Phaulothamnus
Genus of flowering plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phaulothamnus is a genus of plants formerly included in the family Phytolaccaceae but now considered a part of the Achatocarpaceae.[1][2]
| Phaulothamnus | |
|---|---|
| Phaulothamnus spinescens | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Achatocarpaceae |
| Genus: | Phaulothamnus A.Gray |
| Species: | P. spinescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Phaulothamnus spinescens A.Gray | |
Only one species is recognized:[3] Phaulothamnus spinescens A. Gray, native to southern Texas, northeastern Mexico (eastern Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas), and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, Baja California Sur and the Islas Marías of Nayarit).[4] This is a branching shrub with juicy berries.[5] Common names include snake-eyes, devilqueen,[6] or putia.
Phaulothamnus spinescens is a branching shrub up to 250 cm tall, with spines along the branches. Leaves are broader than wide, up to 35 mm wide but rarely more than 12 mm long. Flowers are borne one at a time or in racemes. Fruits are spherical, juicy, white to greenish with the black seeds visible through the thin fruit wall.[4][7][8][9][10]