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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Linnaea 27: 456. 1856

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Isolectotype -- R. H. Schomburgk

Description:

Author: S. A. Mori

Type: Guyana. Without locality, 1868 (fl), Rich. Schomburgk 792 (lectotype, BM, designated Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(II). 1990; isolectotypes, CGE, E-GL, G, INPA, K-4 sheets, L, NY, OXF, P, U).

Description: Small trees, to 12 m tall. Leaves: petioles 4-10 mm long, minutely puberulous; blades oblong or elliptic to orbiculate, 5-8.5 x 3-5.3 cm, glabrous except for fine pubescence on abaxial midrib, coriaceous, the base rounded to truncate, the margins entire, the apex acute to obtuse, the acumen rounded; secondary veins in 6-10 pairs. Inflorescences terminal or in axils of uppermost leaves, simple racemes, the rachises 3-10 cm long, pubescent; pedicels jointed, 1-1.5 mm long below, 2 mm long above joint, the bract and bracteoles caducous. Flowers 3-4 cm diam.; calyx with 6 widely ovate lobes, 5-5.5 x 3.5-4.5 mm, with longitudinally oriented mucilage containing ducts (best seen in cross ssection); petals 6, widely obovate, 22 x 15 mm, yellow; androecium: staminal ring with 150-160 stamens, the filaments dimorphic, the outermost expanded unilaterally at apex, 1.8 mm long, the inner ones not expanded; hood 11-14 x 9-16 mm, with antherless, curved inwards appendages; appendage-free ligule 6 x 5.5 mm; hypanthium puberulous; ovary 4(-5)-locular, with 4-8 ovules in each locule, the summit truncate, the style bent away from ligule, 2-4 mm long. Fruits turbinate, 6 x 5.5 cm, the calycine ring inserted near apex, the exocarp smooth, dotted with white lenticels; operculum flat, slightly umbonate. Seeds 3 x 1.5-2 cm, the major veins connected by a raised reticulum of secondary veins; aril not observed.

Common names: Brazil: macacarecuia. Although this name has been reported for L. schomburgkii (Mori & Prance, 1990), it is more widely and appropriately applied to Eschweilera tenuifolia, a common riverine species along the Negro and Orinoco. Macacarecuia means "monkey's bailing cup" and therefore should be rejected as a common name for L. schomburgkii which is a savanna species with a turbinate fruit that would not be useful for bailing boats.

Distribution: Known only from Roraima, Brazil and adjacent Guyana.

Ecology: A small tree most often reported from along rivers but may also occur in savanna.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Jul, Sep, and Nov. Immature fruits have been gathered in Jan and Feb.

Pollination: No observations recorded but the floral morphology and color suggest that bees are the pollinators.

Dispersal: No observations recorded but it is likely that this species possesses a basal aril sought after by bats.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: A small tree with white petals; white androecial hood with yellow at the entrance to the flower; and turbinate fruits.

Taxonomic notes: The closest relative of L. schomburgkii is most certainly L. chartacea. The smaller stature and more rounded, bluntly tipped, coriaceous leaves of the former distinguish it from the latter.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable B1+2c ver 2.3 (Pires O'Brien, J. 1998. Lecythis schomburgkii. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 21 March 2014.).

Uses: None recorded.

Etymology: The species epithet honors Richard Schomburgk (1811-1891), the collector of the type.

Source: This species page is based on Mori in Mori & Prance, 1990.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to P. J. M. Maas for allowing us to use his image to illustrate the characters of this species.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Lecythis schomburgkii O.Berg: [Article] 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.