Eurya Explained

Eurya is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants in the family Pentaphylacaceae.

Fossil record

Several fossil seeds of Eurya stigmosa have been described from Middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in central Jutland, Denmark.^[1] Eurya macrofossils have also been described from late Zanclean strata of the Pliocene in Pocapaglia, Italy.^[2] Seed fossils of Eurya stigmosa were also reported from the Early Pleistocene (Calabrian stage) of Madeira Island (Atlantic Ocean, Portugal)^[3]

Species

• Eurya emarginata
• Eurya japonica Thunb.
• Eurya rapensis F.Brown
• Eurya rengechiensis Yamamoto (Taiwan)
• Eurya sandwicensis A.Gray - Ānini (Hawaiʻi)

The leaves of Eurya are eaten by caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).

Notes and References

1. Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985
2. Messian to Zanclean vegetation and climate of Northern and Central Italy by Adele Bertini & Edoardo Martinetto, Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 47 (2), 2008, 105-121. Modena, 11 lugio 2008.
3. Góis-Marques . Carlos A. . Mitchell . Ria L. . de Nascimento . Lea . Fernández-Palacios . José María . Madeira . José . Menezes de Sequeira . Miguel . Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications . Quaternary Science Reviews . February 2019 . 206 . 129–140 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.008. 10400.13/4182 . free .