Gaylussacia
Gaylussacia is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to the Americas, where they occur in eastern North America (eight species) and in South America in the Andes (seven species) and the mountains of southeastern Brazil (the remaining thirty-five species). Common English names include huckleberry (shared with plants in several other genera) and "dangleberry".
They are deciduous or evergreen shrubs growing to a height of 0.4-1.8 m.
Gaylussacia is named in honor of French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850)
Gaylussacia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora gaylussaciella (which feeds exclusively on Gaylussacia) and Coleophora multicristatella.
Gaylussacia plants are often a component of an oak-heath forest.[1][2]
Classification
Gaylussacia is closely related to Vaccinium,[3] and it is still unclear whether the commonly understood line between Vaccinium and Gaylussacia is justified.[4] A 2002 paper found that molecular data did not support past divisions of Gaylussacia into sections.[3]
Species
- Gaylussacia amazonica. Brazil.
- Gaylussacia amoena. South America.
- Gaylussacia angulata. South America.
- Gaylussacia angustifolia. South America.
- Gaylussacia baccata Black Huckleberry. Southeastern Canada, eastern United States.
- Gaylussacia brachycera Box Huckleberry. Eastern United States.
- Gaylussacia brasiliensis. Southeast Brazil.
- Gaylussacia buxifolia Uva de Páramo. Colombia, Venezuela.
- Gaylussacia caparoensis. South America.
- Gaylussacia cardenasii. Bolivia.
- Gaylussacia centunculifolia. South America.
- Gaylussacia chamissonis. South America.
- Gaylussacia ciliosa. South America.
- Gaylussacia cinerea. South America.
- Gaylussacia decipiens. South America.
- Gaylussacia densa. South America.
- Gaylussacia duartei. South America.
- Gaylussacia dumosa Dwarf Huckleberry. Eastern United States.
- Gaylussacia fasciculata. South America.
- Gaylussacia frondosa Blue Huckleberry. Eastern United States.
- Gaylussacia gardneri. South America.
- Gaylussacia goyazensis. South America.
- Gaylussacia harleyi. South America.
- Gaylussacia incana. South America.
- Gaylussacia jordanensis. South America.
- Gaylussacia loxensis. Ecuador, northern Peru.
- Gaylussacia martii. South America.
- Gaylussacia montana. South America.
- Gaylussacia mosieri Woolly Huckleberry. Southeastern United States.
- Gaylussacia nana Confederate Huckleberry. Southeastern United States.
- Gaylussacia oleifolia. South America.
- Gaylussacia pallida. South America.
- Gaylussacia pinifolia. South America.
- Gaylussacia pruinosa. South America.
- Gaylussacia pseudociliosa. South America.
- Gaylussacia pseudogaultheria. South America.
- Gaylussacia pulchra. South America.
- Gaylussacia reticulata Southeast Brazil.
- Gaylussacia retivenia. South America.
- Gaylussacia retusa. South America.
- Gaylussacia rhododendron. South America.
- Gaylussacia riedelii. South America.
- Gaylussacia rigida. South America.
- Gaylussacia rugosa. South America.
- Gaylussacia salicifolia. South America.
- Gaylussacia setosa. South America.
- Gaylussacia tomentosa Hairy-twig Huckleberry. Southeastern United States.
- Gaylussacia ursina Bear Huckleberry. Southeastern United States.
- Gaylussacia virgata. South America.
- Gaylussacia vitis-idaea. South America.
Gaylussacia frondosa is found in the eastern United States. It ranges from New Hampshire down towards the lower Mississippi region. This deciduous species flowers from June to July. Its berries are a dark blue color and are found on short, drooping stalks. This plant is an important source for wildlife food in the New England area.
References
- ^ The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Community Groups (Version 2.3), Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2010
- ^ Schafale, M. P. and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina: third approximation. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation.
- ^ a b Floyd, Jennifer Whitehead (2002). "Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Patterns in Gaylussacia (Ericaceae) based on Morphological, Nuclear DNA, and Chloroplast DNA Variation". Systematic Botany 27 (1): 99–115. JSTOR 3093898.
- ^ Kathleen A. Kron, E. Ann Powell and J. L. Luteyn (2002). "Phylogenetic relationships within the blueberry tribe (Vaccinieae, Ericaceae) based on sequence data from MATK and nuclear ribosomal ITS regions, with comments on the placement of Satyria". American Journal of Botany 89 (2): 327–336. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.2.327. PMID 21669741. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/89/2/327.
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