''Buxus citrifolia'' 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

Buxaceae The Buxaceae are a small family of six genera and about 123 known species of flowering plants. They are shrubs and small trees, with a cosmopolitan distribution. A seventh genus, sometimes accepted in the past (''Notobuxus''), has been shown by ...

. It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. This interesting shrub has not been known to occur in Central America, having only been collected and/or reported in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. ''Buxus citrifolia'' is nearly extinct and has been on the endangered list. The

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

shrub, having both the male and female reproductive organs in the same individual, is 3–5 m tall with a 5 cm

diameter at breast height Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

. Twigs are free from hair and somewhat tetragonal, while the angle ridges are prominent. The leaves are elliptic to narrowly elliptic-ovate while being wedge-shaped or round at the base. The leaves are 5–12 cm long, 2–5 cm wide having the sub-3-veined from the base with the outer 2 nerves forming submarginal veins. The petiole margined and 2–5 mm long. The complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers, inflorescence, is short only about 1–2 cm long axillary. Cymose, definite inflorescence, with a single terminal female flower and several lateral male flowers. The bract, modified leaf, is triangular and 1–2 mm long. Pedicels of male flowers 2–4 mm long, the female flowers sessile. Flowers are white and fragrant. ''Buxus citrifolia'' has been considered similar to another species in the family Buxaceae – ''Buxus laevigata. B. citrifolia'' differs in the fact that ''B. laevigata'' – native to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

– has smaller fruits and flowers. When comparing them to ''B. citrifolia'', the elliptic leaves are broader and has more pronounced secondary venation and more marginal lateral veins. The

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

plant has also often been confused with ''B. citrifolia'', however, the Martinique plant has been found to have long capsule horns and bigger flowers than ''B. citrifolia''.

References

citrifolia Near threatened plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{eudicot-stub