Mortonia utahensis
Encyclopedia
Mortonia utahensis is a species of flowering plant in the bittersweet family
known by the common name Utah mortonia. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert and mountain scrub and woodland, often on limestone
substrates. It is a broomlike shrub
growing erect to a maximum height near 1.2 meters. Its branching stems are white to gray in color and rough-haired. The thick, curling, concave leaves are oval in shape, pointed or rounded at the tip, and up to about 1.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence
is a narrow panicle
of many flowers with five rough greenish sepal
s and five thin white petals a few millimeters long. The fruit is a cluster of nutlets.
Celastraceae
The Celastraceae , is a family of about 90-100 genera and 1,300 species of vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales...
known by the common name Utah mortonia. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert and mountain scrub and woodland, often on limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
substrates. It is a broomlike 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...
growing erect to a maximum height near 1.2 meters. Its branching stems are white to gray in color and rough-haired. The thick, curling, concave leaves are oval in shape, pointed or rounded at the tip, and up to about 1.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a narrow panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
of many flowers with five rough greenish sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and five thin white petals a few millimeters long. The fruit is a cluster of nutlets.