Androecial hood: Couroupita subsessilis-type

• Title

  Androecial hood: Couroupita subsessilis-type

• Definition

  This type of androecial hood has three features: 1) an invagination, 2) a notch on the distal end as viewed from above, and 3) staminodes.

• Notes

  The species of Couroupita form a monophyletic group based on molecular (Mori et al., 2007) and morphological data (Prance, 1990) yet the androecium is very different in each of the species. In C. nicaraguarensis there is no hood because stamens run from the staminal ring to the end of the ligule. It is called a C. nicaraguarensis-type ligule. In C. guianensis the hood is flat and has an appendage-free ligule. The hood is differentiated and is covered with staminodes. This is called a Couroupita guianensis-type androecial hood.

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