Hirtella triandra Sw. subsp. triandra

  • Authority

    Prance, Ghillean T. 1972. Chrysobalanaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 9: 1-410. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Chrysobalanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Hirtella triandra Sw. subsp. triandra

  • Type

    Type. Herb. Swartz sn, West Indies, fl (holotype, S; isotype, M).

  • Synonyms

    Hirtella triandra Sw., Chrysobalanus triandra (Sw.) Morales, Hirtella americana L., Hirtella cosmibuena Lam., Hirtella racemosa Lam., Hirtella peruviana Pers., Sphenista peruviana (Pers.) Raf., Zamzela racemosa Raf., Hirtella paniculata Sw., Hirtella castanea DC., Hirtella bracteata Mart. & Zucc., Hirtella jamaicensis Urb., Hirtella multiflora Urb.

  • Description

    Description - Leaves 4.0-15.0 cm long, subcoriaceous, with acumen 5.0-20.0 mm long; primary veins 9-13 pairs; inflorescence little to much branched.

  • Discussion

    The Stockholm herbarium contains two sheets of Hirtella triandra labelled "Swartz Herbarium", but both these sheets are without data. Hirtella triandra was obviously based on this material which must therefore be regarded as the type. In addition, Swartz must have seen other material such as a sheet from the Banks herbarium at the British Museum. This sheet contains three separate collections all from the Caribbean: De Ponthieu sn, Fr. Mapa sn; J. Ryan sn. Perhaps the material in the Swartz herbarium originated from one or more of these collections. Stockholm has the De Ponthieu material, but it is not marked as belonging to the Swartz herbarium. Swartz' description is not followed by the asterisk used to indicate material from the Banks herbarium, as has been mentioned under H. paniculata. For these reasons the material in the Swartz herbarium is considered the type. Both the Swartz herbarium and the Banks herbarium contain material of the minor variant which Urban described as H. jamaicensis. They also contain material of what has generally been interpreted as typical H. triandra. Since H. jamaicensis is not distinct from H. triandra, this does not affect the nomenclature.

    I have not seen the holotype of Hirtella cosmibuena (which is also the holotype of H. acemosa Ruiz & Pavon and H. peruviana) at Madrid. However, there is a photograph of it in the herbarium at Washington (US) and a duplicate isotype at Chicago. These match well a sheet marked "Pavon" at the British Museum which is presumably another isotype.

    Hirtella castanea is one of the plants described by De Candolle from the Mocino & Sesse drawings, see P253. There is a specimen in the Mocino & Sesse herbarium which matches both the drawing and the description of H. castanea fairly well. This specimen is certainly H. triandra, and as there are so few species of Hirtella in Mexico it seems certain that H. castanea is equal to H. triandra, the only triandrous species of Hirtella known in that country. The specimen of H. triandra marked "Pavon" at the British Museum is almost certainly a duplicate of the Mocino & Sesse collection. Pavon never visited Mexico, but distributed Mociño & Sessé Mexican plants under his name. Further details about the difficulties of Mociño & Sesse collections have been discussed elsewhere (Prance, 1968).

    Hirtella bracteata was distinguished from H. triandra by the numerous bracts, and the broad leaves. Both characters merge into those of H. triandra and occur sporadically throughout the geographic range. Thus, H. bracteata cannot be regarded as a separate species. Similarly, it is not possible to keep H. jamaicensis and H. multiflora apart from H. triandra. Specimens bearing these names were studied with the use of scatter diagrams which showed no gaps in the variation. Although at the extremes these species look distinct from typical H. triandra, their variation merges completely with that of H. triandra, and there is no correlation between the different characters. For example, the fruit of H. jamaicensis appears rather distinct by virtue of its tomentose exterior and blunt apex. Identical fruit occurs in several collections from Panama (eg Pittier 5523, Williams 667) which in all other respects is typical H. triandra. Hirtella jamaicensis and H. multiflora both have distinctly smaller and thicker leaves, a character which occurs in Panamanian and Colombian material where there is complete gradation into that of typical H. triandra. H. jamaicensis is also rather different in the largely axillary inflorescences. This type of inflorescence also occurs in the Panamanian material where there is complete gradation again into that of typical H. triandra.

  • Common Names

    Camaroncillo, Carapato, Chicharrón, Conejo, Icacillo, Siguapa, Pigeon berry, Icaque à poils, Icaque poileux, Bois poll, Carita negro, Caramacate negro, Carbonera, Hierrito, Icaquillo, Fruta de paloma, Palo bianco, Bokotokon, Waroma, Isiguiro-ey

  • Distribution

    Occurring in a wide range of habitats, but most common in open forest, river margins, sea shores, and wooded slopes, from central Mexico through Central America, the Greater and Lesser Antilles and northern and western South America to Bolivia and Amazonian Brazil.

    Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Honduras Central America| Belize Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Santo Domingo Dominican Republic South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Saba South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Montserrat South America| Guatemala Central America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Yaracuy Venezuela South America| Portuguesa Venezuela South America| Carabobo Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Barinas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Bolivia South America|