Monographs Details:
Authority:
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. (Published by NYBG Press)
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. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Lecythidaceae
Lecythidaceae
Synonyms:
Chytroma chartacea (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera chartacea (O.Berg) Eyma, Lecythis monosperma O.Berg, Chytroma monosperma (O.Berg) Miers, Lecythis spruceana O.Berg, Chytroma spruceana (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera spruceana (O.Berg) Nied., Lecythis rorida O.Berg, Chytroma rorida (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera rorida (O.Berg) A.C.Sm., Lecythis marawynensis O.Berg, Chytroma marawynensis (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera marawynensis (O.Berg) Nied., Lecythis langsdorffii O.Berg, Chytroma langsdorffii (O.Berg) R.Knuth, Lecythis cupularis Miers, Chytroma cupularis (Miers) R.Knuth, Lecythis laevicula Miers, Chytroma laevicula (Miers) R.Knuth, Chytroma cistella Miers, Chytroma urceolata Miers, Chytroma pilacarpa Miers, Eschweilera rigida Miers, Lecythis rigida (Miers) R.Knuth, Cercophora anomala Miers, Lecythis chartacea var. calyce Sagot, Eschweilera brancoensis R.Knuth
Chytroma chartacea (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera chartacea (O.Berg) Eyma, Lecythis monosperma O.Berg, Chytroma monosperma (O.Berg) Miers, Lecythis spruceana O.Berg, Chytroma spruceana (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera spruceana (O.Berg) Nied., Lecythis rorida O.Berg, Chytroma rorida (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera rorida (O.Berg) A.C.Sm., Lecythis marawynensis O.Berg, Chytroma marawynensis (O.Berg) Miers, Eschweilera marawynensis (O.Berg) Nied., Lecythis langsdorffii O.Berg, Chytroma langsdorffii (O.Berg) R.Knuth, Lecythis cupularis Miers, Chytroma cupularis (Miers) R.Knuth, Lecythis laevicula Miers, Chytroma laevicula (Miers) R.Knuth, Chytroma cistella Miers, Chytroma urceolata Miers, Chytroma pilacarpa Miers, Eschweilera rigida Miers, Lecythis rigida (Miers) R.Knuth, Cercophora anomala Miers, Lecythis chartacea var. calyce Sagot, Eschweilera brancoensis R.Knuth
Description:
Description - Trees, to 35 m tall, with straight unbuttressed boles, often swollen at base. Twigs inconspicuously puberulous. Bark brown, with vertical fissures, peeling in rectangular plates, the outer bark laminated, the slash reddish yellow, with maroon colored layer between outer and inner barks. Leaf blades narrowly to widely elliptic or narrowly to widely oblong, 6.5-11.5(-2) x 2-6(-9) cm, glabrous, sometimes puberulous on abaxial surface of midrib, chartaceous, or less frequently coriaceous, with 9-14(-16) pairs of lateral veins; apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute or attenuate; base obtuse to less frequently rounded, narrowly decurrent onto petiole; margins entire to crenulate; petiole 6-12 (-15) mm long, puberulous. Inflorescences racemose, terminal, or in axils of uppermost leaves, unbranched or once-branched, when branched the branches paniculately arranged, the rachises 2.5-9 cm long, with up to 20 flowers, usually pubescent; pedicels 3.5-4.5 mm long, subtended by an ovate caducous bract 2.2 x 1.5 mm and with two oblong cucullate bracteoles 3 x 2 mm inserted below middle. Flowers ca. 2.5 cm diam.; calyx with six ovate to widely ovate or widely to very widely oblong, green lobes, 3-6 x 2.5-4 mm, their longitudinally oriented veins often conspicuous, without ducts; petals six, widely oblong to widely obovate, 11-16 x 7-10 mm, usually white, infrequently yellow; hood of androecium, 8-11 x 8-11 mm, white on outside, with antherless, swept inwards, yellow appendages; ligule of androecium, 7-10.5 x 6-9 mm, abruptly tapered from distal to proximal end; staminal ring with 63-125 stamens, the filaments 1.3-2.8 mm long, white or yellow, longer on ligular side of staminal ring, slender, not dilated at apices, the anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, yellow or orangish; hypanthium puberulous to pubescent, cuneate at base; ovary 4(-5)-locular, with 2-11 ovules in each locule, the ovules inserted at base of septum, the summit truncate, the style 2-3.5 mm long. Fruits turbinate, light brown, 4-5 x 4 cm, the pericarp 5 mm thick, oozing a viscid orangish sap when immature fruits are cut. Seeds reddish-brown, elliptic, ± terete in cross section, 23-26 x 8-20 mm, the raphe splitting into five vascular bundles at chalazal end, these run length of seed and reunite at micropylar end, the bundles salient, with short horizontal extensions along length; aril basal, white, 15-17 x 6 mm.
Description - Trees, to 35 m tall, with straight unbuttressed boles, often swollen at base. Twigs inconspicuously puberulous. Bark brown, with vertical fissures, peeling in rectangular plates, the outer bark laminated, the slash reddish yellow, with maroon colored layer between outer and inner barks. Leaf blades narrowly to widely elliptic or narrowly to widely oblong, 6.5-11.5(-2) x 2-6(-9) cm, glabrous, sometimes puberulous on abaxial surface of midrib, chartaceous, or less frequently coriaceous, with 9-14(-16) pairs of lateral veins; apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute or attenuate; base obtuse to less frequently rounded, narrowly decurrent onto petiole; margins entire to crenulate; petiole 6-12 (-15) mm long, puberulous. Inflorescences racemose, terminal, or in axils of uppermost leaves, unbranched or once-branched, when branched the branches paniculately arranged, the rachises 2.5-9 cm long, with up to 20 flowers, usually pubescent; pedicels 3.5-4.5 mm long, subtended by an ovate caducous bract 2.2 x 1.5 mm and with two oblong cucullate bracteoles 3 x 2 mm inserted below middle. Flowers ca. 2.5 cm diam.; calyx with six ovate to widely ovate or widely to very widely oblong, green lobes, 3-6 x 2.5-4 mm, their longitudinally oriented veins often conspicuous, without ducts; petals six, widely oblong to widely obovate, 11-16 x 7-10 mm, usually white, infrequently yellow; hood of androecium, 8-11 x 8-11 mm, white on outside, with antherless, swept inwards, yellow appendages; ligule of androecium, 7-10.5 x 6-9 mm, abruptly tapered from distal to proximal end; staminal ring with 63-125 stamens, the filaments 1.3-2.8 mm long, white or yellow, longer on ligular side of staminal ring, slender, not dilated at apices, the anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, yellow or orangish; hypanthium puberulous to pubescent, cuneate at base; ovary 4(-5)-locular, with 2-11 ovules in each locule, the ovules inserted at base of septum, the summit truncate, the style 2-3.5 mm long. Fruits turbinate, light brown, 4-5 x 4 cm, the pericarp 5 mm thick, oozing a viscid orangish sap when immature fruits are cut. Seeds reddish-brown, elliptic, ± terete in cross section, 23-26 x 8-20 mm, the raphe splitting into five vascular bundles at chalazal end, these run length of seed and reunite at micropylar end, the bundles salient, with short horizontal extensions along length; aril basal, white, 15-17 x 6 mm.
Discussion:
Lecythis chartacea is easily distinguished in the field by its basally swollen trunk and vertically fissured bark which peels in rectangular plates. The slash reveals a distinct reddish layer between the inner and outer barks. The small, white-petaled flowers with a white, bordered with yellow androecial hood in combination with the relatively small, pipe-shaped fruits are also diagnostic. Lecythis chartacea is morphologically most similar to L. holcogyne from which it differs in a series of characters listed under the latter species.Cercophora anomala Miers is based on a single flower found by Miers entangled in the inflorescence of his Chytroma spruceana (=L. chartacea). The ovary, sepals, and style are those of L. chartacea but the androecium is completely unlike any other Lecythidaceae. It has never been re-collected and is probably an abnormality caused by a fungal or bacterial infection. Therefore, I am placing this name in synonymy with L. chartacea.I have observed hundreds of individuals of a species of a bumblebee (Bombus sp.) entering the flowers of L. chartacea, presumably to collect nectar (Mori et al 15766). The structurally similar, but larger, flowers of Bertholletia excelsa are also reported to be visited by Bombus (Muller et al., 1980).
Lecythis chartacea is easily distinguished in the field by its basally swollen trunk and vertically fissured bark which peels in rectangular plates. The slash reveals a distinct reddish layer between the inner and outer barks. The small, white-petaled flowers with a white, bordered with yellow androecial hood in combination with the relatively small, pipe-shaped fruits are also diagnostic. Lecythis chartacea is morphologically most similar to L. holcogyne from which it differs in a series of characters listed under the latter species.Cercophora anomala Miers is based on a single flower found by Miers entangled in the inflorescence of his Chytroma spruceana (=L. chartacea). The ovary, sepals, and style are those of L. chartacea but the androecium is completely unlike any other Lecythidaceae. It has never been re-collected and is probably an abnormality caused by a fungal or bacterial infection. Therefore, I am placing this name in synonymy with L. chartacea.I have observed hundreds of individuals of a species of a bumblebee (Bombus sp.) entering the flowers of L. chartacea, presumably to collect nectar (Mori et al 15766). The structurally similar, but larger, flowers of Bertholletia excelsa are also reported to be visited by Bombus (Muller et al., 1980).
Distribution:
Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America|
Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America|
Common Names:
jarana-mirim, Matamatá, carguero, carguero bianco, doi-dir, kumecke, onapuin, taa-vada, totaiduc-ke, ela de muerto, canari macaque, koua-tapatou, mahot blanc, mahot jaune, ma-hot coatari, mahot pilon, meli, weti lobi, haudin, hiraroo kakaralli, Ingipipa, oorbina, coco de mono, guacharaco bianco, guacharaco amarillo
jarana-mirim, Matamatá, carguero, carguero bianco, doi-dir, kumecke, onapuin, taa-vada, totaiduc-ke, ela de muerto, canari macaque, koua-tapatou, mahot blanc, mahot jaune, ma-hot coatari, mahot pilon, meli, weti lobi, haudin, hiraroo kakaralli, Ingipipa, oorbina, coco de mono, guacharaco bianco, guacharaco amarillo