Buckleya is a small genus of hemiparasitic deciduous shrubs belonging to the sandalwood family (Santalaceae), in the order Santalales. The genus has a disjunct distribution spanning eastern Asia and eastern North America — a biogeographic pattern shared by several other plant genera. Plants are dioecious, bearing male and female flowers on separate individuals. As hemiparasites, they are capable of photosynthesis but also extract water and nutrients from the roots of host plants.
The genus contains four known species: Buckleya angulosa from eastern China, Buckleya graebneriana from central China, Buckleya lanceolata from Japan and China, and Buckleya distichophylla from the southeastern United States. The North American species, B. distichophylla, commonly called piratebush, is rare and considered a species of conservation concern. The common name "piratebush" is sometimes applied to the genus as a whole.
Buckleya was named in honor of Samuel Botsford Buckley, a nineteenth-century American naturalist and botanist.
Etymology
The genus Buckleya was named in honor of Samuel Botsford Buckley, a nineteenth-century American naturalist and geologist. The genus is also commonly known as piratebush.
Distribution
Buckleya has a disjunct distribution across eastern Asia and eastern North America. Asian species occur in eastern and central China and in Japan, while Buckleya distichophylla is native to the southeastern United States.
Ecology
Members of Buckleya are hemiparasitic shrubs that attach to the roots of host plants to obtain water and nutrients while also photosynthesizing independently. All species are dioecious, with male and female reproductive structures borne on separate individual plants.
Conservation
Buckleya distichophylla (piratebush), the sole North American representative of the genus, has a very limited range in the southern Appalachians of the southeastern United States and is considered rare.
