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(Last Modified On 3/18/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/18/2013)
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Genus
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Manihot Miller
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PlaceOfPublication
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Gard. Dict. ed. 4, 1754.
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Description
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Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with milky latex; monoecious; roots often tuberous. Leaves alternate, lcng-petiolate, stipulate; blades mostly palmately lobed or divided, without distinct foliar glands. Inflorescences terminal (sometimes pseudo- axillary) panicles, the pistillate several on basal branches, the staminate + race- mose along the central axis; flowers with a 5-merous uniseriate perianth (petaloid calyx), petals absent. Staminate flowers with distinctly gamosepalous calyx, lobes imbricate in bud; disc central, intrastaminal, entire or 5-lobed, lobes ? bifid; stamens 10, biseriate, the outer opposite the calyx-lobes, the filaments free, the anthers introrse, dehiscing longitudinally; pollen grains globose, periporate, exine clavate; pistillode rudimentary or absent. Pistillate flowers long-pedicellate; calyx more deeply lobed than in staminate flowers; disc pulviniform, staminodia some- times present; ovary of 3 carpels, smooth to ribbed or winged, the ovules 1 per locule, the styles connate below, the stigmata dilated to lacerate. Fruits capsular; columella often persistent; seeds carunculate, with thin crustaceous testa, endo- sperm copious, the embryo with broad palmately veined cotyledons. Over 150 species have been described in this strictly American genus, most of them from Brazil. The species of Manihot are notoriously difficult to discrimi- nate, and the total number may be considerably reduced when the genus is mono- graphically revised. In addition to the two species enumerated below, at least one other, M. glaziovii Muell.-Arg. (the Cea-ra rubber tree of Brazil), may be found in cultivation. It is readily distinguished by its arboreal habit, peltate leaves, and larger fruits (2 cm in diam or more).
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Habit
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Trees, shrubs, or herbs
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Reference
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Rogers, D. J., Studies on Manihot esculenta. Crantz and related species. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 90: 43-54, 1963.
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Key
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a. Leaves mostly with 7-9 lobes; 8 calyces 12-14 mm long, glabrous within; 8 disc ? entire; anthers glabrous; ovary not sharply ribbed or winged; seeds 7-9 mm broad .................. 1. M. gualanensis aa. Leaves mostly with 3-5 lobes; 8 calyces 3-4.5 mm long, pubescent within; 8 disc 10-lobed; anthers apically puberulent; ovary (and fruit) sharply ribbed or winged; seeds 4-6.5 mm broad ........................ 2. M. esculenta
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