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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Brittonia 26: 22. 1974

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Isotype -- T. B. Croat

Description:

Author: Scott A. Mori

Type: Panama. Canal Zone: Along edge of lagoon 3 miles W of Gamboa, along Panama RR tracks at marker 25-13, 1 Aug 1970 (fl), Croat 11690 (holotype, MO; isotypes, BM, F, DUKE, NY, PMA, US, WIS).

Description: Trees, single-stemmed or few-branched, to 7.5 m x 17 cm; leaf-bearing branches 13-35 mm diam., with clusters of leaves tightly grouped at ends, and persistent bracts ca 115 x 50 mm subtending each flush of growth; petiole scars touching. Bark slightly fissured, brown. Leaves: petioles 20-78 x 4-6 mm, semicircular in cross section; blades oblanceolate, tapered from middle to acute base, 73-100 x 10-21 cm wide, glabrous to minutely puberulous, the base acute, the margins serrate, the apex acute-acuminate; secondary veins in 45-54 pairs. Inflorescences suprafoliar, the flowers solitary in bract axils, clustered near branch apex within rosette formed by leaves, appearing terminal; pedicels 35-70 mm long, subtended by a single oblanceolate floral bract 50-105 x 20-35 mm and bearing directly below hypanthium 2 rounded-ovate bracteoles 30-65 x 20-48 mm. Flowers to 20 cm diam.; calyx-lobes 4, ovate to oblong, 29-55 x 24-55 mm, puberulous; petals 8(-9), narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, 74-90 x 27-45 mm wide, glabrous, mostly white with tinges of pink and red; androecium base 22-55 mm diam., ca. 10 mm high, the outermost filaments 20-24 mm long, white at base, pink at apex, the anthers 2-5 mm, yellow; ovary without wings, puberulous, 6-locular, the summit puberulous with glabrous spots, the style ca 1 mm long. Fruits globose, without wings, slightly convex at apex, 4.7-6 x 5.5-6.5 cm, with persistent ovate-oblong, calyx-lobes, the mesocarp a distinctive orange. Seeds scarcely trigonous in cross section, 22-26 mm diam., mostly 1 per locule; funicle not known.

Common names: None recorded

Distribution: From the Canal Zone of Panama east and south into the lower Cauca and Magdalena Valleys of Colombia.

Ecology: A small, usually unbranched tree of the understory usually growing in moist or wet forests along the margins of lagoons and wet season swamps; in these habitats, it can be locally common. It has also been observed on slopes above moist areas intermixed with Gustavia superba.

Phenology: Croat and Mori (1974) report flowering in the early part of the rainy season (May to June) and mature fruit in late July in the Canal Zone. Flowering collections have also been gathered in March, April, and June and fruits in March and July.

Pollination: No observations recorded but the poricidal anthers of this and all species of Gustavia indicate buzz-pollinating bees.

Dispersal: The fruits often remain trapped within the terminal rosette of leaves at maturity and presumably attract arboreal mammals that eat the mesocarp. Because the terminal cluster of fruits bend the branches to the side, it is possible that they sometimes drop to the ground where they could be consumed by the same mammals that disperse Gustavia superba (Sork, 1987) but this needs to be confirmed.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: This is one of the easiest to recognize species of Gustavia. It is usually a monopodial or once-branched tree with a large floral bract at the base of each pedicel; two large bracteoles on the pedicel; large, often tattered calyx-lobes persistent on the fruit; and persistent foliaceous bracts on the stem. In additon, the flowers and fruits are produced in a terminal cluster that retains rotting floral parts and the petiole scars are compacted together. Even the aspect of its leaves are different from the more common Gustavia superba as they point rigidly upward at a 45° angle (see attached image).

Taxonomic notes: A earlier name for this species, Gustavia superba (Kunth) O. Berg var. puberula Dwyer, does not have priority because only names at the same rank have priority. The nature of the funcile/aril has not been described or imaged for this species.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.

Uses: None recorded

Etymology: The species epithet refers to the very large bracts on the stem, at the base of the flower, and the large bracteoles on the pedicel.

Source: This species page is based on Mori in Prance & Mori, 1979.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to R. Foster and C. Galdames for allowing us to use their images to illustrate the characters of this species.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Gustavia grandibracteata Croat & S.A.Mori: [Article] Prance, Ghillean T. & Mori, S. A. 1979. Lecythidaceae - Part I. The actinomorphic-flowered New World Lecythidaceae (Asteranthos, Gustavia, Grias, Allantoma & Cariniana). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-270.