Asimina rugelii

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Asimina rugelii

Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)[1]

ESA)[2][3]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Asimina
Species:
A. rugelii
Binomial name
Asimina rugelii
B.L.Rob.
Synonyms
  • Deeringothamnus rugelii (
    B.L.Rob.) Small

Asimina rugelii is a rare species of flowering plant in the custard apple family known by the common names Rugel's pawpaw, Rugel's false pawpaw, and yellow squirrel banana. It is endemic to Volusia County, Florida, in the United States, where there are fewer than 5000 plants remaining in severely fragmented habitat.[4] The main threat to this species is habitat destruction and degradation.[1][5] It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1986.[1][3]

Formerly in the genus Deeringothamnus, the species has been moved back into

rubbery", and is caused by several compounds, including ethyl benzoate, trans-β-ocimene, limonene, and germacrene.[8] Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads.[9] The fruit is a large yellow-green berry that may be up to 6 centimeters long. One flower may yield several fruits. The berry contains a few seeds each about a centimeter long or slightly larger.[10] This plant sometimes hybridizes with its relative, Asimina pygmaea.[11]

Asimina rugelii fruiting in Volusia county FL

This plant occurs in

turfgrass farms. Remaining fragments of land in Volusia County are degraded by a number of processes, especially fire suppression. The habitat is naturally maintained by periodic wildfire, and this plant is fire-dependent. It requires fire to clear larger vegetation and brush away so it can receive adequate sunlight. It has also been demonstrated that fire increases the plant's flower production. Other threats to the habitat and its plants include exotic plant species such as Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum).[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d NatureServe (5 January 2024). "Deeringothamnus rugelii". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Rugel's pawpaw (Deeringothamnus rugelii)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b 51 FR 34415
  4. ^ a b c d USFWS. Rugel's Pawpaw Five-year Review. September 2008.
  5. ^ Deeringothamnus rugelii. Center for Plant Conservation.
  6. S2CID 85856774
    .
  7. ^ Deeringothamnus rugelii. Flora of North America.
  8. ^ Goodrich, K. R. and R. A. Raguso. (2009). The olfactory component of floral display in Asimina and Deeringothamnus (Annonaceae). New Phytologist 183 457-69.
  9. ^ Walker JW (1971) Pollen Morphology, Phytogeography, and Phylogeny of the Annonaceae. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, 202: 1-130.
  10. ^ Deeringothamnus pulchellus. Flora of North America.
  11. ^ Norman, E. M. (2003). Reproductive biology of Deeringothamnus rugelii and D. pulchellus (Annonaceae). Taxon 52:3 547-55.