Sideroxylon tenax

Tough bully
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Sapotaceae
Genus:	Sideroxylon
Species:	S. tenax
Binomial name
Sideroxylon tenax L. 1767
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy Bumelia chrysophylloides (Michx.) P.Watson Bumelia chrysophylloides (Michx.) Pursh Bumelia lacuum Small Bumelia megacocca Small Bumelia tenax (L.) Willd. Chrysophyllum carolinense Jacq. Chrysophyllum glabrum Juss. ex Lam. Lyciodes tenax (L.) Kuntze Sclerocladus tenax (L.) Raf. Sclerozus tenax (L.) Raf. Sideroxylon carolinense (Jacq.) Sarg. Sideroxylon chrysophylloides Michx. Sideroxylon sericeum Walter

Sideroxylon tenax, called the tough bully,^[2] is a plant species native to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the southernmost part of North Carolina. It grows on dry, sandy soil in pine forests, pine-oak woodlands, and hummocks at elevations less than 100 m.^[3][4]

Sideroxylon tenax is a shrub or tree up to 8 m (almost 27 feet) tall. Stems are armed with thorns. Leaves are up to 7 cm (2.8 inches) long, upper side green and sometimes shiny, underside covered with a layer of brown hairs. Flowers are white, up to 5 mm (0.2 inches) across, borne in groups of up to 40 flowers. Berries are very dark purple, almost black, spherical to egg-shaped, about 10 mm (0.4 inches) across.^{[3][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

References

1. The Plant List, Sideroxylon tenax
2. "Sideroxylon tenax". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
3. Flora of North America Sideroxylon tenax
4. Goldblatt, P. 1991. In M. Johnson, Cytology. Pp. 15--22 in T. D. Pennington, The Genera of Sapotaceae. Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens.
5. BONAP (Biota of North America Project) 2014 county distribution map, Sideroxylon tenax
6. Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1840. Autikon Botanikon (2): 73.
7. Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1838. Sylva Telluriana 35.
8. Pennington, T. D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Flora Neotropica 52: 1–771.
9. Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
10. Plant Information Center, photos of specimens from University of North Carolina Herbarium, Sideroxylon tenax