Tough bully
Illustration of Sideroxylon tenax with the synonym Bumelia tenax

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Sideroxylon
Species:
S. tenax
Binomial name
Sideroxylon tenax
L. 1767
Synonyms[2]
Synonymy
  • Bumelia chrysophylloides (Michx.) P.Watson
  • Bumelia chrysophylloides (Michx.) Pursh
  • Bumelia lacuum Small
  • Bumelia megacocca Small
  • Bumelia tenax (L.) Willd.
  • Chrysophyllum carolinense Jacq.
  • Chrysophyllum glabrum Juss. ex Lam.
  • Lyciodes tenax (L.) Kuntze
  • Sclerocladus tenax (L.) Raf.
  • Sclerozus tenax (L.) Raf.
  • Sideroxylon carolinense (Jacq.) Sarg.
  • Sideroxylon chrysophylloides Michx.
  • Sideroxylon sericeum Walter

Sideroxylon tenax, called the tough bully,[3] is a plant species native to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the southernmost part of North Carolina. It grows on dry, sandy soil in pine forests, pine-oak woodlands, and hummocks at elevations less than 100 m.[4][5]

Sideroxylon tenax is a shrub or tree up to 8 m (almost 27 feet) tall. Stems are armed with thorns. Leaves are up to 7 cm (2.8 inches) long, upper side green and sometimes shiny, underside covered with a layer of brown hairs. Flowers are white, up to 5 mm (0.2 inches) across, borne in groups of up to 40 flowers. Berries are very dark purple, almost black, spherical to egg-shaped, about 10 mm (0.4 inches) across.[4][6][7][8][9][10][11]

References

  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Bumelia". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. ^ The Plant List, Sideroxylon tenax
  3. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Sideroxylon tenax". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b Flora of North America Sideroxylon tenax
  5. ^ Goldblatt, P. 1991. In M. Johnson, Cytology. Pp. 15--22 in T. D. Pennington, The Genera of Sapotaceae. Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens.
  6. ^ BONAP (Biota of North America Project) 2014 county distribution map, Sideroxylon tenax
  7. ^ Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1840. Autikon Botanikon (2): 73.
  8. ^ Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1838. Sylva Telluriana 35.
  9. ^ Pennington, T. D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Flora Neotropica 52: 1–771.
  10. ^ Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
  11. ^ Plant Information Center, photos of specimens from University of North Carolina Herbarium, Sideroxylon tenax
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