Terminalia acuminata (Allemão) Eichler

  • Authority

    Stace, C. A. & Alwan, A.-R A. 2010. Combretaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 107: 1-369. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Combretaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Terminalia acuminata (Allemão) Eichler

  • Type

    Type. Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Near Campo Grande, 1846, Allemão e Cysneiros s.n. (lectotype. BR, here designated: isolectotypes, BR, L). Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: 1814-1831, Sello 1160 (probable lectoparatypes, BM, K) and Sello s.n. (probable lectoparatypes, C, FI, L, US) (see discussion).

  • Synonyms

    Vicentia acuminata Allemão, Myrobalanus acuminata Kuntze

  • Description

    Species Description - Tree 10-12 m (probably deciduous). Leaves 5-15 × 2-7.5 cm, chartaceous, elliptic-oblong to ovate or sometimes slightly obovate, acuminate to long-acuminate at apex (acumen 10-20 mm), cuneate to broadly cuneate at base, more or less glabrous adaxially, pubescent abaxially with midvein and secondary veins densely so; domatia present, small but very well developed in secondary vein-axils, pubescent. Venation eucamptodromous; midvein moderate, prominent; secondary veins 7-10 pairs, close to moderately spaced, alternate to subopposite, originating at moderately acute angles, curved distally, sometimes forking about midway, prominent; intersecondary veins usually absent; tertiary veins percurrent, straight or sinuous, oblique and regularly orientated; areolation randomly reticulate, imperfect, not prominent. Petiole 1.5-4.5 cm, pubescent, very prominently biglandular, the glands often shortly pedunculate or subsessile. Inflorescences (4-)5-9(-10.5) cm, axillary panicles, with all flowers bisexual; peduncle 1.5-2.5 cm, pubescent; rhachis 3.5-5 cm, densely pubescent. Flowers tetramerous, 2.5-3 × 1-1.2 mm; lower hypanthium 0.8-1.5 mm, densely appressed-pubescent; upper hypanthium 1-1.2 mm, deeply cupuliform, sparsely pubescent; calyx lobes 0.3-0.5 mm, erect, very sparsely pubescent; disk villous; stamens 1-2 mm, only slightly exserted; style 1-1.8 mm, glabrous. Fruits scattered over inflorescence, 1-2 × 1.3-2 cm, more or less actinomorphic, suborbicular in side view, emarginate at apex, rounded to truncate at base, glabrous; wings 3(-4), subequal, 0.5-1.1 cm wide, 1.1-2 cm long at longest point, rounded laterally; body 0.1-0.3 cm wide, flat on all 3 faces. Reproductive biology. Flowering and fruiting at various times throughout the year.

  • Discussion

    All those marked non visi (n.v.) were cited by Marquete Ferreira da Silva (1984);

    Uses. Said to be a useful timber, especially for house construction, and it is an ornamental street tree.

    Illustrations. Figs. 3c (venation), 5c (domatium), 73c (lf), 74e (fr). Eichler (1867), fr, pl. 33; Marquete Ferreira da Silva (1984), pp. 100-101; Marquete Ferreira da Silva, Teixeira & Valente (2003), p. 121 leaf & fr.

    Terminalia acuminata is very distinct among all American species in its usually elliptic, acuminate leaves with a very prominently biglandular petiole, fruits with usually 3 equal wings, and branched inflorescences with small tetramerous flowers with scarcely exserted stamens. It seems to have no close relations and certainly deserves its own section.

    The presumed type (Allemão e Cysneiros s.n.) is labeled with a locality that agrees with that given in the protologue, but the date on the sheet is 1846, two years after the description; possibly 1846 refers to the incorporation of the specimen in BR. The specimens Sello 1160 and s.n. are probably types as they must have been collected before Allemão e Cysneiros’s specimens; Sello was in Brazil from 1814 to 1831 and Allemão e Cysneiros between 1832 and 1861. Sello 1160 is labeled "Brasil. Terminalia sp. nov." and “T. affinis.”

  • Common Names

    Guarajuba, merindiba

  • Distribution

    Endemic to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally in primary woodland at ca. 500 m, but now rare. It is apparently grown in the Botanic Garden and as a street tree (Marquete Ferreira da Silva, 1984).

    Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America|