Ecclinusa atabapoensis (Aubrév.) T.D.Penn.
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Authority
Pennington, Terence D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 52: 1-750. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Sapotaceae
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Scientific Name
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Synonyms
Neoxythece atabapoensis Aubrév.
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Description
Species Description - Shrub; young shoots rufous-ferruginous pubescent, indumentum becoming greyish with age, eventually glabrous, greyish, slightly fissured, without lenticels. Stipules 3-5 mm long, ovate to lanceolate, rufous-ferruginous pubescent at first, usually becoming glabrous, or persisting along a central strip. Leaves spaced, spirally arranged, 1.7-7.6 × 0.9-3.5 cm, broadly elliptic, oblong or oblanceolate, apex rounded, truncate or emarginate, base acute to rounded, coriaceous, golden-brown tomentose on both surfaces at first, soon falling and becoming glabrous, venation eucamptodromous or brochidodromous at apex, midrib flat or slightly sunken on the upper surface, secondary veins 7-14 pairs, parallel or slightly convergent, arcuate, often slightly impressed on both surfaces; intersecondaries absent; tertiaries forming an areolate reticulum. Petiole 0.3-1.1 cm long, channelled, pubescent. Fascicles axillary and in the axils of fallen leaves, 1-10-flowered. Flowers unisexual (plant monoecious). Sepals four, 1.5-2.5 mm long, ovate to lanceolate, apex rounded, pubescent outside, glabrous inside. Corolla 2-3 mm long, tube 0.5-1.5 mm long, lobes four, 1.3-1.5 mm long, ovate, apex obtuse or rounded, glabrous or sparsely appressed puberulous outside. Stamens four, fixed in the upper half of the corolla tube; filaments 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous; anthers 0.3-0.5 mm long, ovate or lanceolate, glabrous; stamens absent in female flowers. Ovary narrowly ovoid to globose, (three-)four-locular, densely strigose; style ca. 0.5 mm long after anthesis; style-head simple (male) or minutely lobed (female); ovules vestigial in male flowers. Fruit 1-1.5 cm long, globose, apex and base rounded, thin-walled and constricted between the seeds when dry, smooth, glabrous or with some residual pubescence. Seeds one-several, ca. 1 cm long, ellipsoid, rounded at both ends, testa smooth, shining, ca. 0.2 mm thick; scar short, adaxial, slightly less than half the length of the seed, and extending around the base, ca. 1 mm wide. Field characters. A stunted and twisted shrub 0.5-1.5(-3) m high, with sticky white latex. The leaves are glaucous-green on both surfaces, with the midrib yellowish. Young foliage opens ferruginous-brown. Flowers greenish, fruit ripening through yellow to orange or red. Flowering Feb to Mar, and Jun, fruiting Feb, and Jul.
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Objects
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Distribution
S Venezuela and adjacent Colombia, where it becomes common or dominant on white sand savanna, and in shrub islands in savanna, often on periodically flooded land. Altitudinal range 100-150 metres.
Colombia South America| Guainía Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America|