Leitneria pilosa
Sponsor
Kindly sponsored by
Peter Hoffmann
Credits
Roderick Cameron (2025)
Recommended citation
Cameron, R. (2025), 'Leitneria pilosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Western Corkwood
- Velvet-leaf Corkwood
Shrubs or small trees, 1–3(5) m, to 10 cm diameter at base. Leaves per branch (4)9–17(28). Leaf blade lanceolate to ovate to elliptic, occasionally oblanceolate or obovate, 9–15 × 2.5–5 cm; above pubescent to pilose, below pilose to tomentose, both surfaces consistently hairy through leaf developoment from budbreak to full maturity; petiole 2.5–5 cm, pilose to tomentose. (Schrader & Graves 2011)
Distribution United States Arkansas, Missouri, Texas
Habitat Bottomland hardwood forests, brackish and freshwater swamps, thickets, marshes, sand ponds, ditches.
Conservation status Endangered (EN)
Cultivated Leitneria is discussed under L. floridana, as it is very difficult to be certain what taxon the plants in cultivation belong to. According to Schrader and Graves (2011), L. pilosa has smaller, duller and more densely pubescent leaves than L. floridana. Western Corkwood is also smaller in size, denser in foliage, and more tolerant of drought and shade than its eastern counterpart.
The species is listed by the IUCN Red List as Endangered due to restricted area of occupancy; many of the populations are in potentially temporary sites, such as road or railroad sides and field edges, that are at risk of being eliminated depending on land use changes or expansion of utility ways (Carrero 2022).
The epithet ‘pilosa’ derives from Latin and means ‘hairy’ (wiktionary.org 2025).
subsp. ozarkana J.A.Schrad. & W.R.Graves
Common Names
Western Corkwood
Velvet-leaf Corkwood
Shrubs or small trees, 1–3(5) m, to 10 cm diameter at base. Leaves per branch (4)9–14(19). Leaf blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic, occasionally oblanceolate or obovate, 10–15 × 3.5–5 cm; petiole 3–5 cm. (Schrader & Graves 2011).
Distribution United States Central and northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri
Compared to subsp. pilosa, subsp. ozarkana has larger leaves that are more elliptic to obovate, secondary veins closer together, larger petioles, and fewer leaves per branch (Schrader & Graves 2011).
The subspecies is of conservation concern, with an S3 rank in Arkansas (very rare and local or found locally in a restricted range) and S2 in Missouri (imperiled because of rarity) (Schrader & Graves 2011).
The epithet ‘ozarkana’ means ‘of the Ozarks’, in reference to the supspecies’ distribution in the area of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas. ‘Ozark’ is said to derive from French ‘aux Arcs’, i.e. ‘of the Arcs’ or ‘to the Arcs’, short for ‘aux Arkansas’ in reference to the Arkanasas, a name given to the Quapaws, a Native American people of the region (Bright 2004). Other theories propose that ‘the arcs’ in question are the bows used by the Quapaws, also known as the Bow Indians (Swanton 1952), or a series of land bridges in the region (Miller 1969), or the bends in the Arkansas River (Bryson 1945).
subsp. pilosa
Common Names
Texas Corkwood
Shrubs or small trees, 1–3(4) m, to 8 cm diameter at base. Leaves per branch (8)14–18(28). Leaf blade lanceolate narrowly elliptic, 9–11 × 2.5–3.5 cm; petiole 2.5–3 cm. (Schrader & Graves 2011)
Distribution United States Southeastern Texas
The subspecies has a conservation rank of S1 in Texas (critically imperiled because of extreme rarity) (Schrader & Graves 2011).