Authority:

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. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family:

Ericaceae

Synonyms:

Lyonia brachytricha Urb., Xolisma macrophylla Britton

Description:

Species Description - Evergreen shrub or small tree to ca. 6 m tall, with grayish or brownish, longitudinally furrowed bark; twigs moderately to slightly angled, slender, moderately lepidote, otherwise densely pubescent; buds ovoid, 1-2 × 0.8-1.6 mm. Leaf blades elliptic to widely elliptic, obovate, or ovate, 2-7(-8.5) × 1.2-4(-5.5) cm, ± flat, coriaceous, ca. 0.3-0.37 mm thick; base attenuate or narrowly cuneate to rounded; apex usually rounded or truncate, occasionally acute or obtuse; margin plane to slightly revolute, apical portion entire to very obscurely and irregularly toothed, basal portion entire; venation brochidodromous, 3° veins ± reticulate; adaxial surface lepidote but scales usually quickly deciduous, densely pubescent on midvein, especially basal portion, often sparsely pubescent on 2° and some 3° veins, the 3° and higher-order veins visible, the 2° veins slightly raised, with interconnections usually clearly evident; abaxial surface moderately lepidote, otherwise glabrous, often very sparsely pubescent on basal portion of midvein (and on some 2° veins) but not on lamina surface, the 3° and higher-order veins flat or nearly so, slightly and laxly reticulate, the 2° veins raised and visible; scales rust colored, usually persistent, ca. 0.07-0.2 mm in diam., entire to erose; petiole 4-17 mm long, lepidote, otherwise pubescent all around; flower buds ± intermixed with vegetative buds. Inflorescences fasciculate (shortly racemose), 4-15-flowered; pedicels clearly to only weakly articulated with calyx, slender, 5-12 mm long, lepidote, otherwise sparsely to densely pubescent; bracteoles subopposite to alternate, nearly basal, narrowly triangular, 0.5-1.4 mm long; floral bracts to ca. 2 mm long. Flowers (4-)5(-6)-merous; calyx lobes triangular, with acuminate to acute apices, 1.4-2.5 × 0.8-1.5 mm, adaxial side glabrous to densely pubescent, especially near apex, abaxial side lepidote, otherwise usually sparsely to moderately pubescent, especially near base; corolla long-urceolate, white to occasionally tinged pink, 4.5-7 × 2.4-4 mm, abaxially moderately to occasionally densely lepidote (also very sparsely pubescent); filaments roughened, 2.5-4 mm long, usually with pair of spurs to ca. 0.13 mm long just below anther-filament junction, anthers ca. 1-1.5 mm long; ovary lepidote, otherwise pubescent, placentae ± subapical. Capsules ovoid to ellipsoid, with ± convex valves, 4.5-8.5 × 3.5-5 mm, lepidote, otherwise densely to moderately pubescent, the pale, very thick sutures separating as unit from adjacent valves; seeds 2-3.5 mm long.

Discussion:

This species may be most closely related to Lyonia ekmanii, a Pinar del Río endemic, from which it differs in its mainly 5-merous (vs. 4-merous) flowers, its longer capsules, and its densely pubescent (vs. non-pubescent) twigs. Lyonia macrophylla is also related to L. obtusa and L. longipes but is easily differentiated by its capsules with convex (vs. ± straight) valves, its often shorter pedicels, and its leaves that are moderately lepidote beneath and have longer petioles. It has sometimes been confused with L. affinis, a species of the Sierra Maestra, which has more cylindrical, more sparsely lepidote corollas and leaves that are abaxially densely pubescent.

Although this species is one of the most widespread and common lyonias of eastern Cuba, it is not separable into a series of locally differentiated populations. However, there is a slight tendency for plants of the Sierra de Nipe to have smaller, or at least narrower, leaves and shorter petioles than those of the Moa-Baracoa region.

Distribution and Ecology: (Fig. 20A). Cuba, mountains of N Oriente from Sierra de Nipe to Moa-Baracoa region. Thickets, rocky areas, wooded stream banks, forests of Pinus cubensis; on reddish, lateritic soil; to ca. 850 m elev. [See Borhidi and del Risco (1979) and Borhidi and Muniz (1986) for lists of characteristic species of these forests.] Vegetation of Moa region is briefly described by León (1941), Marie-Victorin (1942), Seifriz (1943), and Alain (1946a). Carabia (1945) listed L. macrophylla as a species of exposed areas in the Jacaranda arborea- Tabebuia pachyphylla- Cecropia peltata community along streams in the Sierra de Nipe. Flowering chiefly June through August.

Distribution:

Cuba South America|

Common Names:

sangre de toro