Saurauia merrillii

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Saurauia merrillii
Herbarium specimen of Saurauia merrillii.[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Actinidiaceae
Genus: Saurauia
Species:
S. merrillii
Binomial name
Saurauia merrillii

Saurauia merrillii is a species of plant in the family Actinidiaceae. It is native to the Philippines.[2] Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer, the American botanist who first formally described the species, named it in honor of Elmer Drew Merrill, another American botanist.

Description[edit]

It is a bush reaching 3 meters in height. Its membranous leaves are variable in size, but generally 15 by 4 centimeters. The tips of the leaves come to a point that curves backwards. The leaves are paler on their lower surface which has brown hairs. The leaves have 9-13 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its bristly petioles are 5-25 millimeters long. Inflorescences are pendulous and are axillary or emerge beneath leaves. The inflorescences are organized as panicles of about 6 flowers on a 3-5 centimeter long peduncle. Its flowers have male and female reproductive structures. Its flowers have 5 oblong sepals that are 5 millimeters in length, and fused at their base. The sepals have patch of 3 millimeter long hairs in the middle of their outer surface. Its white corolla is 7 millimeters long and united at its base. Its flowers have up to 18 stamens with 2.56 millimeters long filaments and anthers that are yellow and 2 by 0.75 millimeters. Its flowers have 3 smooth styles that are 3 millimeters long and united at their base. Its fertilized ovaries smooth on the outside, with three hairy chambers that contain clusters of seeds.[3]

Reproductive biology[edit]

The pollen of Saurauia merrillii is shed as permanent tetrads.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Saurauia merrillii Elmer". Tropicos. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. n.d. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "Saurauia merrillii Elmer". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Elmer, A.D.E. (1908). "A Century of New Plants". Leaflets of Philippine Botany. 1: 272–359.
  4. ^ Jagudilla-Bulalacao, L (1997) Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Volume 1, Taguig, Metro Manila: Department of Science and Technology, Special Projects Unit, Technology Application and Promotion Institute.

External links[edit]