Kopp, Lucille E. 1966. A tasonomic revision of the genus Persea in the Western Hemisphere (Perseae-Lauraceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 14: 1-117.
Lauraceae
Species Description - Tree to 7 m.; branchlets a bit heavy, sparsely tawny strigulose to glabrous, hollow at internodes, the bark not aromatic; petioles 1-2.5 cm. long, slender to somewhat coarse, canaliculate, glabrous to sparseh tawny-strigulose; leaf-blades 7-20 cm. long, 2.5—10 cm. wide, coriaceous, elliptic to ovate-elliptic to oblanceolate, the tips acute to acuminate, the bases round to obtuse, the upper surface glabrous or glabrescent, frequenth glaucous, the lower surface glabrous or glabrescent to sparsely strigose, the costa impressed aboA^e, prominent beneath, the 6-10 pairs of primary nerves diAcrgent at 45-50°, impressed above, prominent beneath, the reticulation obscure on both surfaces. The upper surface, adjacent to the costa and to the primary nerses, strongly areolate. Inflorescences, axillary and subterminal, paniculate, subsessile, each usually shorter than its subtending leaf; rachises 2-12 cm. long; pedicels 4—5 mm. long, slender, tawny-strigose: flowers 3-4 mm. long; outer perianth-segments 1.3-1.9 mm. long, 1.7-2 mm. wide, ovate, tawny-strigulose without, glabrous within; inner perianth-segments 4 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, broadly oblong, strigose on both surfaces; stamens about 2.5 mm. long, the anthers about 1 mm. long, the filaments about 1.5 mm. long, the filaments of series I and II strigulose, the anthers oblong, quadrilocular; filaments of series III sparsely strigulose, staminodial, bilocular, or quadrilocular, laterally dehiscent, the glands subbasal and subsessile; staminodia of series IV sagittate; gynoecium glabrous or often sparsely pubescent, the ovary globose to ellipsoid; style 1 mm. long, slender. Infructescence with few fruits; peduncles and pedicels lignescent; perianth-segments persistent and patent (orange-colored, fide Holdridge), 1-1.7 cm., fruits globose, glaucous.
Distribution and Ecology - Distribution. Mountains of Jamaica, Porto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles, 1300-1600 m . alt.
Persea glaberrima Mez. Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 144. 1889.
Persea portoricensis Britt. & Wils. Sci. Sur\. Porto Rico & Virgin Isl. 6: 346. 1926.
Vernacular name. Sweetwood: Montserrat.
Type collection. Wright s.n., Jamaica (lectotype K, fragment at NY).
The relationship of this species appears to be with P. hexanthera from which it can be easily distinguished by its almost glabrous condition, smaller flowers, and large areoles adjacent to the costa and primary nerves. T h e origin of the species is in South America rather than in Central America where this section is not represented.
There is some variation in the anther-cell number of the third series of stamens, and in the presence of pubescence on the ovary. T h e various combinations of these characters and their geographic correlation can best be seen in the chart below. This variation causes some space difficulty in drawing the line between sect. Hexanthera and sect. Aurataea. ovary and the staminodial condition in series III, both of which are found in the Puerto Rican material. M ez described P. urbaniana as having the third series of stamens 2-celled, but he did not see the upper spores which are reduced in the specimens he cited.
After the citation of specimens relating to each species, Mez enumerated the herbaria where he saw the cited numbers. For this reason it is difficult to ascertain where each specimen is to be found. He cites a Forsyth collection from St. Lucia as syntype of P. glaberrima, deposited in the Copenhagen herbarium. I studied a Forsyth sheet from that herbarium, but the collector's label refers to the Carribean but not specifically to the Island of St. Lucia. The Mez determination label on the sheet identifies it as P. glaberrima and is dated 1887/88 (his monograph appeared in 1889) which indicates it is probably a syntype.