Lepuropetalon

Lepuropetalon
Lepuropetalon spathulatum
Lepuropetalon spathulatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Celastrales
Family: Celastraceae
Subfamily: Parnassioideae
Genus: Lepuropetalon
Stephen Elliott
Species:
L. spathulatum
Binomial name
Lepuropetalon spathulatum

Lepuropetalon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Before it was placed in the family when it was defined by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's APG III system in 2009, it had been placed with Parnassia in the family Parnassiaceae, now usually treated as a segregate of Celastraceae.[1][2] When their most recent revision of Angiosperm classification was published in 2016, it retained its position in the family Celastraceae.[3] Lepuropetalon has only one species, Lepuropetalon spathulatum.[4] It is a winter annual that is most abundant in eastern Texas and western Louisiana. From there, it occurs sporadically southward into Mexico, and eastward through the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain, and rarely in the Piedmont Plateau, to North Carolina.[5] It has a disjunct distribution. In addition to the area mentioned above, it is also found in Uruguay and central Chile.

It is one of the smallest of terrestrial flowering plants[6] and some consider it to be the smallest.[7] Due its small size, petiteplant has been used as a common name.[8] Because it is so easily overlooked, it is probably much more abundant than records indicate.[5] It is found in moist areas, usually in soils that are sandy or derived from granite. It is common along the edges of soil-filled depressions on top of rocks.[4] It is often seen in cemeteries and clearings for power lines. Because it is common in habitats that are maintained by humans but not subject to intensive cultivation, it is probably more abundant now than it was in the past.[9]

In the United States and Mexico, the seeds germinate in January. It has been suggested that this is a response to increasing day length, yet no experiments have confirmed it.[4] Flowering is in March and early April. Seed maturity follows quickly. Few plants survive beyond the end of April.[5]

  1. ^ Phylogeny Group, Angiosperm (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. hdl:10654/18083.
  2. ^ Mark P. Simmons. 2004. "Parnassiaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume VI. Springer-Verlag. Berlin,Heidelberg: Germany.
  3. ^ Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016), "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 181 (1): 1–20, doi:10.1111/boj.12385
  4. ^ a b c Spongberg, Stephen A. (1972). "Lepuropetalon" pages 458-461 In: "The Genera of Saxifragaceae in the Southeastern United States"". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 53 (4): 409–498. doi:10.5962/p.324705. S2CID 88839907.
  5. ^ a b c Ward, Daniel B.; Gholson, Angus K. (1987). "The Hidden Abundance of Lepuropetalon spathulatum (Saxifragaceae) and Its First Reported Occurrence in Florida". Castanea. 52 (1): 59–67.
  6. ^ George M. Diggs Jr., Barney L. Lipscomb, and Roger J. O'Kennon. 1999. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas page 988. Botanical Research Institute of Texas and Austin College.
  7. ^ Morgan, David R.; Soltis, Douglas E. (1993). "Phylogenetic relationships among members of Saxifragaceae sensu lato based on rbcL sequence data". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 80 (3): 652. doi:10.2307/2399851. JSTOR 2399851.
  8. ^ NRCS. "Lepuropetalon spathulatum". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. ^ Alan S. Weakley. "Parnassiaceae" In: Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia (title varying with update). pages 492 and 493. (see External links below).