Emleria

The species Oemleria cerasiformis was first described under the name Nuttallia cerasiformis in 1838. However, the generic name Nuttallia , given by J. Torrey and E. Gray in honor of the botanist Thomas Natall , was used in 1817 by K. Rafinescu for the Loaz family, later included in the synonymy of Mentzelia . In 1841, L. Reichenbach renamed the genus Torrey and Gray into Oemleria by the name of the botanist Augustus Gottlieb Emler (1773-1852), who first preserved a herbarium specimen of this plant. This plant is also known in the literature as Osmaronia cerasiformis . The genus Osmaronia was also proposed as a substitute for Nuttallia , however, only in 1891.

The species epithet cerasiformis means "cherry-like." There is no consensus on the origin of this epithet - presumably, it refers either to the fruits of the plant or to its leaves.

Emleria is a large deciduous dioecious shrub or small tree reaching 4.5, less often 7 m in height. Leaves 5-12 cm long, usually without stipules, light, with a smooth edge, the lower surface of the plate slightly pubescent. Young twigs are lilac, bare. The buds are green, with three scales.

The flowers are white, pleasantly smelling, with large bracts, collected at the ends of young branches in small racemose inflorescences . The calyx is divided into five slightly twisted lobes; the corolla petals are also in the amount of five, with short pointed processes. In male flowers there are 15 stamens , the pistil is absent. In female flowers, there are 5 pistils with extended stigmas, stamens are underdeveloped.

The fruit is a drupe . Only 1-2 fruits usually ripen from each flower, ripening by the end of June. The color of the fruit is reddish yellow, when ripening is dark blue. The mesocarp is fleshy, but thin. Film -coated seeds . The fruits are edible, but have a bitter taste.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.

Under natural conditions, emleria is common in moist broad-leaved forests in western North America . The northern boundary of the range is British Columbia ; the southern boundary is California .

Native Americans ate small amounts of emleria in food, fresh or dried. Shrub bark was used to make tea.

Synonyms

Generic:

• Nuttallia Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn., 1838, nom. illeg.
• Osmaronia Greene , 1891

Species:

• Nuttallia cerasiformis Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn., 1838
• Osmaronia cerasiformis (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.) Greene, 1891

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