Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng.

  • Authority

    Kopp, Lucille E. 1966. A tasonomic revision of the genus Persea in the Western Hemisphere (Perseae-Lauraceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 14: 1-117.

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrubs or small trees; branchlets angular at the tips, sparsely to densely cupreous-strigulose becoming avhitish with age, the bark aromatic; petioles 1-3 cm. long, sparsely strigulose, canaliculate; leaf-blades 3-13 cm. long, 1-6.5 cm. wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, elliptic to lanceolate, the tips acute to occasionally round, the bases acute, the upper surface glabrescent, the lower surface sparsely cupreous-strigose becoming tawny with age, glaucous, the costa slightly raised above, prominent beneath, the 5-8 pairs of primary nerves divergent at 40-55°, obscure above, prominulous beneath, reticulation obscure on both surfaces. Inflorescence a compound axillary dichasium; peduncle slender, 0.8-2.5 cm. long, usually shorter than the petiole of its subtending leaf, cupreous-strigulose; pedicels 1-2.5 mm. long, slender, cupreous-strigulose; flowers 3-3.5 (-5) mm. long; outer perianth-segments 1.7-2.6 mm. long, 1.6-2.5 mm. wide, ovate, glabrous within, cupreous-sericeous without; inner perianth-segments 3-4.5 mm. long, 1.5-2.5 mm. wide, pubescent on the inner surface, cupreous-sericeous on the outer surface; stamens about 3 mm. long, the filaments about 1.5 mm. long, the anthers also 1.5 mm. long, the filaments of series I and II sparsely strigulose, the anthers broadly oblong, quadrilocular; filaments of series III sparsely strigulose, the glands subsessile, adnate to the basal 1/4 of the filaments, the anthers narrowly oblong, quadrilocular, lateral to laterally extrorse dehiscence; staminodia of series IV sagittate, bearing a weak terminal tuft of hairs; gynoecium glabrous, the ovary globose; style 2-2.5 mm. long, slender; stigma triangular-peltate. Infructescence with few fruits; perianth-segments mostly persistent and patent, the outer remaining in their entirety, the inner deciduous for half their length; fruits 1-1.2 cm. long, subglobose, black, glaucous.

  • Discussion

    Laurus carolinensis Catesb. Hist. Natur. 63. 1731.

    Laurus borbonia L. Species Plantarum 1: 370. 1753.

    Laurus carolinensis var. a glabra Pursh, Fl. .Am. Sept. 1: 276. 1814.

    Persea carolinensis [Catesby] vars. ß, y and [Greek], Nees, Syst. Laurin. 150. 1838.

    Persea carolinensis a glabriuscula Meissn. in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 51. 1864.

    Persea carolinensis f. glabriuscula (Meissn.) Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 176. 1889.

    Notaphoebe borbonica (L.) Pax, E. and P. Nat. Pflanzenf. 3(2): 116. 1898.

    Persea littoralis Small, Fl. Southeast. U.S. ed. 1: 820. 1903.

    Tamala littoralis Small, Fl. Southeast. U.S. ed. 2: 822. 1913.

    Borbonia littoralis (Small) House, Am. Midi. Nat.