''Asimina pygmaea'', the dwarf pawpaw or gopher berry, 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 native to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title ''Bartram's Travels'', which chronicled ...

, the American naturalist who first formally described the species using the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Annona pygmaea'', named it after its dwarfed ( in Latin) stature.

Description

It is a bush reaching 20–30 centimeters in height. It has a spindle-shaped taproot from which one or more branched, or unbranched shoots emerge. Its shoots have red to brown bark with

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

s. Its leathery leaves are 4–11 centimeters long and have rounded or blunt tips, occasionally with a notch. The margins of the leaves are rolled toward their underside. The leaves are dark green and hairless on their upper surface and paler on their underside with a networked pattern of veins. Its twisted petioles are 3–10 millimeters long. Its flowers are on thin, 1.5–4 centimeter long axillary peduncles. Its flowers are a brown-crimson color with a strong yeasty or rotting flesh smell. Its flowers have 6 petals, arranged in two rows of three. Its oblong to oval, fleshy, outer petals are 1.5–3 centimeters long and rolled downward toward their outer surface. Its fleshy, oval inner petals are 0.5–2 centimeters long, deeper in color than the outer petals. The base of the inner petals are swollen, and wrinkled on the inner surface. The tips of the inner petals are rolled back. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are globular, 4–7 millimeters wide and light green to pink at maturity. Its flowers have 2–5

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

. Its fruit are yellow-green, curved cylinders, 3–4 centimeters in length. The fruit have brown, shiny seeds, each 1 centimeter in length, arranged in two rows.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''Asimina pygmaea '' is shed as permanent tetrads. It is pollinated by the dark flower scarab beetle '' Euphoria sepulcralis''. Its flowers produce several scent compounds including

dimethyl sulfide Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or methylthiomethane is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH3)2S. Dimethyl sulfide is a flammable liquid that boils at and has a characteristic disagreeable odor. It is a component of the smell produced from cook ...

which is associated with carrion odor and may attract beetle pollinators.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in well-drained sandy soils, in pine

flatwoods Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an ecological community in the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fire an ...

, savannahs and old fields.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15399608, from2=Q49426622 pygmaea Flora of Georgia (U.S. state) Flora of Florida Plants described in 1817 Taxa named by Michel Félix Dunal