Sideroxylon socorrense
Species of tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sideroxylon socorrense is a plant species in the family Sapotaceae. It is endemic to Mexico, native to Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands[1] and to the Pacific coast states of Sinaloa and Nayarit on the Mexican mainland.[2]
| Sideroxylon socorrense | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Sapotaceae |
| Genus: | Sideroxylon |
| Species: | S. socorrense |
| Binomial name | |
| Sideroxylon socorrense (Brandegee) T.D.Penn. (1990) | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Bumelia socorrensis Brandegee (1901) | |
On its island home, this small tree grows in habitat that is at least seasonally humid. This restricts it mainly to a belt of woodland between 650 and 900 m above mean sea level, except on the northern side where wetter conditions predominate.[3] It is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to the adverse effects of introduced sheep grazing and the twice-yearly swarming of the locust Schistocerca piceifrons, a non-native pest that has become established on Socorro more recently.
The fruits of this plant are among the favorite foods of the nearly-extinct Socorro mockingbird (Mimus graysoni)[4] and the Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni) which presently only survives in captivity.[5] Similar as in other Sideroxylon, these birds might be crucial for the present species' reproduction.
