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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Brittonia 2: 158. 1936

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Holotype -- B. A. Krukoff
Specimen 2: Holotype -- B. A. Krukoff

Description:

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

Type: Type. Brazil: Amazonas: Humaita Municipality, between Monte Cristo and Santa Vitoria on Rio Ipixuna, 15 Nov 1934 (fr), Krukoff7254 (holotype, NY; isotypes, A, BM, F, G, K, LE, MO, RB, S, W, US).

Description: Trees to 12 m tall, usually smaller, unbuttressed or butressed (see Viana Matta & Scudeller, 2012), the young branches minutely puberulous or glabrous. Leaves: petioles 11-20 mm long, glabrous, flattened-terete, not winged; blades elliptic to obovate-elliptic, 3.5-9 x 2.5-5.7 cm, coriaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, often papillose abaxially, the base rounded to cuneate, the margins undulate, almost entire or slightly crenulate, the apex bluntly acute to acuminate; midrib prominulous adaxially, prominent and glabrous abaxially, secondary veins in 7-12 pairs, prominulous and glabrous on both surfaces, the tertiary venation distinctly prominulous on both surfaces. Inflorescences of rather lax terminal racemes or paniculate arrangements of racemes, the rachis and rachillae sparsely puberulous; bracts oblong, ca. 4 mm long, sparsely puberulous on exterior, with ciliate margins, caducous; pedicels 2-4 cm long, puberulous. Flowers: hypanthium campanulate, 3-5 mm long; calyx-lobes rounded-triangular, puberulous on exterior, with ciliate margins; petals oblong-spathulate, 2.2-3.5 cm long, sparsely puberulous on exterior, glabrous within, ciliate on margins, reddish-pink; androecium zygomorphic, 3.55 cm long, the staminal ring 10-13 mm in diam., the stamens 35-50, inserted in more than one row around staminal ring, extending slightly up interior of ligule in several rows, the exterior of hood pustulate-rugulose, glabrous, Fruits narrowly cylindrical-campanulate, broadest at apex, gradually tapering to base, 3.2-4.5 (excluding the stipe) x 1.8-2.3 cm, with thin stipe 1.8-2.5 cm long, longitudinally striate on exterior, smooth, not crustaceous, thin, coriaceous, ca. 0.5-1 mm thick, the calycine ring 4-8 mm below apex, plane, not ridged, operculum convex to concave, the columella markedly triangular. Seeds oblong, slightly curved, 3.5-4 x 1.2-1.5 cm.

Common names: Brazil: shurú de macaco, tauari, tauari do igapó.

Distribution: Most collections of this species are from central and western Amazonian Brazil. A few collections have been made outside of this region (e.g., Loreto, Peru; Sipaliwini, Suriname; Bolívar, Venezuela)

Ecology: Found on river and lake margins.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected from Jan to Jul. Fruits have been collected in Apr, May, Jul, and Nov.

Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded.

Dispersal: The seeds are wind dispersed.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: Couratari tenuicarpa can be recognized by the combination of the habitat it grows in (along rivers and lakes) and its small size; leaf blades that are coriaceous and lack stellate hairs; flowers that are reddish-pink with a hood that has a non-echinate external flap; fruits that are narrowly cylindrical; and seeds that are flat and circumferentially winged.

Taxonomic notes: The relationships of Couratari tenuifolia are discussed in detail in the introduction to section Microcarpa of Flora Neotropica Monograph 21(II) (Prance in Mori & Prance, 1990).

Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.

Uses: None known.

Etymology: The name "tenuicarpa" probably refers to the thin pericarp of the fruits of the type collection.

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

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to C. Gracie for allowing us to use her images to illustrate the characters of this species.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Couratari tenuicarpa A.C.Sm.: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Prance, Ghillean T. 1990. Lecythidaceae - Part II: The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Bertholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Lecythis). With a study of secondary xylem of Neotropical Lecythidaceae by Carl de Zeeuw. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-376.