Bontia daphnoides L.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Myoporaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect shrub, to 2(-5) m tall, many-branched from base; stems reddish brown, with persistent leaf scars. Leaves clustered at ends of branches; blades 6-9 x 1.2-2.4 cm, fleshy (chartaceous when dried), elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, with impressed glands on lower surface, the apex acuminate, the base tapering to the petiole, the margins entire; petioles 0.5-1.2 cm long. Flowers medium-sized, zygomorphic, long-peduncled, solitary in leaf axils. Calyx nearly cup-shaped, tapering to an elongate peduncle, the sepals 5, deeply parted, ovate, ciliate, 2—2.5 mm long; corolla yellow, purple-blotched, tubular, to 2 cm long, bilabiate, the lobes pubescent within, the lower lip reddish-pubescent within; stamens 4, didynamous, as long as the petals, the filaments pubescent at base, the anthers opening by longitudinal slits; ovary ovoid, glabrous, 2-locular, with 4 ovules per locule. Drupe pendulous, ovoid, 1-1.5 cm long, turning from green to yellow, with persistent style; stone 2-celled.
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Distribution
A common coastal shrub. Waterlemon Bay (A1933). Also on St. Thomas and Tortola; throughout the West Indies, south to Venezuela.
Venezuela South America| West Indies| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America|