View source for Argythamnia

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Argythamnia
|accepted_authority=P. Browne
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Civ. Nat. Hist. Jamaica,
|place=338. 1756
|year=1756
}}
|common_names=Silverbush;wild-mercury
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Aphora
|authority=Nuttall
|rank=genus
}} {{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Ditaxis
|authority=Vahl ex A. Jussieu
|rank=genus
}} {{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Serophyton
|authority=Bentham
|rank=genus
}}
|hierarchy=Euphorbiaceae;Argythamnia
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Euphorbiaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Argythamnia]]</div></div>
|etymology=Greek argyros, silver-white, and thamnos, shrub, alluding to trunk and branches covered with whitish bark
|volume=Volume 12
|mention_page=page 157, 159, 173
|treatment_page=page 172
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> subshrubs, or shrubs [trees], annual or perennial, monoecious or dioecious; hairs usually malpighiaceous (appressed and attached by the middle), sometimes unbranched [stellate], rarely absent; latex absent. <b>Leaves</b> drought deciduous or persistent, alternate, simple; stipules present, persistent or deciduous; petiole absent or present, glands usually absent (tack-shaped glands along length in <i>A. adenophora</i>); blade unlobed, margins entire or serrate-dentate, laminar glands absent; venation palmate (3- or 5-veined), secondary veins arcuate, not closely spaced. <b>Inflorescences</b> unisexual or bisexual (pistillate flowers proximal, staminate distal), axillary, racemes; glands subtending each bract 0. <b>Pedicels</b> present. <b>Staminate</b> flowers: sepals [4–]5, valvate, distinct; petals [4–]5, distinct, free or adnate to androphore, white, sometimes pale yellow-green or pale purple proximally; nectary extrastaminal, [4–]5 glands; stamens [4–](7–)10[–12] in [1–]2 whorls, connate proximally forming androphore; staminodes 0–5, at apex of androphore; pistillode absent. <b>Pistillate</b> flowers: sepals 5, distinct; petals usually 5, sometimes rudimentary or 0, distinct, white, sometimes pale yellow-green or pale purple proximally; nectary 5 glands; pistil 3(–4)-carpellate; styles 3, distinct or connate proximally, 2-fid, branches 6 per flower, [2 times 2-fid]. <b>Fruits</b> capsules, not muricate. <b>Seeds</b> globose to ovoid; caruncle absent [present].</span><!--

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|distribution=United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America;tropical and subtropical regions.
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 80 (12 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>There has been controversy surrounding the taxonomic status of <i>Argythamnia</i>. Some authors have recognized Ditaxis, which includes all of the species in the flora area, at the generic level (G. L. Webster 1994b; A. Radcliffe-Smith 2001), whereas others have treated it as a subgenus of <i>Argythamnia</i> (J. W. Ingram 1980; R. McVaugh 1995). There are several morphological characters that distinguish these taxa and pollen morphology supports their generic recognition (W. Punt 1962). However, recent molecular phylogenetic studies demonstrate that recognizing Ditaxis makes <i>Argythamnia</i> paraphyletic (Y. Ramírez-Amezcua 2011), so they are treated here as a single genus.</p><!--
--><p><i>Argythamnia</i> heterantha (Zuccarini) Müller Arg., from Mexico, is cultivated; the seeds are used as a saffron substitute and represent a potential resource for dye, oil, and protein (M. D. Méndez-Robles et al. 2004).</p><!--
--><p>M. C. Johnston (1990) reported <i>Argythamnia</i> astroplethos J. W. Ingram from the Chinati Mountains, Presidio County, Texas, but no specimens were cited and none have been located. This species grows nearby in Chihuahua, Mexico, and may eventually be documented from Texas. It belongs to subgenus Chiropetalum (A. Jussieu) J. W. Ingram and can be distinguished from other <i>Argythamnia</i> species in the flora area by its indumentum of stellate hairs in addition to malpighiaceous hairs, tetramerous staminate flowers, and styles that are twice 2-fid.</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Glands present on margins of stipules, leaf blades, bracts, and pistillate sepals.
|[[#key-0-2| > 2]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Stems and leaves with simple hairs; margins of stipules, leaf blades, bracts, and pistillate sepals with tack-shaped glands.
|[[Argythamnia adenophora|Argythamnia adenophora]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Stems and leaves with simple and malpighiaceous hairs; margins of stipules, leaf blades, bracts, and pistillate sepals with conic glands.
|[[Argythamnia claryana|Argythamnia claryana]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Glands absent on margins of stipules, leaf blades, bracts, and pistillate sepals.
|[[#key-0-3| > 3]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Petioles usually absent, rarely to 4 mm on proximal leaves.
|[[#key-0-4| > 4]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Pistillate petals 5, 2.8–3.5 mm, obovate to spatulate; stipules punctiform.
|[[Argythamnia cyanophylla|Argythamnia cyanophylla]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Pistillate petals 0 or 5, 0–1.7 mm, elliptic, lanceolate, linear, or punctiform; stipules elliptic, ovate, subulate, or linear-lanceolate.
|[[#key-0-5| > 5]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Nectary glands of pistillate flowers linear, of staminate flowers linear to obovate.
|[[Argythamnia mercurialina|Argythamnia mercurialina]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Nectary glands of pistillate and staminate flowers ovate or oblong.
|[[#key-0-6| > 6]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Stamens 10; staminate petals cuneate-elliptic to cuneate-obovate; ovary tomentose to lanulose.
|[[Argythamnia aphoroides|Argythamnia aphoroides]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Stamens 7–8; staminate petals elliptic; ovary strigose to hispidulous.
|[[Argythamnia simulans|Argythamnia simulans]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Petioles present, 1–18 mm.
|[[#key-0-7| > 7]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Plants dioecious.
|[[#key-0-8| > 8]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Flowers usually releasing pink dye when wetted; styles pilose; staminate nectary glands 0.1–0.2 × 0.1 mm; stems and leaves densely hairy, hairs silvery.
|[[Argythamnia argyraea|Argythamnia argyraea]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Flowers without pink dye when wetted; styles glabrous; staminate nectary glands 0.3–1 × 0.2–0.4 mm; stems and leaves hairy or glabrous, hairs silvery or not.
|[[#key-0-9| > 9]]
|-id=key-0-9
|9
|Staminate petals free from androphore; pistillate petals elliptic to filiform, 0.3–1.7 × 0.3–0.4 mm.
|[[Argythamnia humilis|Argythamnia humilis]]
|-id=key-0-9
|9
|Staminate petals adnate to androphore; pistillate petals elliptic, 1.8–3 × 0.7–1.4 mm.
|[[Argythamnia lanceolata|Argythamnia lanceolata]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Plants monoecious.
|[[#key-0-10| > 10]]
|-id=key-0-10
|10
|Staminate petals adnate to androphore.
|[[#key-0-11| > 11]]
|-id=key-0-11
|11
|Inflorescences 1.5–5.5 cm; staminate sepals 4–6 × 0.8–1 mm; staminate petals 5–7 × 1.2–2.5 mm; pistillate petals 5–6 × 1.5–1.6 mm; petioles 7–18 mm.
|[[Argythamnia brandegeei|Argythamnia brandegeei]]
|-id=key-0-11
|11
|Inflorescences 0.4–1.3 cm; staminate sepals 2–3 × 0.5–0.8 mm; staminate petals 2.1–3.4 × 0.7–1.2 mm; pistillate petals 1.5–3 × 0.6–1.4 mm; petioles 1–5 mm.
|[[#key-0-12| > 12]]
|-id=key-0-12
|12
|Stigmas terete or slightly flattened; pistillate petals 1.5–1.8 × 0.6–1 mm; Florida.
|[[Argythamnia argothamnoides|Argythamnia argothamnoides]]
|-id=key-0-12
|12
|Stigmas flattened; pistillate petals 1.8–3 × 0.7–1.4 mm; Arizona, California.
|[[Argythamnia lanceolata|Argythamnia lanceolata]]
|-id=key-0-10
|10
|Staminate petals free from androphore.
|[[#key-0-13| > 13]]
|-id=key-0-13
|13
|Stigmas terete; staminate sepals 0.9–2.5 mm.
|[[Argythamnia serrata|Argythamnia serrata]]
|-id=key-0-13
|13
|Stigmas flattened; staminate sepals 2–5 mm.
|[[#key-0-14| > 14]]
|-id=key-0-14
|14
|Flowers usually releasing pink dye when wetted; staminate nectary glands ovate, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1 mm.
|[[Argythamnia argyraea|Argythamnia argyraea]]
|-id=key-0-14
|14
|Flowers not releasing pink dye when wetted; staminate nectary glands ovate to linear, 0.4–0.8 × 0.2–0.3 mm.
|[[Argythamnia humilis|Argythamnia humilis]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Argythamnia
|author=Yocupitzia Ramírez-Amezcua
|authority=P. Browne
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=Aphora;Ditaxis;Serophyton
|basionyms=
|family=Euphorbiaceae
|distribution=United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America;tropical and subtropical regions.
|reference=None
|publication title=Civ. Nat. Hist. Jamaica,
|publication year=1756
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/eaa6e58056e40c9ef614d8f47aea294977a1a5e9/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V12/V12_84.xml
|genus=Argythamnia
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Euphorbiaceae]]