Blepharocalyx cruckshanksii (Hook. & Arn.) Nied.

  • 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

    Blepharocalyx cruckshanksii (Hook. & Arn.) Nied.

  • Type

    Type. Chile.  Valparaiso, Cruckshanks s.n. (syntype at E-GL hereby designated as lectotype; probable isolectotype, K);  Valle del Rio Claro, Chili, Gillies s.n. (paratype, E-GL);  Chili, Cuming 94 (paratype, n.v.; F neg. 31566 of possible paratype at W).

  • Synonyms

    Eugenia cruckshanksii Hook. & Arn., Luma cruckshanksii (Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray, Eugenia divaricata Benth., Eugenia divaricata var. obovata O.Berg, Eugenia divaricata var. ovalis O.Berg, Eugenia divaricata var. pauciflora O.Berg, Temu cruckshanksii (Hook. & Arn.) O.Berg, Temu divaricatum (O.Berg) O.Berg, Blepharocalyx divaricatus (O.Berg) Nied., Blepharocalyx divaricatus var. obovatus Reiche, Blepharocalyx divaricatus var. ovalis Reiche, Blepharocalyx divaricatus var. pauciflorus Reiche

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or tree up to 15m high, the trunk smooth reddish-brown; hairs whitish, symmetrically or asymmetrically dibrachiate, up to ca. 0.3(-0.5) mm long; young twigs sparsely pubescent to glabrous, often 4-angled. Leaves elliptic, oblong, elliptic-ovate or elliptic-oblanceolate, 1.7-5.5(-8) cm long, 0.8-3 cm wide, 1.5-2.6 times as long as wide, glabrous or essentially so; apex obtuse or emarginate; base cuneate, acute, acuminate or rounded; petiole slightly channeled, 2-5 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, moderately pubescent to glabrous; midvein about flat or slightly raised above, moderately prominent below; lateral veins indistinct or up to ca. 10 pairs moderately distinct; marginal veins equalling the laterals in prominence, looping between them, more or less parallel to the margin; blades submembranous to subcoriaceous, drying grey-green, yellowish-green, or reddish-brown, somewhat darker above than below. Peduncles 1-4.5 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide, densely pubescent to glabrous, bearing a dichasium of 3 to ca. 15 flowers, the secondary branches of the dichasium ca. 0.5-1.5 cm long; bracteoles linear, ca. 1.5-2.5 mm long, ca. 0.3 mm wide, caducous at anthesis or before, glabrous to sparsely (rarely densely) pubescent; Calyx-lobes triangular-ovate, ca. 1-3 mm long and wide, not strongly concave, sparsely (rarely densely) pubescent to glabrous without, sparsely to densely pubescent within; petals suborbicular, ca. 1.5-2.5 mm in diam., sparsely pubescent to glabrous; hypanthium glabrous to sparsely (rarely densely) pubescent, attenuate, infundibular, 2.5-5 mm long; ca. 3 mm across, sparsely pubescent to glabrous; stamens ca. 90-140, ca. 5-8 mm long; style ca. 7-8 mm long, glabrous to subglabrous; ovary 2- to 3-locular; ovules 8-15 per locule. Fruit globose, ca. 7 mm in diam., purple when mature. Seeds reniform, ca. 3-4 mm long, 1-9 per fruit, the embryo C-shaped.

  • Discussion

    Blepharocalyx cruckshanksii is distinguished by: separate, persistent Calyx-lobes; and dibrachiate hairs. It is one of the most common Myrtaceae in south central Chile. It normally grows in wet, swampy habitats. The bark is often an attractive orangish or reddish-brown color, as it is in Luma apiculata of the same region. The common name temu is applied to both species. The name of a city in southern Chile, Temuco, means “temu water” in the indigenous language, Mapuche. In the southern part of its range B. cruckshanksii usually has four-angled twigs. Traditionally the epithet divaricatum has been applied to these plants, while cruckshanksii has been used for plants with unangled twigs (Kausel, 1942; Reiche, 1897). The difference in twigs is not sufficient grounds for recognizing two species, but even if it were, the name cruckshanksii would have to be applied to those plants with the four-angled twigs because that is the condition in the type of Eugenia cruckshanksii.

    Flowering specimens of Blepharocalyx cruckshanksii are occasionally confused with Myrceugenia exsucca because both have well developed dichasial inflorescences. But, B. cruckshanksii has deciduous bracteoles, whereas in Myrceugenia exsucca they are persistent; in B. cruckshanksii the leaf apices are often emarginate, in M. exsucca they are not; in B. cruckshanksii the hypanthium and twigs are usually only sparsely pubescent and in M. exsucca they are usually densely pubescent.

  • Common Names

    Temu, palo colorado

  • Distribution

    A small tree of moist habitats, endemic to the forests of central and southern Chile.

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