- Ilex mucronata
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Ilex mucronata Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Aquifoliales Family: Aquifoliaceae Genus: Ilex Species: I. mucronata Binomial name Ilex mucronata
(L.) M.Powell, Savol., & S.AndrewsSynonyms Nemopanthus mucronatus
Ilex mucronata (Mountain Holly or Catberry) is a species of holly native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Minnesota, and south to Maryland and West Virginia.[1]
Contents
Taxonomy
It was formerly treated in its own monotypic genus as Nemopanthus mucronatus (L.) Loes., but transferred to Ilex on molecular data;[2] it is closely related to Ilex amelanchier.[3]
Description
Ilex mucronata is a deciduous shrub growing to 3 m (rarely 4 m) tall. The leaves are 1.5-7 cm long and 1-3 cm broad, with an entire or finely serrated margin and an acute apex, and a 0.5–2 cm petiole. The flowers are inconspicuous, whitish to greenish-yellow, produced on slender peduncles 25 mm or more long; it is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The fruit is a red drupe 6–7 mm diameter containing three to five pits.[4][5][6]
The name Mountain Holly is also sometimes used for the related Mountain Winterberry (Ilex montana).
Gallery
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Detail of Ilex mucronata flowers.
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Ilex mucronata. Mount Carleton Provincial Park, New Brunswick. June.
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Ilex mucronata fruit.
The white-petaled flower shown here, supposedly of Ilex mucronata, and the 2nd image, showing a flowering shrub of the same species, are actually images of an Amelanchier (Rosaceae) and nothing like the unisexual, very small, flowers of Ilex mucronata (Aquifoliaceae). For an accurate image of Ilex mucronata flowers (male), see: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ILMU
References
- ^ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ilex mucronata
- ^ Powell, M., Savolainen, V., Cuénod, P., Manen, J. F., & Andrews, S. (2000). The mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus: Aquifoliaceae) revisited with molecular data. Kew Bulletin 55: 341-347.
- ^ Gottlieb, A. M., Giberti, G. C., & Poggio, L. (2005). Molecular analyses of the genus Ilex (Aquifoliaceae) in southern South America, evidence from AFLP and ITS sequence data. Amer. J. Bot. 92: 352-369. Available online.
- ^ Northern Ontario Plant Database: Ilex mucronata.
- ^ Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Nemopanthus mucronatus.
- ^ Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission: Supplement to key to common wetland shrubs of Wisconsin (pdf file).
External links
Categories:- Ilex
- Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America)
- Flora of Eastern Canada
- Flora of the Northeastern United States
- Flora of Michigan
- Flora of Maryland
- Flora of West Virginia
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