''Colubrina greggii'', commonly known as Sierra nakedwood or Gregg's colubrina, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

native to eastern Mexico, with a

disjunct population In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

in southern Texas in the United States.

Etymology

The name honours American botanist Josiah Gregg (1806 – 1850), who collected the holotype near Monterrey, Nuevo León in 1848.

Description

''Colubrina greggii'' is a shrub 2–3 m in height or a small tree, reaching 5 m. Stems zigzag and are glabrate to loosely sericeous. Leaves are alternately arranged, simple, ovate to lanceolate-ovate or elliptic-ovate, and have finely toothed margins. The blades measure 6–18 cm in length and 3–8 cm in width. Petioles are 4–20 mm long. The inflorescence is a thyrse with 20-80 flowers. Peduncles measure 5–12 mm in length. The flowers are greenish-yellow, with stamens opposite the spoon-shaped petals. Flowering takes place in the spring or summer through fall. Fruiting pedicels are 5–10 mm in length. The fruit is a hard, globose capsule approximately 8–10 mm in diameter, on which

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

remnants form an equatorial ring. It is very similar to '' C. arborescens'' of southern Florida and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and herbarium specimens of the two species are difficult to distinguish.

Habitat and range

''C. greggii'' can be found in the states of

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

, Hidalgo,

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz in Mexico. In Texas, this species is restricted to the lower Rio Grande Valley, where it is associated with '' Sabal mexicana'' at . In Queretaro and Guanajuato, ''C. greggii'' can be found in primary and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

tropical dry forests,

xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

, and oak forests from .

Systematics

''Colubrina greggii'' is part of a species complex with '' C. angustior'' of San Luis Potosi, southern Tamaulipas, and northern Veracruz and '' C. yucatanensis'' of

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, and Guatemala's Petén Department. The latter two species were considered varieties of ''C. greggii'' until they were raised to full species in 2013.

References

External links

''Colubrina greggii'' @ iNaturalist''Colubrina greggii'' @ EncicloVida
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15536747 greggii Plants described in 1882 Trees of Northern America Flora of the Rio Grande valleys