Iva frutescens L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Iva frutescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/iva/iva-frutescens/). Accessed 2024-10-04.

Genus

Iva

Infraspecifics

var. oraria

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

inflorescence: Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
axillary: Situated in an axil.
cuneate: Wedge-shaped.
lanceolate: Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
linear: Strap-shaped.
ovate: Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
pistillate: Female referring to female plants (dioecy) or flowers (monoecy) or the female parts of a hermaphrodite flower.
staminate: Male referring to male plants (dioecy) or flowers (monoecy) or the male parts of a hermaphrodite flower.
variety: (var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Iva frutescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/iva/iva-frutescens/). Accessed 2024-10-04.

A sub-shrub with stems somewhat fleshy, 3 to 10 ft high, branched at the upper parts; shoots minutely downy. Leaves opposite, nearly stalkless, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, rather strongly toothed, cuneate, 4 to 6 in. long, 1 to 2 in. wide, three-veined, being reduced in size upwards until, in the flowering parts, they become small and linear. Inflorescence terminal, more or less pyramidal; flower-heads greenish white, 1⁄6 in. wide, hemispheric, axillary, each consisting of staminate and four to five pistillate flowers and beset by four or five broadly ovate bracts.

A native of the S. United States; introduced in 1711. It is mostly found growing in salt marshes and muddy sea-shores, and although quite hardy has little to recommend it for gardens. Both the typical variety and the following one are in cultivation, as well as intermediates between them.

var. oraria (Bartlett) Fern. & Griscom

This differs in being less tall (1{1/2} to 6 ft high), with broader leaves and slightly larger heads (five to six bracts and five to six pistillate flowers).