Taxon Details: Comarostaphylis arbutoides Lindl.
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Narratives:
Family:
Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Scientific Name:
Comarostaphylis arbutoides Lindl.
Comarostaphylis arbutoides Lindl.
Primary Citation:
Edward's Bot. Reg. 29: 30. 1843
Edward's Bot. Reg. 29: 30. 1843
Accepted Name:
This name is currently accepted.
This name is currently accepted.
Description:
Description: Erect to spreading much-branched evergreen shrubs to small trees, 1-20 m tall, to 49 cm dbh; bark peeling or shredding, gray, tan, reddish-brown or brown; young twigs glabrous and sometimes glaucous or glandular hirsute to ferrutinously tomentose, the trichomes stalked, swollen-headed, and glandular or eglandular and hyaline. Leaves coriaceous to subcoriaceous, lanceolate to elliptic, ovate or obovate, plane or revolute, 4.8-12.4 x 1-4.6 cm, basally cuneate, apically obtuse to acute, marginally entire, sometimes undulate, rarely with a few serrations, upper surface glabrous or with scattered trichomes, lower surface glabrous or with ferrutinous eglandular tomentum to nearly wooly, midrib glabrous or with indumentum, the trichomes stalked, swollen-headed and glandular, or eglandular; petioles 4-20 mm long, glabrous and sometimes glaucous or with indumentum as on young twigs. Inflorescences densely paniculate, 3.5-13.3(-18.2) cm long, rachis, pedicels, bracts, bracteoles and calyx glabrous or tomentose to glandular hirsute, often with stalked swollen-headed glandular trichomes; floral bracts lanceolate, nearly plane to navicular or carinate, acuminate, 2.5-9.8 x 1.1-2 mm, ciliate or not; pedicels 5-8 mm long; bracteoles basal to distal, 1.7-4.1 mm long, ciliate or not. Flowers: calyx lobes triangular to ovate-triangular, 1.7-2.5 x 1.4-2.1 mm, acute to acuminate, glabrous or pubescent, trichomes glandular or not, often ciliate; corollas greenish-white to cream, pale yellow, or white, sometimes suffused with pink, 5.7-7.8 x 3.3-6.2 mm, glabrous or pubescent, the lobes 0.9-1.7 x 1.4-2.3 mm; stamens 2.6-3.2 mm long; filaments 2.4-3.1 mm long, villous; anthers 1.1-1.5 x 0.6-0.9 mm, the spurs 0.4-1 mm long; ovary glabrous or pubescent; style 2.5-4.3 mm long, glabrous. Fruit 5-7 mm in diam., red when immature, dark purple to black at maturity; seeds 2.1-2.8 x 1.1-1.5 mm, surface reticulate.
Distribution: Central Chiapas (Mexico) through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and W Panama, in dry to moist Quercus or Pinus forests to other moist montane or cloud forests, and on the summits of the higher volcanoes of Central America, at 1350 to 3800 m.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.
Type: Cultivated in the garden of the Horticultural Society of London from seed collected at Xetic, near Quezaltenango, Guatemala, Hartweg 871 (lectotype, designated by Diggs (1995): CGE, photo, Diggs neg. 1).
Key to Subspecies of Comarostaphylis arbutoides:1. Leaves ferruginously tomentose or tomentulose below; twigs, petioles, and calyx lobes pubescent; Chiapas to Panama .................. subsp. arbutoides
1. Leaves glabrous below; twigs, petioles, and calyx lobes glabrous; endemic to Costa Rica .............. subsp. costaricensis
Description: Erect to spreading much-branched evergreen shrubs to small trees, 1-20 m tall, to 49 cm dbh; bark peeling or shredding, gray, tan, reddish-brown or brown; young twigs glabrous and sometimes glaucous or glandular hirsute to ferrutinously tomentose, the trichomes stalked, swollen-headed, and glandular or eglandular and hyaline. Leaves coriaceous to subcoriaceous, lanceolate to elliptic, ovate or obovate, plane or revolute, 4.8-12.4 x 1-4.6 cm, basally cuneate, apically obtuse to acute, marginally entire, sometimes undulate, rarely with a few serrations, upper surface glabrous or with scattered trichomes, lower surface glabrous or with ferrutinous eglandular tomentum to nearly wooly, midrib glabrous or with indumentum, the trichomes stalked, swollen-headed and glandular, or eglandular; petioles 4-20 mm long, glabrous and sometimes glaucous or with indumentum as on young twigs. Inflorescences densely paniculate, 3.5-13.3(-18.2) cm long, rachis, pedicels, bracts, bracteoles and calyx glabrous or tomentose to glandular hirsute, often with stalked swollen-headed glandular trichomes; floral bracts lanceolate, nearly plane to navicular or carinate, acuminate, 2.5-9.8 x 1.1-2 mm, ciliate or not; pedicels 5-8 mm long; bracteoles basal to distal, 1.7-4.1 mm long, ciliate or not. Flowers: calyx lobes triangular to ovate-triangular, 1.7-2.5 x 1.4-2.1 mm, acute to acuminate, glabrous or pubescent, trichomes glandular or not, often ciliate; corollas greenish-white to cream, pale yellow, or white, sometimes suffused with pink, 5.7-7.8 x 3.3-6.2 mm, glabrous or pubescent, the lobes 0.9-1.7 x 1.4-2.3 mm; stamens 2.6-3.2 mm long; filaments 2.4-3.1 mm long, villous; anthers 1.1-1.5 x 0.6-0.9 mm, the spurs 0.4-1 mm long; ovary glabrous or pubescent; style 2.5-4.3 mm long, glabrous. Fruit 5-7 mm in diam., red when immature, dark purple to black at maturity; seeds 2.1-2.8 x 1.1-1.5 mm, surface reticulate.
Distribution: Central Chiapas (Mexico) through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and W Panama, in dry to moist Quercus or Pinus forests to other moist montane or cloud forests, and on the summits of the higher volcanoes of Central America, at 1350 to 3800 m.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.
Type: Cultivated in the garden of the Horticultural Society of London from seed collected at Xetic, near Quezaltenango, Guatemala, Hartweg 871 (lectotype, designated by Diggs (1995): CGE, photo, Diggs neg. 1).
Key to Subspecies of Comarostaphylis arbutoides:
Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):
Comarostaphylis arbutoides Lindl.: [Article] Luteyn, James L., et al. 1995. Ericaceae, Part II. The Superior-Ovaried Genera (Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Rhododendroideae, and Vaccinioideae P.P.). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 66: 560.
Comarostaphylis arbutoides Lindl.: [Article] Luteyn, James L., et al. 1995. Ericaceae, Part II. The Superior-Ovaried Genera (Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Rhododendroideae, and Vaccinioideae P.P.). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 66: 560.