Swartzia simplex var. ochnacea (DC.) R.S.Cowan

  • Authority

    Cowan, Richard S. 1967. Swartzia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae Swartzieae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 1: 3-228. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Fabaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Swartzia simplex var. ochnacea (DC.) R.S.Cowan

  • Type

    Type collection. L. Nee s. n. (holotype G-DC), Acapulco, Mexico. In the original publication of this taxon, De Candolle noted that the collector recorded this material from the vicinity of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Acapulco, Mexico; De Candolle suggested that probably only one of the localities was correct. Since the genus is not known as far south as Argentina, it seems clear that the type collection came from Mexico, probably from the west coast, where this variety occurs.

  • Synonyms

    Swartzia ochnacea DC., Swartzia macrosperma Bertol., Swartzia simplex var. continentalis Urb., Tounatea ochnacea (DC.) Britton, Tounatea macrosperma (Bertol.) Britton & Rose, Tounatea costaricensis Britton, Tounatea gatunensis Britton, Tounatea hayesii Britton, Tounatea hondurensis Britton, Tounatea penomenensis Britton, Tounatea pittieri Britton, Tounatea williamsii Britton

  • Description

    Description - Leaves unifoliolate, the petioles usually either distinctly alate or margined, but sometimes the wing reduced to two apical, foliaceous flabellate stipels, the petiolules mostly more than 1 mm long; pollen globose, 26-28.5 µ diameter.

  • Discussion

    Although I have not seen Bertoloni’s type of his S. macrosperma, his description and plate leave no doubt of its belonging to the same taxon as the type of var. ochnacea in DeCandolle’s herbarium at Geneva. The many synonyms of Britton are based on collections which may have a slightly different appearance but which are essentially alike in important characteristics.

    The synonomy listed under each of the varieties comprising this species is indicative of its wide-ranging, variable nature; it is clear when one studies the species throughout its range that the binomials proposed by Pittier and by Britton, especially those of the latter, were given to minor variants of no taxonomic consequence within the population.

    There is little other than number of leaflets per leaf to separate this species from its nearest relative, S. myrtifolia. The latter has 2-4 pairs of lateral leaflets and a terminal one, but S. simplex has a single leaflet or at most one pair of laterals. The apex of the leaflets in S. myrtifolia are often slightly retuse but this is rare in S. simplex.

    The varieties which comprise this species are not very strikingly different, as the few differences listed in the varietal descriptions make clear. Var. grandiflora typically has trifoliolate leaves but there are collections with some sheets bearing only unifoliolate leaves and other sheets of the same collection with all or mostly trifoliolate ones. Field study may indicate that it is impossible to maintain this even as a variety but it appears to be the best solution at the moment. There is some variability within the material cited; that from southeastern Brazil has buds which are usually elliptic in outline, whereas those from Central American collections are globose. Earlier this appeared to be significant as a distinguishing characteristic, but it is sometimes impossible to draw a sharp line between the two bud-forms, so it has been discarded. Var. ochnacea is, as far as the many sheets available indicate, regularly unifoliolate. The typical variety is only slightly different, in the lack of a distinct wing or margin on the petiole and generally shorter petiolules. Collections from the upper part of the Amazon Basin are not always clearly assignable to one unifoliolate variety or the other, but there is little difficulty elsewhere in the range.

  • Common Names

    Laranjinha, limoncillo, naranjillo, pernilla del monte

  • Distribution

    (Figs. 32, 33, 35). Moist to wet forests along the western coast of Mexico as far north as Nayarit, south along the western coast of Guatemala, and on both coasts of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama; in South America it occurs primarily in the Magdalena Valley and along the coast of Colombia, as well as in the Amazonian forests of Ecuador, Peru, and on the eastern coast of Brazil. Altitudinally, the variety ranges from sea level to 1500 m, but it is perhaps most common between 100 and 600 m alt.

    Mexico North America| Nayarit Mexico North America| Jalisco Mexico North America| Michoacán Mexico North America| Guerrero Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Huehuetenango Guatemala Central America| Quezaltenango Guatemala Central America| Sololá Guatemala Central America| Retalhuleu Guatemala Central America| Escuintla Guatemala Central America| Santa Rosa Guatemala Central America| Cortés Honduras Central America| Atlántida Honduras Central America| Costa Rica South America| Guanacaste Costa Rica Central America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Alajuela Costa Rica Central America| Limón Costa Rica Central America| San José Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Bocas del Toro Panamá Central America| Veraguas Panama Central America| Coclé Panamá Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Colón Panama Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| San Blás Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Atlántico Colombia South America| Santander Colombia South America| Tolima Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Santiago-Zamora Ecuador South America| Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America|