Laetia thamnia L.

  • Authority

    Sleumer, Hermann O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 22: 1-499. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Salicaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Laetia thamnia L.

  • Type

    Type. P. Browne sn, Jamaica, red hills above the Angels (holotype, LINN Cat. 680. 1).

  • Synonyms

    Guidonia thamnia Kuntze, Thamnia swartzii Hitchc., Casearia contracta Urb., Laetia americana L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or tree 1.5-7.0(-12.0) m tall; trunk up to 40.0 cm diam; bark yellowish. Branchlets striate, tips glabrous, resinous and shining, lower parts early covered with grayish cork; lenticels oblong-elliptic, rather dense. Leaves oblong or narrowly to more broadly elliptic, or oblanceolate-oblong, apex acuminate, tip bluntish, sometimes subacute, base slightly unequal, acute to obtuse on one, more or less rounded on the other side, membranaceous to chartaceous, glabrous, dull when dry, rather densely pellucid-punctate and -lineate, subentire to subcrenulate, (4.0-)5.0-10.0(-12.5) cm long, (2.0-)2.5-4.0 (-5.0) cm broad, lateral nerves 8-9(-10) pairs subparallel, rather obscurely looping within the margin, slightly raised mainly beneath, reticulation of veins and veinlets dense, generally hardly prominent; petiole slender, 5.0-8.0(-10.0) mm long; stipules ovate-deltoid, ca 1.0 mm long, caducous. Corymbiform cymes from the axils of the upper leaves, often of those of short lateral branchlets, 1-2-forked, 3-7(-9)-flowered, glabrous or puberulent, on peduncle 1.0-1.5 cm long; pedicels thickened upwards, 6.0-10.0(-15.0) mm long; bracts very small, ciliate. Flowers white with a rose of light yellow hue, fragrant. Sepals 4, obovate-spathulate, short-pubescent on both faces, (4.0-)6.0-8.0(-9.0) mm long, 4.0-5.0(-7.0) mm broad, reflexed. Stamens 60-80; filaments patently hirsutulous, 2.5-4.5 mm long. Ovary pyriform, tomentulose, attenuate to a (sub)glabrous columnar style ca 3.0 mm long; stigma subcapitate, very shortly 4- or 5-lobed. Fruit depressed-globose, ferrugineous-tomentulose, fleshy, 6-ribbed, (1.5-)2.0-4.0 cm diam, 4- or 5-valved, many-seeded; pericarp rather hard, up to 5.0 mm thick, red inside; seeds rather numerous, ovoid-acuminate, 4.0-6.0 mm long, 3.0-4.5 mm broad, with an orange-yellow aril.

    Distribution and Ecology - From S Mexico through to the West Indies to Panama; in forest substage, coastal woods or shrubland, also secondary growth, not rarely on limestone hillsides, up to 1200 m alt.

  • Discussion

    Wood creamish, hard. Vern.: Wattlewood (Jamaica).

  • Distribution

    Mexico North America| Tabasco Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Campeche Mexico North America| Quintana Roo Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Petén Guatemala Central America| Alta Verapaz Guatemala Central America| Izabal Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Corozal Belize Central America| Orange Walk Belize Central America| Belize Belize Central America| Toledo Belize Central America| Costa Rica South America| Limón Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Colón Panama Central America| Veraguas Panama Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Bolívar Colombia South America| Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Isla de Piños Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Colombia South America| Panamá Panama Central America|