''Annona longiflora'' is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
in the family
Annonaceae
The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
Sereno Watson
Sereno Watson (December 1, 1826 in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut – March 9, 1892 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American botanist.
Graduating from Yale in 1847 in Biology, he drifted through various occupations until, in California, he j ...
, the American botanist who first
formally described the species, named it after its long ( in Latin) flowers.
[
]
Description
It is a bush reaching 0.9 meters in height. Its leaves are 5.1-10.2 centimeters long and come to a point at their tip. Its leaves are nearly hairless on their upper surface and covered in soft short hairs on their lower surface. Its triangular to oval sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s are 5.6 millimeters long. Its oblong, outer petals are 5.1 centimeters long. The outer petals are white with a black base. The outer petals are convex at their base and hairless on their inner surface. Its inner petals are essentially absent. Its fruit is globe-shaped or oval, 3.8 centimeters long with a reticulated surface. Its seeds are smooth and shiny.
Reproductive biology
The pollen of ''A. longiflora '' is shed as permanent tetrads.
Distribution and habitat
It grows in ravines.[
]
Uses
It is used as a native uncultivated edible fruit in Mexico.
References
External links
*
longiflora
Flora of Mexico
Species described in 1887
Edible fruits
Taxa named by Sereno Watson
{{Annonaceae-stub