Aria meyeri
Species of tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aria meyeri, or Meyer's whitebeam,[4] is an apomictic species[3] of tree in the family Rosaceae endemic to Baden-Württemberg[2] and Bavaria, Germany.[3] It is extremely rare[3][5] and vulnerable to extinction.[1]
| Aria meyeri | |
|---|---|
| |
| Fruiting Aria meyeri growing in its natural habitat in the Tauberland, Germany | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Aria |
| Species: | A. meyeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Aria meyeri (S.Hammel & Haynold) Mosyakin, Fedor. & McNeill[2] | |
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Description
Vegetative characteristics
Aria meyeri is an up to 15 m tall[5] occasionally multi-trunked[6] tree or shrub[5] with initially smooth and later fissured greyish brown bark.[6] The trunk circumference at 150 cm height is 90 cm.[6] The petiolate, slightly lobed leaves with a dentate margin are 8–10 cm long,[5] and 5.4–6.6 cm wide.[6] The abaxial leaf surface bears white pubescence.[5]
Generative characteristics
The 5.5–8.5 cm wide inflorescence bears 30–55[5] white, 1.6–1.7 cm wide flowers.[6] The flower has 20 white, 5–7 mm long stamens with cream-coloured anthers.[6] The faintly green styles are partially fused.[5] The 12–13 mm long,[5] bright red, oval fruit[7] with up to 170 lenticels[5] bears brown, 5.5 mm long, 2.5 mm wide, and 2 mm high seeds.[6]
Cytology
It is triploid[7][8] with a chromosome count of 2n = 51.[9][7]
Taxonomy
It was first described as Sorbus meyeri S.Hammel & Haynold by Steffen Hammel and Bernd Haynold in 2014.[6][10] It was moved to the genus Aria (Pers.) J.Jacq. ex Host as Aria meyeri (S.Hammel & Haynold) Mosyakin, Fedor. & McNeill by Sergei Leonidovich Mosyakin, Mykola Mykhaylovych Fedoronchuk, and John McNeill in 2025.[11] The type specimen, which is held in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, was collected on the 12th of May 2013 by Hammel and Haynold in the edge of a forest south of Külsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany at an elevation of 380 m above sea level.[10]
Etymology
The specific epithet meyeri honours the German botanist Norbert Meyer.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Conservation
It is a vulnerable species with a restricted distribution and a population of only about 250–999 individuals.[1] Aria meyeri is not specially protected by nature conservation laws,[12] but some of the populations are grow within legally protected areas, or within a military training area.[1] It is not known to be cultivated in any ex-situ conservation collections.[1]