Legrandia concinna (Phil.) Kausel
-
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
-
Type
Type. Chile. In cordillera de Linares dicta in praedio Oilmen, Germain s.n. (holotype, SGO, n.v.; probable isotype, MICH; F neg. 31562 of isotype at W).
-
Synonyms
Eugenia concinna Phil.
-
Description
Species Description - Small tree up to perhaps 8 m high, the young growth sparsely to moderately pubescent; hairs simple, unicellular, whitish, up to ca. 1 mm long; young twigs 4-angled, reddish-brown, sparsely to moderately pubescent, with age becoming somewhat rough, grey, subterete, the bark becoming slightly stringy. Leaves elliptic, elliptic-oblong, oval, ovate-elliptic, obovate, 2-5.5 cm long, 0.8-3 cm wide, 1.8-2.8 times as long as wide, glabrous to sparsely pubescent along the midvein and margins, often possessing cavities in the axils of the main lateral veins below, these having ciliate margins, the venation brochidodromous with broadly arching connections between the laterals; apex obtuse to rounded; base obtuse, cuneate, or acuminate; petiole shallowly channeled, 1-3 mm long, ca. 1 mm thick, glabrous to moderately pubescent; midvein impressed above, prominent below; lateral veins ca. 5-8 pairs moderately prominent, leaving the midvein at an angle of ca. 45 degrees, looping broadly to connect with the succeeding lateral, or splitting about Vi to % of the way to the margin, no clear marginal vein present; blades subcoriaceous, drying grey-green to reddish-brown. Peduncles uniflorous, 1-3.5 cm long, 0.7-2 mm wide, sparsely pubescent to glabrous, solitary in the axils of leaves; bracteoles foliaceous, elliptic, ca. 7-9 mm long, 2-4 mm wide; Calyx-lobes hemior-bicular-triangular, 3-4 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, glabrous within, sparsely pubescent without; petals four, suborbicular, to obovate, ca. 7-10 mm long, glabrous except for a ciliate margin; hypanthium obconic to campanulate, 4-7 mm long, densely to moderately pubescent to villose; disk ca. 6 mm across, pubescent centrally, raised conically around the base of the style, the staminal ring glabrous; stamens ca. 200-400, 7-12 mm long, turned centerwards in bud; anthers ca. 0.7 mm long; style ca. 9-12 mm long, pubescent basally, otherwise glabrous; ovary 2-3 locular; ovules 5-11 per locule, more or less biseriate, attached to upper portion of the septum. Fruit subglobose, 1.5-2.5 cm long, drying reddish-brown (yellowish when fresh), 1.5-2.5 cm long. Seed usually solitary, less often 2-5 per fruit (ex Kausel, 1949), the seed coast membranous, the embryo ellipsoidal to subglobose, about straight, ca. 1.3-2 cm long, the central vascular core making up ca. ¼ the diam. of the hypocotyl.
-
Discussion
The leaves of Legrandia concinna are said to have a fragrance similar to some members of the Labiatae (e.g., Satureja) (Rodriguez et al., 1983).
-
Common Names
Luma
-
Distribution
A smooth barked tree of wet habitats in the Andes of central Chile from Curicó to Ñuble.
Chile South America|