Grayia
Bot. Beechey Voy., 387. 1841.
| Taxon | Illustrator ⠉ | |
|---|---|---|
 | Suckleya suckleyana Grayia spinosa Krascheninnikovia lanata | Bee F. Gunn Bee F. Gunn Bee F. Gunn |
Shrubs, dioecious or monoecious, spinescent; herbage scurfy-puberulent when young, mostly with branched hairs, becoming glabrate. Stems erect, much branched, woody throughout, not jointed, forming a rounded bush; younger branches ribbed, rigid; lateral branches becoming spinescent. Leaves alternate, succulent or coriaceous; blade with midveins prominent, spatulate to oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly so, base gradually tapering to petiole, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse. Inflorescences terminal, spikelike clusters. Flowers unisexual; staminate in 2–5-flowered clusters in bract-axils, perianth 4 (–5) -parted, equaling or slightly longer than stamens, stamens 4–5; pistillate in 1–few-flowered clusters per glomerule, each closely invested by 2 wholly united bracts, perianth absent; stigma 2-lobed. Fruiting structure: bracts forming flattened, samaralike fruiting structure around utricle, margins thickened, spongy within; pericarp free. Seeds vertical, compressed-lenticular, seed-coat brown, tuberculate; embryo annular; perisperm copious. x = 18.
Distribution
w United States
Discussion
Species 1.
Selected References
None.