Ilex asprella
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ilex asprella | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ilex asprella - Hong Kong Botanical Garden | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Aquifoliales |
| Family: | Aquifoliaceae |
| Genus: | Ilex |
| Species: | I. asprella |
| Binomial name | |
| Ilex asprella (Hook. & Arn.) Champ. ex Benth. | |
Ilex asprella, also known as rough-leaved holly and plum-leaved holly, is a deciduous shrub native in South East Asia. Ilex asprella is one of the few deciduous species in the family Aquifoliaceae.
Ilex asprella is a densely branched deciduous shrub that grows up to 3 m tall. The long shoots are glabrous, brown, and slender, while the short shoots are green with significant white lenticels. The leaves are thin-chartaceous, glandular-punctate on the back, ovate, measuring 4 to 5 cm in length and 1.5 to 2.5 cm broad. The leaf apex is acuminate, the base cuneate, the margin serrulate, hirsute on adaxial nerves and nearly glabrous beneath. Petioles are 3 to 8 mm long. The leaves have Reticulate veins with 6 to 8 pairs of pinnate lateral veins.
Flowers are white and arranged in axillary umbels with slender pedicels, dioecy. Male flower: 2 to 5 flowers each inflorescence and measure approximately 2.5 to 3 mm in diameter. They are glabrous with 4 or 5 suborbicular petals, margin erose, corolla rotate, base slightly connate; stamens ca. 3/4 as long as petals, anthers oblong and ca. 1 mm. Female flower: 4 to 6 flowers each inflorescence, glabrous, ca. 3 mm in diameter; flowers 4-6; calyx deeply 4 to 6 lobed; corolla rotate, petals suborbicular, basal slightly connate; staminodes ca. 1 mm, sterile anthers sagittate; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diameter, style present, stigma thickly discoid.
Drupe black and globose, endocarp stony, 5 mm long, 4 mm across, pedicel 2 to 3 cm long.[1][2][3]