Horsfordia alata (S. Watson) A. Gray
Description
Strict to openly branched shrubs 1-2.5 (4) m tall with dense grayish yellow pubescence essentially throughout, the hairs rough, stellate (often stipitate), less than 0.5 mm long. Leaf blades mostly 4-8 cm long (smaller upward), 1.1-2 times as long as wide, ovate, more or less cordate, obscurely denticulate, acute (rarely obtuse), densely pubescent above and beneath; petioles less than half the length of the blades. Flowers solitary in the leaf axils or on axillary racemes, the whole forming a terminal inflorescence; pedicels up to 17 mm long; calyx 5-7 mm long, ca. half-divided, stellate-pubescent; petals 12-21 mm long, bluish lavender, glabrous except on claw; staminal column 2.5-3 mm long, pallid, sparsely pubescent, the filaments sometimes purplish; styles 9-10, ca. half the length of the petals, glabrous, pallid or purplish. Fruits 7-8 mm long, 7-8 mm in diameter, sparsely stellate-pubescent, often flushed purple distally; mericarps 9-10, divided into two cells by medial constriction, the lower cell indehiscent, 1-seeded, laterally reticulate, the 5-6 areolae hyaline, the dorsal wall rugose basally, the upper cell smooth, forming an angle with the lower cell (the two cells thus diverging from one another in the fruit), dehiscing ventrally and dorsally, with two usually abortive ovules (seldom developing into seeds), with two wings prolonged beyond the seed cavity, sometimes apically lacerate; seeds 1.9 mm long, dark brown, minutely scabridulous. Chromosome number: 2n = 30.A
Distribution
México (país) Nativo y no endémicoA
Habitat & Ecology
Occurs in desert habitats. It flowers principally from March to May but also at other seasons.
Tipo de vegetación
No especificadoA
Categoría IUCN
No incluidaB
Categoría NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010
No incluidaC