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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Bol. Bot. Univ. São Paulo 14: 8. 1995

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Isotype -- D. A. Folli

Description:

Author: Scott A. Mori, Ghillean T. Prance & Nathan P. Smith

Type: Brasil. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva CVRD, próx. à colméia, 11 Oct 1991 (fr, seed), Folli 1437 (holotype, CVRD; isotype, NY).

Description: Trees, to 25 m tall, the trunk cylindric, without buttresses. Bark deeply fissured, the inner bark flesh colored (reddish). Leaves: petioles 3-4 mm long, puberulous; blades generally elliptic to narrowly elliptic, rarely narrowly ovate, 2.7-4.5 x 1-1.7 cm, coriaceous, puberulous at base of midrib abaxially, the base obtuse, revolute, the margins serrulate, the apex acute to attenuate; secondary veins in 10-14 pairs. Infloresences terminal or axillary, once-branched paniculate arrangements of spikes, to 9 cm long, the rachieses puberulous. Flowers 5-7 mm diam.; hypanthium puberulous; calyx-lobes 6, ovate to broadly triangular; petals 6, oblong to widely oblong, cream-colored; androecium prolonged on one side to form slightly developed ligule, the stamens ca. 50, a few found in ring around base, the remaining more densely aggregated toward apex of androecium, the anthers wider (ca. 0.4 mm) than long (ca. 0.4 mm); sytle very narrowly obconical, ca. 2.5 long. Fruits cylindrical to narrowly obconical, 4.8-6.5 x 2.2-2.9 cm, the apice truncate, the pericarpa 5-7 mm thick, the operculum with the apex flat, triangular. Seeds unilaterally winged, the seed coat chesnut-colored, the wing ca. 3 mm long.

Common names: Brasil: jequitibá-cravino (Mori, 1995).

Distribution: Known only from Reserva Forestal de Linhares of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Ecology: A canopy tree of moist forests.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Feb and Mar and fruits with seeds in Aug and Oct.

Pollination: No observations recorded. The flowers of other species of Cariniana have been described as aromatic and visited by many insects. However, it is not known if insects visit species of Cariniana to collect nectar or pollen or even if pollen is produced by species of the genus.

Dispersal: The winged seeds are dispersed by the wind.

Predation: No observations have been recorded.

Field characters: As in most species of Cariniana the trees have cylindric trunks, somewhat to markedly fissured bark, and often have a reddish or flesh-colored inner bark. The leaf blades of this species are revolute at the base, a feature shared only with C. legalis. In the type description, C. parvifolia is said to differ from C. legalis by 1) branches which are more distinctly arranged at right angles, 2) smaller leaves, 3) an inner bark which is more instensely red, and 4) fruits with truncate apices.

Taxonomic notes: This species is very closely related to C. legalis but seed harvesters for the CVRD distinguish between the two species. However, all of the features used to separate the species are known to vary considerably in species of Lecythidaceae and, therefore, it is possible that this species represents a local variant of the much more widely spread C. legalis.

Uses: The closely related C. legalis is an important timber tree and there is no reason to believe that this species would not have high quality timber. Seed of this species is collected for use in reforestation.

Etymology: The species epithet refers to the small leaves.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: not on list (IUCN, 2009). Plantas Raras do Brasil: rare (Giulietti et al., 2009).

Source: This species page is based on the description in Mori, 1995.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to B. Angell for allowing us to use her line drawing to illustrate the characters of this species.