Montanoa atriplicifolia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Montanoa atriplicifolia | |
|---|---|
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| Montanoa atriplicifolia flowering and fruiting heads | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Heliantheae |
| Genus: | Montanoa |
| Species: | M. atriplicifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Montanoa atriplicifolia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Montanoa atriplicifolia, sometimes called daisy vine, Yucatan daisy and other names, is a species of shrub or vine belonging to the family Asteraceae.[2]
All the 29 or so species of Montanoa can be referred to as "daisy trees" because of their attractive, daisy-like flower heads with white, petal-like ray florets and yellow "eye" composed of disc florets. Leaves with obvious petioles develop opposite one another on woody stems. However, the most eye-catching and distinctive botanical feature of Montanoa atriplicifolia is this:[2]
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In the flower head, or capitulum, there's a scale-like bract beside each yellow disc floret, the palea, which after the flower is pollinated greatly enlarges to form a papery, net-veined, wafer-like structure broadest near its straight (not curved) apex, and which falls with the mature, much smaller, one-seeded, cypsela-type fruits.
Beyond that, here are features distinguishing Montanoa atriplicifolia from other daisy trees.[2]
- Flower heads when mature tend to hang downward on petioles which along their sides don't bear low, flat ridges, or "wings", of blade tissue.
- Disc florets number 85-120.
- Corollas of the yellow disc-florets are particularly small, only about 2 mm (1⁄16 in) tall, while the petal-like corollas of the ray florets are 12–24 mm (1⁄2–1 in) long.
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Especially in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Montanoa atriplicifolia may appear as a much branching vine. At higher elevations elsewhere and in wetter environments, however, it's more likely to exhibit a shrub habit.[2]
Distribution
Montanoa atriplicifolia is native to the southernmost Mexican state of Chiapas and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula south through Central America into Costa Rica.[1]
Habitat
In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Montanoa atriplicifolia occurs in coastal scrub, in various kinds of low-growing tropical deciduous forests, including those with columnar cacti, and in disturbed areas.[3] Pictures on this page are from an individual in an open treefall area on limestone bedrock in the forest adjacent to Chichén Itzá Ruins in Yucatán, Mexico.[4] In Nicaragua, Montanoa atriplicifolia is characteristic of disturbed areas and rocky, nutrient-poor soils in the process of desertification.[5]