Lithraea (Miers) Hook. & Arn.

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Lithraea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lithraea/). Accessed 2024-11-06.

Family

  • Anacardiaceae

Species in genus

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
bisexual
See hermaphrodite.
androdioecious
With only male or only hermaphrodite flowers on individual plants.
drupe
A fleshy dehiscent or indehiscent fruit with one to several seeds each enclosed in a hard endocarp (the stone).
endemic
(of a plant or an animal) Found in a native state only within a defined region or country.
imparipinnate
Odd-pinnate; (of a compound leaf) with a central rachis and an uneven number of leaflets due to the presence of a terminal leaflet. (Cf. paripinnate.)
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
petiole
Leaf stalk.
rachis
Central axis of an inflorescence cone or pinnate leaf.
simple
(of a leaf) Unlobed or undivided.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Lithraea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lithraea/). Accessed 2024-11-06.

The three (or four) species of Lithraea are restricted to South America, and only the Chilean endemic L. caustica is of interest to temperate gardeners. Lithraea species are small, evergreen trees or shrubs. As in many Anacardiaceae, contact with plants can cause dermatitis because of their poisonous sap; the lesions caused by L. caustica are particularly painful and persistent. The leaves are simple and ovate or imparipinnate, and have a winged petiole and rachis. Lithraea is dioecious, though occasional bisexual flowers occur in the inflorescences. These are paniculate and lateral, typically clustered near the shoot apex. The individual flowers are yellow and 5-merous. The fruit is a drupe with white flesh (Rodríguez R. et al. 1983, de Dios Muñoz 2000).