Saurauia whitfordii

Saurauia whitfordii is a species of plant in the Actinidiaceae family. It is native to the Philippines.[1] Elmer Drew Merrill, the American botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Harry Nichols Whitford, another American botanist who collected the specimen Merrill examined.[2]

Saurauia whitfordii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Actinidiaceae
Genus: Saurauia
Species:
S. whitfordii
Binomial name
Saurauia whitfordii

Description

It is a bush reaching 3–4 meters in height. Its oblong leaves vary in size but are generally 15–20 by 7–8 centimeters and come to a short tapering point at their tips. The leaf margins have fine spiny serrations. The leaves have smooth dark upper surfaces and smooth paler lower surfaces. The leaves have 12 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its scaly petioles are 2–3 centimeters long. Its axillary inflorescences are organized in cymes on peduncles that are 2–3 centimeters long. Its flowers have male and female reproductive structures. Its flowers have a 5–6 millimeter long by 3.5 millimeter wide calyx. Its flowers have white petals that are 8 millimeters long. Its flowers have up to 20 stamens. Its flowers have smooth ovaries with three chambers. Its fruit 5–6 millimeters in diameter with numerous seeds that are 1 millimeter in length.[3]

Reproductive biology

The pollen of Saurauia whitfordii is shed as permanent tetrads.[4]

References
  1. "Saurauia whitfordii Merr". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  2. "Whitford, Harry Nichols (1872-1941)". Global Plants. ITHAKA. n.d. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  3. Merrill, Elmer D. (1905). "New or Noteworthy Philippine Plants, IV". Publication - Bureau of Government Laboratories. 35: 3–68.
  4. Jagudilla-Bulalacao, L (1997) Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Volume 1, Taguig, Metro Manila: Department of Science and Technology, Special Projects Unit, Technology Application and Promotion Institute.
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