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Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Polygonac., Guttif. & Lecythidac. Suriname 60. 1932

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Author: Ghillean T. Prance & Scott A. Mori

Type: French Guiana. Without locality, no date (fl), Martin s.n. (Herb. E. Rudge s.n., 1806) (holotype, LINN; isotype, BM-2 sheets). According to Miers, this specimen was collected by Martin in French Guiana and consequently the two leafless Martin sheets at the British Museum are isotypes. They match perfectly the material in the Smith herbarium at the Linnean Society.

Description: Trees, to 35 m tall, the trunk unbuttressed or with broad flat buttresses. Stems glabrescent. Leaves deciduous just before flowering; petioles 15-25 mm long, glabrous to puberulous, terete, not winged; blades usually elliptic to oblong, 4.5-10.5 x 2-5 cm, chartaceous, glabrous on both surfaces except on midrib, the base cuneate to subcuneate, the margins entire to slightly crenulate or undulate, the apex bluntly acute to finely acuminate, the acumen to 11 mm long; midrib prominulous adaxially, prominent and glabrous or sparsely puberulous abaxially, the secondary veins in 10-12 pairs, prominulous above, prominent beneath, the tertiary venation prominulous on both surfaces. Inflorescences of axillary or terminal racemes, often fasciculate, the rachis puberulous; pedicels 15-25 mm long, slender, puberulous. Flowers when leafless, hypanthium campanulate, ca. 4 mm long, calyx-lobes ovate, rounded, ca. 2 mm long, sparsely puberulous on both surfaces, the margins ciliate; petals oblong, 1.5-2.2 cm long, sparsely puberulous abaxially, pink; androecium ca. 2.5-3 cm long, the staminal ring ca. 8 mm diam., the stamens 30-35, inserted in two rows around staminal ring, also extending slightly up appendage-free ligule, occasionally with isolated anthers well up interior of appendage-free ligule, the exterior of hood rugulose-pustulate . Fruits cylindrical-coniform to campanulate, roundish in cross section, broadest at apex, gradually tapering to base, 4-6 (excluding stipe) x 2-3.5 cm broad at apex, with thin stipe to 2.5 cm long, longitudinally striate on exterior, thin coriaceous, ca. 0.5-1 mm thick, the calycine ring 4-5 mm below apex, forming slight ridge around perimeter; operculum concave, radially grooved, the columella triangular. Seeds oblong, asymmetrical. Seedlings with cotyledons opposite, orbicular, 1.8-2.2 cm long, the first leaves alternate, elliptic.

Common names: Venezuela: karipon, tampipio. Guyana: wadara. Surinam: djoemoe, ingipipa, oelmari, kalioe oelemaroe. French Guiana: inguipipa, mahot cigare. Brazil: tauari branco, tauari amarelo.

Distribution: Couratari multiflora occurs in Bolívar and Delta Amacuro of Venezuela, the Guianas, and central and eastern Amazonian Brazil.

Ecology: A canopy to emergent tree in lowland, non-flooded forest.

Phenology: Couratari multiflora has been collected in flower from Jan to Mar and Jul to Nov. It usually flowers when leafless.

Pollination: No observations recorded but most likely pollinated by bees.

Dispersal: Like all species of Couratari, C. multiflora possesses winged seeds which are dispersed by the wind.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: Couratari multiflora is characterized by its canopy or emergent size; relatively small, mostly glabrous leaves with slender petioles; flowering when leafless; conspicuous pink flowers; and small fruits with a relatively thin pericarp.

Taxonomic notes: The relationships of Couratari multiflora are discussed in detail in the introduction to section Microcarpa of the Flora Neotropica monograph (Prance, 1990). The type of Couratari fagifolia falls well within the usual variation of C. multiflora. Similarly, Allantoma subramosa, a species described from a mixed collection, belongs partly within C. multiflora. The flowers and branches of the type of A. subramosa (Sagot 271) represent C. multiflora. The leaves, which are not attached, belong to C. guianensis. Sagot himself (1885) concluded that the type of A. subramosa was a mixed collection which was also suggested by Eyma (1932) with some reservation. We have included Couratari coriacea as a synonym of C. multiflora. This synonomy was also suggested by Eyma (1932). Couratari coriacea was described from an empty fruit collected by Martius from Pará, an area outside the known, but within the probable range of C. multiflora. Prance has studied the Munich type fruit of C. coriacea and it is a good match with that of C. multiflora. It is too long for C. tenuicarpa and too narrow for C. oligantha, the only two species of the superspecies known from Pará. Eyma also placed C. vriesii under C. multiflora. Prance located the Kew specimen of C. vriesii studied by Eyma, and prefers to keep it under the imperfectly known species for the present. Couratari vriesii was also described from an empty pyxidium and judging from the protolog description it is probably a synonym of C. multiflora.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.

Uses: None recorded.

Etymology: The species epithet refers to the large number of flowers produced when it is in flower.

Source: This description is based on Prance, G. T. 1990. Couratari. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(II): 142-143, figs. 49b, 52. 1990 which has been updated by S. A. Mori.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to M.-F. Prévost for allowing us to use the image of the flowers to illustrate the characters of this species.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Couratari multiflora (Sm.) Eyma: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Prance, Ghillean T. 1990. Lecythidaceae - Part II: The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Bertholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Lecythis). With a study of secondary xylem of Neotropical Lecythidaceae by Carl de Zeeuw. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-376.
Couratari multiflora (Sm.) Eyma: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Lepsch da Cunha, Nadia M. 1995. The Lecythidaceae of a central Amazonian moist forest. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 75: 1-55.