Malanea macrophylla Bartl. ex Griseb.

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett. 1965. The Botany of the Guayana Highland. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 12 (3): 1-285.

  • Family

    Rubiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Malanea macrophylla Bartl. ex Griseb.

  • Description

    Distribution and Ecology - This is the most widely distributed species of Malanea, ranging from the West Indies southeast along the Venezuelan Coastal mountains and Altiplanicie de Nuria into British and Dutch Guiana, and into Brazil along the coastal areas of Para, Territorio Amapa, Maranhao, and locally around Bahia in the state of Bahia.

  • Discussion

    Variability is present in the shape, size, apex and base of the leaf-blades, and in the indument of their lower side, varying from sparsely to moderately or even abundantly appressed-strigillose on the lower surface with short colorless hairs 0.1-0.5 mm long in the widespread M. macrophylla var. macrophylla f. bahiensis to densely silvery beneath with a dense short tomentum of close hairs in typical M. macrophylla var. macrophijlla f. macrophylla. In var macrophylla f. cuneata the leaf-base is quite cuneate with the leaf-blades often 2-2-1/2 times as long as broad, and about 1-1/3-2-1/3 times in var. macrophylla f. macrophylla. In var. megalantha the corolla is longer with a longer style than in var. macrophylla. Malanea macrophylla has been variously recorded as tree to 60 feet tall, scandent shrub, shrub, or liana. Whether the taxon itself is actually as variable in habit as indicated by the data on collectors' labels, or has been misjudged by faulty field observation, remains to be discovered. It is probable that M . glabra A . Rich, m a y eventually apply to this species. If so, it would have to supplement M . macrophylla, as the correct name, having been published previously, in 1834. However, at present the applicability of the name is uncertain in the absence of referral to a type specimen.

  • Distribution

    This is the most widely distributed species of Malanea, ranging from the West Indies southeast along the Venezuelan Coastal mountains and Altiplanicie de Nuria into British and Dutch Guiana, and into Brazil along the coastal areas of Para, Territorio Amapa, Maranhao, and locally around Bahia in the state of Bahia.

    Venezuela South America| West Indies| Guyana South America| Brazil South America|