Cliftonia monophylla

Cliftonia monophylla

Cliftonia monophylla is a plant from the family of Cyrillaceae and the only species of the genus Cliftonia.

Description

Cliftonia monophylla is an evergreen small tree or shrub. The flower stalk has two bracteoles, which are dropped.

The petals have no glands. The stamens are in two leaf circles of five sheets, the stamens are widened laterally, kronblattartig in the lower half. The ovary is three to fünffächrig and three - to five -edged, for each subject there is a hanging ovule. The nearly sessile, massive scar lobed two to five times. The fruit is winged two to five times and contains up to five seeds, but generally lack the seeds.

Dissemination

The species is found in the coastal plains of the southeastern United States.

System

Together with the genus Cyrilla, which includes only one species, Cliftonia forms the family of Cyrillaceae. Since Cliftonia is monotypic, the family consists of only two types.

Evidence

• Klaus Kubitzki: Cyrillaceae. In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.): The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants - Volume VI - Flowering Plants - Dicotyledons - Celastrales, Oxalidales, Rosales, Cornales, Ericales, 2004, pp. 115, ISBN 978-3-540-06512 - 8