellow flowers emerge prior to leafing. It grows on moist and shaded slopes. It is rare and endemic to the San Francisco Bay area of California. Its closest relative, Dirca palustris, lives in the eastern half of North America.

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The Leatherwood Wilderness, a 16,838 acres (68.14 km2) federally designated wilderness area, is located within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas is the largest wilderness area in Arkansas. The US Congress designated the Leatherwood Wilderness in 1984 and the US Forest Service manages the land.

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Mimetes palustris or cryptic pagoda is an evergreen shrub, assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has horizontal sprawling shoots as well as upright, unbranched shoots usually about ½ m (1½ in) high. The leaves are entire and stand out on the lower parts of the shoots, but are overlapping and pressed tightly against each other near the inflorescence, almost like a snakeskin. The inflorescence consists of several flowerheads, each containing three clear yellow flowers that are longer than the subtending leaves. It is the smallest species of Mimetes and is an endemic species that grows on well-drained, but permanently moist sandy and peaty slopes in the mountains near Hermanus, Western Cape province of South Africa. It is considered critically endangered. Flowering occurs all year round, but peaks in August and September.

<i>Dirca decipiens</i> Species of flowering plant

Dirca decipiens, the Ozark leatherwood, is a deciduous shrub endemic to northwestern Arkansas, southeastern Kansas, and southwestern Missouri. It is distinguished from the more widespread eastern leatherwood by its sessile fruits and finely hairy leaves and stems.

Dirca mexicana, the Mexican leatherwood, is a low shrub with a very restricted population in Tamaulipas, Mexico. However, it does surprisingly well in the much colder environment of Ames, Iowa. Like most Dirca species, it blooms in early spring.

References

  1. From: The botanical register by Sydenham Teast Edwards and others. London, James Ridgeway, 1818, volume 4 (plate 292).
  2. Archibald William Smith A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins , p. 258, at Google Books

/https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d881d9de-ebb5-4f3f-97be-666d9f187765/content Bryan James Peterson (2013). Phytogeography of eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris L.) resolved by chloroplast sequencing and micro satellite genotyping