Persea palustris (Raf.) Sarg.

  • 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 palustris (Raf.) Sarg.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrubs or trees to 15 m.; bark gray and fissured; branchlets angular, sparsely to mostly densely ferrugineous-lanate, becoming fuscous-lanate; petioles 0.8-2.5 cm. long, mostly densely lanate, slighth canaliculate; leaf-blades 6.5-18 cm. long, 1.5-5.5 cm. wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous. obovate to ovate to lanceolate, the tips attenuate to acute, the bases cuneate, rarely obtuse, the upper surface glabrescent, the lower surface glaucous, moderately lanate, the costa prominulous on both surfaces, the 5-10 pairs of primary nerves divergent at 40-55°, obscure above, prominulous beneath, reticulation obscure on both surfaces. Inflorescence an axillary compound dichasium; peduncle 1-7.5 cm. long, usually longer than the petiole of the subtending leaf, densely lanate; flowers subsessile. 4.5-5 mm. long; outer perianth-segments 2-2.2 mm. long, 1.7-1.8 mm. wide, ovate, glabrous within, pubescent with subappressed hairs without; inner perianth-segments 4—5 mm. long, 1.5—1.6 mm. wide, puberulous within, pubescent with subappressed hairs without; stamens about 3 mm. long, the anthers 1.2 mm. long, the filaments about 1.7 mm. long, the filaments of series I and II puberulous, the anthers oblong-ovate, quadrilocular; filaments of series III puberulous, the glands subsessile, adnate to the basal 1/3-1/2 of the filament, the anthers narrowly oblong, sparseh dorsally puberulous; staminodia of series IV sagittate, bearing a weak terminal tuft of hairs; gynoecium glabrous, the ovary globose; style 1.5-2.5 mm. long, stigma peltate. Infructescence usually with few fruits; outer perianth-segments patent; inner segments with tips deciduous; fruit 7-8 mm. in diameter, subglobose to ellipsoid, slightly apiculate, black.

    Distribution and Ecology - Distribution. Coastal plain from Dismal Swamp area of virginia to southern Florida and west to Texas, the Bahamas, and cultivated in Jamaica.

  • Discussion

    Laurus carolinensis var. (3 pubescens Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept. 1: 276. 1814.

    Tamala palustris Raf. Sylva Tell. 136. 1838.

    Persea caiolinensis var. a Nees. Syst. Laurin. 150. 1838.

    Persea carolinensis var. palustris (Raf.) Chapm. Fl. So. U.S. 393. 1860.

    Persea carolinensis var. p pubescens (Pursh) Meissn. in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 51. 1864.

    Persea carolinensis f. pubescens (Pursh) Mez. Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 176. 1889.

    Persea pubescens (Pursh) Sarg. Silva N. Am. 7: 7. 1895.

    Tamala pubescens (Pursh) Small, Fl. Southeast. U. S. ed. 2. 822. 1913.

    Borbonia pubescens (Pursh) House, Am. Midi. Nat. 8: 63. 1922.

    Persea palustris, f. laevifolia Fern. Rhodoia 44: 399. 1942.

    Persea borbonia, f. pubescens (Pursh) Fern. Rhodora 47: 149. 1945.

    Type collection. Beyrich s.n. in Pinifius humidis, Carolina (neotype B).

    This taxon was variously recognized as a variety, a form, and a species, but in this treatment the last category has been adopted. T h e kind of pubescence on vegetative parts, erect and crisped, and the length of the peduncle are the main differences discernible from herbarium material which separate P. palustris from P. borbonia. Sargent, however, mentions certain field characteristics which if accurate will strengthen this position. These are a thin bark to 1/4 inch thickness, which is fissured, and he also notes that the species is coastal, on thin soil, where it is the dominant plant. P. borbonia, on the contrary, has thicker bark, 3/4 inch, and is found with Live, Water, and Spanish Oak, Cuban Pine, and Hickories.

    See also P. krugii and P. anomala.