Monographs Details:
Authority:

Sleumer, Hermann O. 1984. Olacaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 38: 1-159. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:

Olacaceae
Synonyms:

Diplocrater acuminatus Benth., Cathedra crassifolia Benth. ex Miers, Cathedra aestuaria Sleumer, Cathedra inaequilatera Sleumer, Cathedra oblonga Sleumer, Cathedra caurensis Pittier, Cathedra guianensis Sandwith
Description:

Species Description - Shrub (1.5 m) or generally treelet or tree (2-)4-8(-20, -30) m tall; trunk to 40 cm diam.; bark brown, rather smooth, inner part reddish. Branches virgate. Branchlets slender, subterete, striate, glabrous, youngest parts dark in color when dry, older parts covered with a striate grayish cork. Leaves lanceolate to oblong or oblong-elliptic, sometimes ovately so or even ovate, apex acuminate, sometimes slenderly so and somewhat falcate, tip subacute or bluntish, base cuneate and a little decurrent onto the petiole, or obtuse to rounded, slightly to manifestly unequal, glabrous, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, firmly so with age and brittle when dry, pale to dark brown, shiny above when young, dull when dry on both faces, smooth when young, tuberculate and rugulose-wrinkled to various density on both surfaces when mature, edge often a little revolute, (6-)7-12(-15) x (2-)2.5-4(-5, -7) cm, midrib slightly impressed above, sharply prominent beneath, lateral nerves (4-)5(-6) pairs, curved-ascendent, plane or slightly raised, sometimes a little immersed above in fully mature leaves, faintly raised beneath as is the reticulation of veins and veinlets; petiole slender, rugulose, 5-8(-10) x 1-1.5 mm. Flowers (3-)5-10(-20) per multibracteolate cluster of usually defoliate axils, glabrous or papillose-puberulous; pedicels 1-1.5(-2) mm long at anthesis. Calyx usually cupular and rather flattish, sometimes a little tube-like protracted downwards, (4-)6-dentate, 1-1.5(-3) mm high. Petals (4-)6, lanceolate to ovate-oblong, acute, fleshy, short-hairy inside, white to yellowish or greenish, 2-2.5 x 0.7-1 mm. Disk urceolate, 6-crenulate, 1 mm high in anthesis. Drupe broadly ellipsoid, subglobular or sometimes obovoidly so, broadly attenuate to subtruncate at apex, usually shortly attenuate, though sometimes substipitate-attenuate at base, i.e. pear-shaped then, covered by the accrescent disk except the very apex, which is either depressed (more or less umbonately immersed) or knob-like protruding, yellow or orange-yellow, 2(-2.5) x 1.3-1.8(-2) cm, subtended at the very base by the remains of the undulate hardly accrescent calyx (ca. 3 mm diam.) and usually immediately below the calyx by a single annular prophyll (ca. 2 mm diam.), on peduncle 2-3 x 1.5-2 mm.

Discussion:

Cathedra acuminata is conceived here in a broad sense. Forms with narrower leaves occur in dryer forest types or in gallery forest mainly in the northern portion of its distributional area. Fruits with substipitate base occur scattered within the whole area of distribution.
Distribution:

Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Caquetá Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Apure Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Guárico Venezuela South America| Táchira Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America|