Apollonias
Encyclopedia
Apollonias is a genus of flowering plant
s belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae
. The genus includes from one to ten species
of evergreen
tree
s and shrub
s from laurel forest
habitat mainly in Macaronesian islands.
s oval, shiny dark green, edged somewhat revolute entire, without glands along the midrib and in some species often with galls produced by the bite of some bug
s. Flowering is abundant, provided the flowers at cluster
s. The fruit
s are ovoid and elongated with a short dome. At maturity acquiring a blackish color.
The leaves, which correspond mainly to the type "lauroide" (Sweet bay): wide, oval, leathery, glossy. Hence the Latin name given to the training: laurus
.
It are evergreen trees or shrubs with large, shiny, ovoid leaves. Native of open spots in the laurel forest
habitats. Has become quite rare due to its fine, strong wood. Older specimens form dense racemes of small fragrant white flowers followed by one-seeded, olive-like brownish-green fruits, ripening to bluish-black.
Trees up to 6 m tall. Trunk and bark grey, brownish, lenticellate.Branchlets, glabrous.
The leaves are simple, alternate, spiral, clustered at twig ends; petiole 0.5-1.2 cm, slightly canaliculate above, glabrous; lamina 8-18 x 1.7-3.8 cm, usually narrow elliptic, sometimes narrow oblanceolate, apex narrowly and gradually long acuminate, base acute to cuneate, margin entire, chartaceous, glabrous, slightly glaucous and sparsely puberulous beneath; midrib slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 8-14 pairs, gradually curved and ascending; tertiary_nerves reticulo-percurrent.
Inflorescences with flowers in axillary or subterminal racemes; pedicels filiform and long; anthers 2 celled.
The fruit is a drupa, globose or ovoid, seated on the persistent perianth; The berry have one seed.
The species of Apollonias formed part of a clade consisting of Persea, represented by 6 species, Phoebe, Dehaasia and Alseodaphne, each represented by one species. Apollonias was isolated in a remote era of Persea and the current classification is not clear. Beilschmiedia is not having a closed affinity to Apollonias. Apollonias madagascariensis is now Beilschmiedia madagascariensis. Depending on circumscription; recent studies (e.g. Rohwer 1993, van der Werff 2003) have limited the genus to just one species, with the others transferred to Beilschmiedia
. 16 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, or cultivars were in this genus. This genus was related with Beilschmiedia
. Apollonias barbujana could be the only species but also it can be divided in several species. To date nomenclature is not clear.
Endemic to the Western_Ghats- all along South Sahyadri and between Palakkad Hills and Wayanad, in Apollonias arnottii, or 600 m. Macaronesian Apollonias barbujana.
Lauraceae are common in wet forest from sea level to the highest mountains, but are poorly represented in areas with a pronounced dry season.
Apollonias need a ecosystem
of great high humidity, type cloud forests
. Apollonias is present about tropical or subtropical mountain
s, where the dense moisture
from the sea or ocean, is precipitated by the action of the relief, causing it to condense part of the moisture that falls as rain or fog, creating an habitat especially cool, saturated with moisture in the air and soil.
With no seasonal changes. apollonias need climate wetter, but with an annual oscillation of the temperature moderated by the proximity of the ocean. This type of habitat is found in laurel forest
habitats like this of macaronesian laurisilva
.
Apollonias genus prefer humus rich soil in a sunny to partially shaded spot. They are fast growing foliage plants, that needs at least need 5°C in winter.
Seed grow in any humus rich, slightly moist soil. Keep at constantly 12° to 20°C in partial shade in summer to full sun in winter. Higher temperatures will slow down or inhibit germination. Soil need to be ever wet.
Other species sometimes included
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae
Lauraceae
The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...
. The genus includes from one to ten species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s and shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s from laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
habitat mainly in Macaronesian islands.
Description
Trees up to 6 m tall in Apollonias arnottii up to 25 m in height in Apollonias barbujana, which can be differentiated by their sheetSheet
Sheet may refer to:* A flat piece of cloth, paper, or other material** Bed sheet, a piece of cloth used to cover a mattress** A piece of paper*** Balance sheet, a financial summary of assets and liabilities*** Sheet music, a form of musical notation...
s oval, shiny dark green, edged somewhat revolute entire, without glands along the midrib and in some species often with galls produced by the bite of some bug
Bug
A bug is an insect of the order Hemiptera, known as the "true bugs".Bug or BUG may also refer to:-Biology:* Informally, most arthropods, except marine crustaceans, including individuals or species of** centipede** insect** millipede** mite...
s. Flowering is abundant, provided the flowers at cluster
Cluster
-In science:* Cluster , a small group of atoms or molecules* Cluster chemistry, an array of bound atoms intermediate in character between a molecule and a solid...
s. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s are ovoid and elongated with a short dome. At maturity acquiring a blackish color.
The leaves, which correspond mainly to the type "lauroide" (Sweet bay): wide, oval, leathery, glossy. Hence the Latin name given to the training: laurus
Laurus
-Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap ....
.
It are evergreen trees or shrubs with large, shiny, ovoid leaves. Native of open spots in the laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
habitats. Has become quite rare due to its fine, strong wood. Older specimens form dense racemes of small fragrant white flowers followed by one-seeded, olive-like brownish-green fruits, ripening to bluish-black.
Trees up to 6 m tall. Trunk and bark grey, brownish, lenticellate.Branchlets, glabrous.
The leaves are simple, alternate, spiral, clustered at twig ends; petiole 0.5-1.2 cm, slightly canaliculate above, glabrous; lamina 8-18 x 1.7-3.8 cm, usually narrow elliptic, sometimes narrow oblanceolate, apex narrowly and gradually long acuminate, base acute to cuneate, margin entire, chartaceous, glabrous, slightly glaucous and sparsely puberulous beneath; midrib slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 8-14 pairs, gradually curved and ascending; tertiary_nerves reticulo-percurrent.
Inflorescences with flowers in axillary or subterminal racemes; pedicels filiform and long; anthers 2 celled.
The fruit is a drupa, globose or ovoid, seated on the persistent perianth; The berry have one seed.
The species of Apollonias formed part of a clade consisting of Persea, represented by 6 species, Phoebe, Dehaasia and Alseodaphne, each represented by one species. Apollonias was isolated in a remote era of Persea and the current classification is not clear. Beilschmiedia is not having a closed affinity to Apollonias. Apollonias madagascariensis is now Beilschmiedia madagascariensis. Depending on circumscription; recent studies (e.g. Rohwer 1993, van der Werff 2003) have limited the genus to just one species, with the others transferred to Beilschmiedia
Beilschmiedia
Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean,...
. 16 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, or cultivars were in this genus. This genus was related with Beilschmiedia
Beilschmiedia
Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean,...
. Apollonias barbujana could be the only species but also it can be divided in several species. To date nomenclature is not clear.
Habitat
Understorey trees in medium and high elevation wet evergreen forests, generally between 700 and 1800 m.Endemic to the Western_Ghats- all along South Sahyadri and between Palakkad Hills and Wayanad, in Apollonias arnottii, or 600 m. Macaronesian Apollonias barbujana.
Lauraceae are common in wet forest from sea level to the highest mountains, but are poorly represented in areas with a pronounced dry season.
Apollonias need a ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
of great high humidity, type cloud forests
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
. Apollonias is present about tropical or subtropical mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s, where the dense moisture
Moisture
Humidity is the amount of moisture the air can hold before it rains. Moisture refers to the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts...
from the sea or ocean, is precipitated by the action of the relief, causing it to condense part of the moisture that falls as rain or fog, creating an habitat especially cool, saturated with moisture in the air and soil.
With no seasonal changes. apollonias need climate wetter, but with an annual oscillation of the temperature moderated by the proximity of the ocean. This type of habitat is found in laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
habitats like this of macaronesian laurisilva
Laurisilva
Laurisilva or laurissilva is a subtropical forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterised by evergreen, glossy-leaved tree species that look alike with leaves of lauroide type...
.
Apollonias genus prefer humus rich soil in a sunny to partially shaded spot. They are fast growing foliage plants, that needs at least need 5°C in winter.
Seed grow in any humus rich, slightly moist soil. Keep at constantly 12° to 20°C in partial shade in summer to full sun in winter. Higher temperatures will slow down or inhibit germination. Soil need to be ever wet.
Species
Universally accepted species- A barbujana (syn. A.canariensis) Canary Laurel, Barbusano. AzoresAzoresThe Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
Other species sometimes included
- Apollonias arnottii. Western GhatsWestern GhatsThe Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
of IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. - Apollonias grandiflora (syn. Beilschmiedia velutina).
- Apollonias madagascariensis (syn. Beilschmiedia madagascariensis).
- Apollonias microphylla (syn. Beilschmiedia microphylla).
- Apollonias oppositifolia (syn. Beilschmiedia opposita). Voakoromanga. MadagascarMadagascarThe Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. - Apollonias sericea (syn. Beilschmiedia sericans).
- Apollonias velutina (syn. Beilschmiedia velutina).
- Apollonias zeylanica (syn. Beilschmiedia zeylanica).