Brunellia darienensis Cuatrec. & Porter
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Authority
Cuatrecasas, José. 1985. Brunelliaceae (supplement). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 2: 28-103. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Brunelliaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Panama. Darien: Cerro Pirre, 800-1500 m, cloud forest and mossy forest; shrub, 9-10 Jan 1967 (fr green), Duke & Elias 13850 (holotype, MO; isotype, US).
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Description
Description - Small tree. Terminal branchlets green, flattened, striate, dilute-puberulous, the hairs thin, hyaline straight or slightly flexuous, 0.2-0.5 mm long, appressed or subappressed, the older branchlets dark green, subterete, striolate, becoming glabrescent. Young shoots and apical buds ochraceous-subsericeous. Stipules geminate, 4-5 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate, acute, dilated at base, distally barbate, the hairs erect, antrorse, subappressed. Leaves opposite, imparipinnate, 5-7-jugate; axis 16-34 cm long, narrowly sulcate, adaxially and distally keeled, puberulous, the hairs subappressed, 0.2-0.5 mm, the interjuga 2.5-4.5 cm long, the stipels geminate, thickly subulate, acute, sparingly pilosulous, 2 mm long. Leaflets chartaceous; petiolules dilated basally, sulcate above, slightly puberulent, the laterals 5-6 mm, the terminal 12-20 mm long; blades elliptic-oblong, attenuate and acuminate, asymmetrical and obtuse at base, the margin simply crenate-serrate, the teeth callose, obtuse, minute, antrorse, mostly 8-12 mm apart, the surface abaxially somewhat smooth, shiny, slightly puberulent, the main nerves prominulous and conspicuously discolored, abaxially dull, moderately pubescent, the hairs rather short, subappressed, ascending, abundant on the nerves, sparingly within the venular reticulum, the midrib pale yellowish, elevated; the secondary nerves 13-15 per side, pale yellowish, prominent, parallel-ascending at a 40-50° angle, slightly curved near the margin and terminating in the callose mucros of the marginal teeth, the tertiary nerves transverse, prominulous, the minor veins united into a rather broad, discolored, almost flat, reticulum; lateral blades 1015 × 3-4.2 cm, the basal ones 8 × 2.5 cm, the acumens subulate, acute, 1.5-2 cm long. Panicles axillary, of rather moderate size, about 8-15 cm long, 7 cm wide in fruit; axis rather thin, compressed, striate, sparingly puberulous, the branchlets slender, flattened, striolate, spreading, puberulent, the terminals supporting 2-3 pedunculate flowers; peduncles 0.5-2 mm long articulated to the 2-4 mm long pedicels, these slender, rigidulous, subappressed puberulous. Bracteoles soon deciduous, not seen. Flowers pentamerous, hermaphrodite. Calyx in fruit 6 mm diam., the lobes 2-2.2 × 1.5-1.7 mm, ovate, acute, adaxially near the apex and margins papillose-strigose, abaxially sparsely strigose-puberulent, the ap-pressed hairs 0.1 mm long. Stamens with the filaments dilated basally, copiously hirsutulous, the hairs patent, acute, 0.2 mm, the anthers ellipsoid, 0.5 mm long; ovary densely sericeous, the trichomes short, appressed, 0.05 mm long distally erecto-antrorse and 0.1-0.2 mm long. Follicles ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly compressed, apiculate, 3 × 2.5 mm, minutely pubescent, the trichomes subappressed 0.05-0.1 mm (in the apical zone somewhat longer), spreading-ascending up to 0.2-0.3 mm, the proximal persistent part of the stylodium spreading, 1-1.5 mm long; often all five developed, the stellate polyfollicle 5 mm in diam.; endocarp monosperm, cartilaginous, ellipsoid, at the insertion point obtuse, 2 × 1.8 × 1.5 mm, dry and open U-formed; seeds ellipsoid-ovoid, somewhat compressed, shining, brown, 1.8 x 1.6 × 1.2 mm.
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Distribution
Restricted to the region of Darién in Panama, in lower montane wet or subandean forest mainly between 1000 and 1500 m alt.
Panama Central America| Darién Panamá Central America|