About Nahuatlea arborescens (Brandegee) V.A.Funk
Nahuatlea arborescens (Brandegee) V.A.Funk has a tree-like growth habit, reaching 3 to 8 meters in height, with a trunk that measures 20 to 30 cm in diameter. Its leaves are chartaceous, meaning they resemble paper or parchment, and are ovate to elliptic in shape. Both leaf surfaces are glabrescent, becoming nearly smooth. Leaf blades measure 3.5 to 6.5 cm long and 2.5 to 4.5 cm wide, with a petiole that is 5 mm long. The inflorescence forms crowded clusters at the tips of branches. Flower heads are solitary, or more commonly grow in loose clusters of 2 to 20 at branch apices, with only a few clusters per individual plant. Each flower head contains 13 to 20 individual flowers, which have yellowish 12 mm-long corollas. The involucre is cylindrical to narrowly obconic in shape, changing form with age, and measures 10 to 15 mm tall and 6 to 8 mm wide at anthesis, with bracts arranged in 8 to 10 series. This species is endemic to Baja California Sur, a state of Mexico located on the Baja California Peninsula. Its range extends from the Sierra de La Giganta to the Cape region of the peninsula, and it also grows on Cerralvo Island in the Gulf of California. It occurs in arroyos and alongside roads in agricultural areas.
