OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sideroxylon tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sideroxylon tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America

Sideroxylon tenax

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 149-01-002:

Bumelia tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Bumelia tenax

 

COMMON NAME:
Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_845

        

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Sam Pratt    sbp_4040

October    Charleston County    SC

Leaves lustrous, coppery or golden below due to silky appressed hairs, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Sam Pratt    sbp_4040b

October    Charleston County    SC

Fruit an ellipsoid drupe-like berry 6-10mm long, subtended by persistent calyx, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Sam Pratt    sbp_4041

October    Charleston County    SC

Stubby spur shoots with clustered leaves are often produced on the branches, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Sam Pratt    sbp_4041b

October    Charleston County    SC

Leaves 3-7cm long, mostly oblanceolate, the tip rounded, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).

image of Sideroxylon tenax, Tough Buckthorn, Tough Bumelia, Tough Bully

Sam Pratt    sbp_photo_5

October    Charleston County    SC

Bark brown, furrowed and narrow-ridged; inner bark reddish-brown, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sideroxylon tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sideroxylon tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Sideroxylon tenax

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 149-01-002:
Bumelia tenax   FAMILY Sapotaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Bumelia tenax

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

2322

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Maritime scrub, maritime forests, rarely somewhat inland in hammocks and FL scrub, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Uncommon in GA, rare in Carolinas

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
May be armed with spinose twig tips, spinose spur shoots, and/or nodal spines

LEAVES:
Deciduous to tardily deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed corolla
5 stamens & 5 staminodia, fused to corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in axillary clusters

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Drupe-like berry

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: