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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 26: 9. 1927

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Isotype -- H. F. Pittier

Description:

Author: Scott A. Mori

Type: Panama. Darién: Forests around Pinogana, 16-21 Apr 1941 (fl, fr, seeds), Pittier 6567 (holotype, US -- herb. no. 716630; isotypes, C, F, GH, NY, US).

Description: Trees, to 60 m tall, the trunk cylindrical, not buttressed. Bark of young trees with vertical fissures, the fissures not as pronounced in older trees, the bark of older trees shedding in rectangular plates. Stems glabrous. Leaves: petioles 9-22 mm long, canaliculate, glabrous; blades oblong to narrowly oblong, infrequently elliptic, 23-37 x 11-16 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, the base obtuse to rounded, the margins entire to crenulate; venation brochidodromous, the secondary veins in 24-25 pairs, the tertiary veins reticulate. Inflorescences terminal or in axils of uppermost leaves, spicate, unbranched, once-branched, or infrequently 3-branched, the rachises with rust-colored pubescence when young, glabrous with age, drying black; pedicels absent or very short, the hypanthium subtended by a cucullate, ovate bract, 9-10 x 10 mm and 2 cucullate, keeled, ovate bracteoles, 6-19 x 6-7 mm, the margins fimbriate. Flowers when leaves present, 4-6 cm diam.; hypanthium glabrous to puberulous; calyx-lobes 6, ovate to widely ovate, 8-15 x 7-12 mm, erect, sometimes carinate abaxially, green, the bases imbricate, the margins at first fimbriate, later entire, the apices rounded; petals 6, widely to narrowly obovate, 20-40 x 12-22 mm, yellow; androecium zygomorphic; staminal ring flat, with 299-360 stamens, the filaments 1.2-2 mm long, clavate, the anthers 0.5-0.7 mm long; ligule well-developed, differentiated into appendage-free ligular area and hood, the hood 15-22 x 16-27 mm, yellow, with a single, short coil, the outside and end of coil mostly with vestigial stamens, sometimes with staminodes; fodder pollen not present; ovary 4-locular, with 2-7 ovules per locule, the ovules inserted on floor of locule at juncture with septum, the ovary base truncate, the summit umbonate, the style well differentiated, erect, 1.5-2 mm long, with slight stylar collar. Fruits subglobose, 8-14.5 x 10-17.5 cm, the infracalycine zone gradually tapered from calycine ring to base or abruptly constricted directly below calycine ring, the calycine ring with calyx-lobe scars conspicuous, the supracalycine zone erect, the pericarp 15-25 mm thick, verrucose, dark brown or reddish-brown, the operculum 8-12.5 cm diam., the opercular rim usually muricate. Seeds oblong, 4.5-7 x 2-3 cm, the veins 3-6, slightly recessed, light brown, the testa smooth between veins, reddish-brown; aril basal/lateral. X = 17.

Common names: Panama: coco, kula wala (Cuna name for tree), sapisuro guala (Cuna name for fruit). Colombia: coco de mono, ohetón (Callejas et al. 4937), olleto.

Distribution: Lecythis tuyrana ranges from eastern Panama into northwestern Colombia near the coast from near Turbo to Sincelejo. Although expected to occur there, this species is not known from the Colombian Chocó and it does not occur in Ecuador. Previous reports of this species from Ecuador are based on a misidentification of a new species of Eschweilera (S. A. Mori, unpublished data).

Ecology: This species is a canopy to emergent tree of lowland wet forests.

Phenology: In the Darién of Panama, flowers of this species have been collected in Apr and Oct and seeds in Jul; in Colombia flowers have been observed in Mar, May, and Jun; and in Ecuador flowers have been collected in Jan and Nov and seeds in Jun.

Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded but the yellow flower color suggests bees as pollinators. The single-coiled androecial hood presumably produces nectar but this needs to be confirmed with field observations.

Dispersal: No reports of dispersal have been recorded but the basal aril suggests animal (possibly bat) dispersal.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: Lecythis tuyrana is recognized in the field by its large size; cylindrical trunk; rough bark; oblong, large leaf blades; androecium with a single, incipient coil; yellow petals and androecium; relatively large fruits with an erect supracalycine zone and muricate opercular rim; and seeds with a basal aril that ascends for a short distance up the side of the seed.

Taxonomic notes: Lecythis tuyrana forms a clade with Lecythis ollaria (type of the genus) and L. minor. These three species possess single-coiled androecial hoods with vestigial stamens restricted to the outside of the coil. In L. tuyrana, the coil is much shorter than it is in L. ollaria and L. minor and is, therefore, described as an incipient coil.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: not on list (IUCN, 2009).

Uses: The Cuna Indians use the fruits and seeds in their folk medicine. It is a handsome tree with a wide-spreading crown when grown in the open and has frequently been planted as an ornamental. The empty fruits are used as containers to store various domestic articles (Carrasquilla, 2005).

Etymology: According to Dr. Mireya Correa, this species was probably named after the Tuira River in Darién. The type is given as Quebrada Honda and this is a locality in the vicinity of the Tuira River.

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

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to A. de Sedas and C. Galdames for allowing us to use their images to illustrate the characters of this species.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Lecythis tuyrana Pittier: [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.