Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W.Moore

• Authority

  Landrum, Leslie R. 1986. Campomanesia, Pimenta, Blepharocalyx, Legrandia, Acca, Myrrhinium, and Luma (Myrtaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 45: 1-178. (Published by NYBG Press)

• Family

  Myrtaceae

• Scientific Name

  Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W.Moore

• Type

  Type. Specimen in Miller herbarium at BM (holotype, BM; NY neg. 11086 of holotype).

• Synonyms

  Caryophyllus racemosus Mill.

• Description

  Species Description - Tree up to ca. 12 m high, essentially glabrous to densely strigose or pubescent on young growth and lower leaf surfaces; hairs yellowish, light reddish-brown or whitish, up to ca. 0.5 mm long, mainly symmetrically or asymmetrically dibrachiate, sometimes simple on some structures; young twigs densely strigose to glabrous, usually 4-angled, drying reddish-brown, light yellowish-brown, or grey. Leaves elliptic, narrowly elliptic, oblong, obovate, oblanceolate, or suborbicular, 3-15 cm long, 1.2-6.5 cm wide, 1-4 times as long as wide, glabrous to densely strigose beneath, glabrous above except sometimes for a few hairs along the midvein, the margin often slightly revolute; apex and base acute, acuminate, obtuse, or broadly rounded; petiole deeply to scarcely channeled, 3-10 mm long, 1-3 mm thick, glabrous to densely strigose; midvein impressed proximally or not at all above, prominent below; lateral veins ca. 10-20 pairs distinguishable, leaving the midvein at an angle of 60° or more, somewhat raised on the upper surface, the secondary veins more or less equalling the laterals in prominence, forming a regular reticulate pattern between them, the pattern readily visible on the upper surface; marginal veins more or less equalling the laterals in prominence, looping between them, often nearly paralleling the margin; blades stiffly coriaceous, drying light yellow-green, grey-green, or light or dark reddish-brown, usually lustrous above. Inflorescence a panicle of (5-)15 to about 100 flowers, 2.5-12 cm long, densely to sparsely pubescent or strigose, or glabrous, the stalk of the inflorescence 1-7 cm long, 1-2 mm wide; bracteoles and bracts narrowly triangular to linear, 1-2 mm long; Calyx-lobes triangular, 0.5-2 mm long, somewhat broader than long, sometimes scarcely noticeable along the edge of the hypanthium, densely covered with hairs to glabrous without, pubescent within; petals suborbicular, ca. 2 mm in diameter, densely pubescent to glabrous; hypanthium 1.5-5 mm long, prolonged beyond the summit of the ovary for ca. half its length, tearing between the calyx-lobes after anthesis; disk ca. 3-4 mm across, lining the inside of the hypanthial tube, explanate after anthesis; stamens 50-170, 4-5 mm long; style glabrous to densely pubescent, 4-5 mm long; ovary 2-locular; ovules 4-9 per locule, bom on a short stalklike placenta that arises from the apex of the locule. Fruit subglobose, ca. 6-12 mm in diam. Seeds 1-4 per fruit, ca. 4 mm long, the embryo once spiral.

• Discussion

  Pimenta racemosa is distinguished by: pentamerous flowers; bilocular ovaries with 4-9 ovules per locule; and leaves mostly over 5 cm long and 2 cm wide with ca. 10-20 pairs of lateral veins that are conspicuous and somewhat raised above.

  The names Myrtus caryophyllata L., Af. cotinifolia Plumier, Af. acris Swartz or their equivalents in other genera (i.e., Amomis, Eugenia, Myrcia, and Pimenta) have been applied to Pimenta racemosa at various times. Myrtus caryophyllata should be used for a species in Ceylon, and Af. cotinifolia and Af. acris are illegitimate. The history of these names will be briefly summarized below.