Ayenia pusilla L.
Family: Sterculiaceae
Discussion: In "A Working Index of New Mexico Vascular Plant Names", Roalson
and Allred state Ayenia pusilla L. is reported by Martin and Hutchins
(1980), but does not occur in New Mexico and they cite Cristobal (1960). The UNM library
does not have this Argentinean publication so I could not directly
verify Roalson and Allred's conclusion.
Kelly Allred adds: The monograph of Ayenia by Carmen Cristobal reports three species
from New Mexico: A. filiformis S. Wats., A. microphylla Gray,
and A. pilosa Cristobal. According to her, and apparently followed
by most later workers, Ayenia pusilla L. is known only from a
few localities in northern Peru and southern Ecuador. What we
have been calling Ayenia pusilla in New Mexico is divided up between
A. filiformis (with mostly stiffly erect stems and lance-linear
leaves) and A. pilosa (with scrambling, decumbent stems and shorter
wider leaves).
Important Literature:
Cristobal, C. 1960. Revision del genero Ayenia (Sterculiaceae). Opera Lilloana 4:1-230.
Roalson, E.H. and K.W. Allred. A working index of New Mexico vascular plant names, edition 1. NMSU Ag.
Exp. Sta. Res. Rpt. 702.
Information Compiled By: Charlie McDonald, 1998
