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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Bol. Bot. Univ. São Paulo 14: 16. 1995

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Isotype -- S. A. Mori
Specimen 2: Isotype -- S. A. Mori

Common Names:

inaíba, inaíba jacaré

Description:

Author: Scott A. Mori & Nathan P. Smith

Type: Brasil. Bahia: Mun. Porto Seguro, estrada nova unindo BR 367 ao acampamento d' Ajuda, 17 km da entrada, ca. 30 km W de Porto Seguro, 19 Oct 1978, Mori et af. 10878 (holotype, CEPEC; isotypes, A, F, K, NY, P, RB, U, US).

Description: Medium-sized trees, 12-20 m x 25-40 cm diam., without buttresses. Bark fissured, the outer bark 5-10 mm thick, laminate, the inner bark ca. 8 mm thick, beige. Twigs robust, 4-8 diam. Leaves and flowers present at same time; petioles 13-25 mm long, 3-4 mm diam.; blades elliptic to suborbicular or oblong, 9-20 x 5.5-9.5 cm, glabrous, coriaceous, the base obtuse to rounded, the margins entire, slightly revolute when dry, the apex short acuminate to rounded in fully mature leaves, the acumen less than 5 mm long when present; eucamptodromous basally, brochidodromous apically, the midrib plane near base, slightly carinate for rest of length, markedly tapering from base to apex adaxially, salient abaxially, the secondary veins in 8-14 pairs, plane adaxially, prominulous abaxially, intersecondary veins present, the higher order venation plane or prominulous adaxially, prominulous abaxially, visible on both surfaces when dry. Inflorescences unbranched or 1-branched, terminal or in axils of uppermost leaves, the main rachis 8-20 cm long, sometimes zig-zagged; pedicels tapered to articulation, 5 mm long, 2.5 mm diam. at middle; bract and bracteoles caducous. Flowers estimated 3-4 cm diam.; calyx without distinct lobes, not imbricate, forming calycine rim ca. 1 mm wide; petals 4(5), obovate, ca. 25 x 15 mm, yellow; androecium with staminal ring with ca. 150 estimated stamens, the filaments clavate, ca. 1 mm long in bud, the anthers ca. 0.5 mm long in bud, erect staminal ring lip not observed, the hood ca, 15 x 22 mm, darker yellow than petals, with single coil bearing short vestigial stamens on exterior surface and longer, angular staminodes and vestigial stamens on interior surface; ovary 2-locular, 8-12 ovules per locule, inserted on floor of locule, the summit of ovary plateau-like, the style obconical, ca. 1.3 mm long, orientation unknown, not well differentiated from summit of ovary. Fruits depressed globose, 4.5-5.5 x 7-10 cm, the calycine ring generally inserted near or above middle of fruit base, scarcely visible in old fruit, the infracalycine zone rounded to pedicel, the supracalycine zone erect or slightly tapered to opercular opening, the pericarp 17-25 mm thick, very rough, with mucilage ducts apparent when fresh, the operculum convex, without umbo. Seeds ca. 2-4 per fruit, globose, circular in cross-section, ca. 3 x 2.5 cm, the testa red when young, turning reddish-brown or chesnut colored, the veins impressed, lighter (nearly white) than surface of testa; aril small, white or cream-colored.

Common names: Inhaíba (Thomas et al., 8353), inhaíba-jacaré (L. Mattos Silva et al. 339).

Distribution: This species has only been collected in the state of Bahia, Brazil in the Atlantic coastal forest from just north of Salvador south to near Porto Seguro.

Ecology: A canopy tree of southern Bahian wet forests.

Phenology.: Flowers have been collected in Feb and Mar and fruits with mature seeds have been collected in Oct and fruit with immature seeds have been gathered in Mar.

Pollination: No observations recorded. The flowers of this species are unknown but many species of Eschweilera are visited by bees.

Dispersal: The small aril may be sought after by animals, such as bats, which in turn disperse the seeds.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: This species is characterized by its deeply fissured, laminate outer bark and yellowish-brown inner bark; robust stems; large, markedly coriaceous leaf blades with a short apex and a midrib that is flattened basally on the adaxial surface; robust inflorescences with rachises reaching 20 cm long; calycine rim with poorly defined calyx-lobes arising from it; depresssed globose fruits with a rounded base and thick pericarp permeated by mucilage-bearing ducts; and a relatively small basal aril.

Taxonomic notes: This species belongs to Eschweilera sect. Tetrapetala. See Eschweilera tetrapetala for a description of that clade.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: not on list (IUCN, 2009): Plantas Raras do Brasil: not on list (Giulietti et al., 2009). This species is a rare plant in Brazil and should be added to these lists. Collections have been made in the Reserva Biológica do Mico-leão (IBAMA) (J. L. Hage et al. 2355) and the Reserva de Brasil Hondland de Industrias (A. M. de Carvalho et al. 4437).

Uses: None recorded.

Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the globose somewhate flattened fruits.

Source: Based on Mori (1995).