Lyonia (plant) explained

Lyonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. There are about 35 species native to Asia and North America.^[1]

These are shrubs and trees, deciduous or evergreen. Some have rhizomes. The leaves are spirally arranged and the inflorescences grow in the leaf axils. The flowers are usually white, sometimes red. The fruit is a capsule.^[1]

Fossil record

37 fossil fruits of †Lyonia danica have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.^[2]

Species

Include:

• Lyonia elliptica
• Lyonia ferruginea
• Lyonia fruticosa
• Lyonia jamaicensis
• Lyonia ligustrina
• Lyonia lucida
• Lyonia maestrensis
• Lyonia mariana
• Lyonia octandra
• Lyonia ovalifolia
• Lyonia truncata

Notes and References

1. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=119184 Lyonia.
2. 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