Tidestromia suffruticosa

Tidestromia suffruticosa
Flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Tidestromia
Species:
T. suffruticosa
Binomial name
Tidestromia suffruticosa
Synonyms[1]
  • Alternanthera suffruticosa Torr.
  • Cladothrix oblongifolia S.Watson
  • Cladothrix suffruticosa (Torr.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex S.Watson
  • Tidestromia gemmata I.M.Johnst.
  • Tidestromia oblongifolia (S.Watson) Standl.
  • Tidestromia suffruticosa var. coahuilana I.M.Johnst.

Tidestromia suffruticosa, the shrubby honeysweet,[2] is a perennial plant in the family Amaranthaceae of the southwestern United States and northeastern Mexican deserts. It has one of the highest rates of photosynthesis ever recorded.[3] It flowers from April to December.[3] It can survive very high temperatures, growing successfully in extreme environments such as Death Valley,[4] and the genetic basis for this is being studied with a view to making hardier crop plants to better cope with climate change.[5]

Subtaxa

The following varieties are accepted:[1]

  • Tidestromia suffruticosa var. oblongifolia (S.Watson) Sánch.Pino & Flores Olv.
  • Tidestromia suffruticosa var. suffruticosa

References

  1. ^ a b "Tidestromia suffruticosa (Torr.) Standl". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  2. ^ NRCS. "Tidestromia suffruticosa". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b MacKay P (2013). "Green and Brown Flowers". Mojave desert wildflowers: a field guide to wildflowers, trees, and shrubs of the Mojave Desert, including the Mojave National Preserve, Death Valley National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-7627-9388-4. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Björkman O, Pearcy RW, Harrison AT, Mooney H (February 1972). "Photosynthetic adaptation to high temperatures: a field study in death valley, california". Science. 175 (4023). New York, N.Y.: 786–789. Bibcode:1972Sci...175..786B. doi:10.1126/science.175.4023.786. PMID 17836139. S2CID 20986880.
  5. ^ Klein A (3 August 2023). "Flower that thrives in Death Valley may hold secret to heat adaptation". New Scientist.


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