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Additional Resources:

Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Linnaea 27: 443. 1854

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Author: Scott A. Mori & Xavier Cornejo

Type: Ecuador. Guayas: Guayaquil, without date (fl), J. Tafalla s.n. (Holotype, MA, not seen; GH photo, F photo neg. no. 29400, F leaf fragment, B fide Berg, probably not extant).

Description: Pachycaulous, scarcely branched, understory trees, 3-12(20) m tall. Stems 12-25 mm diam., the leaves tightly congested at ends of stems, the leaf scars touching, the new flushes subtended by linear cataphylls. Leaves present when flowers present; petioles nearly absent; blades oblanceolate to spathulate, 35-80 x 10-22 cm, chartaceous, pubescent, especially on veins abaxially, the trichomes simple, whitish the base narrowly attentuate to end of leaf, the margins crenulate to serrate toward apex, entire toward base, the apex acuminate; venation brochidodromous, the seconday veins in 30-62 pairs, the tertiary veins percurrent, the higher order venation scarcely visible without magnification. Inflorescences appearing terminal at anthesis, racemose, rusty-tomentose, especially on younger parts, the rachis 40-80 mm long; pedicels 35-70 mm long, green at anthesis, with a sterile narrowly ovate to lanceolate bract 25-35 x 11-14 mm persisting at base and two braceoles variously inserted along pedicel but usually above middle and often near hypanthium, oblong, 13-15 x 9-13 mm. Flowers showy, to 17 cm diam.; calyx with (5-)6, ovate to triangular lobes, 7-12 x 10-15 mm; petals 6, obovate to oblanceolate, 65-85 x 35-55 mm, pink at apex in bud, white (especially adaxially) to pink; fused staminal tube base 12 mm high, the outermost filaments 20 mm long, the anthers 3 mm; hypanthium usually with costae extending from between the calyx-lobes downward, densely rusty-tomentose, white to yellowish white at anthesis; ovary, 6(7)-locular, white pubescent at summit, the style 3-4 mm long, the stigma with 5-6 stigmatic lines. Fruits yellowish (fide Cornejo 8275)with orange pulp (fide Cornejo & Bonifaz 4867). Seeds white (fide Cornejo & Bonifaz 4867).

Common names: Ecuador: cacahuillo (Cornejo 8175), guaycan macho (Cornejo 8192), membrillo (Cornejo & Bonifaz 4867), membrillos de montaña (Ruiz & Pavón s.n.), utugcama (Acosta-Solis 6948).

Distribution: Known only from Ecuador where it occurs along the Pacific slope in the central to the northern part of the country.

Ecology: A small understory tree of moist to wet forests from near sea level to 500 m alt.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Feb, Mar, May, Oct, Sep, and Nov and fruits in Mar, Apr, May, and Nov.

Pollination: Insects have been observed visiting the flowers (Cornejo et al. 3360) and all other reports of pollination of species of Gustavia suggest that bees also be the pollinators of this species (Mori & Boeke, 1987). The label of Cornejo 8176 reports that the flowers are very fragrant at night indicating that they could be pollinated by night-flying bees as is the case with Gustavia augusta (Mori & Boeke, 1987).

Dispersal: The fruits are eaten by squirrels (Sciurus spp.) but it is not known if they are are dispersal agents or seed predators.

Predation: See dispersal.

Field characters: This species is characterized by its pachycaulous habit; thick stems; large, tightly congested terminal cluster of leaves; leaf blades pubescent abaxially; suprafoliar inflorescences; relatively large bracts and bractoles; 6 calyx-lobes; and fruits often with persistent calyx-lobes.

Taxonomic notes: Gustavia pubescens belongs to Gustavia sect. grandibracteata (Mori in Prance & Mori, 1979) but this section has not been supported by molecular (Mori et al., 2007) or morphological phylogenies because only one species of the section was included in the molecular phylogeny and a morphological phylogeny of the genus has not yet been carried out. Previous publications have cited Ruiz and Pavon as the collectors of the type but it was gathered in Ecuador by Juan Tafalla. This is explained by Estrella (1989) in Flora Huayaquiulensis who pointed out that Ruiz and Pavon never visited the country.

Uses: Flowers sometimes used in floral arrangements (Cornejo et al. 3360). Rondón et al. (2015) studied the chemistry of G. pubescens and found that the NaOH 10% test showed abundant xanthones, flavones, flavonols, a moderate abundance of saponins, and low antioxidant activity.

Etymology: The species epithet is most likely derived from the pubescence of the inflorescence axes and the abaxial leaf blade surfaces.

Conservation: This species is considered Vulnerable B1+2c ver 2.3 in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Source: Mori in Prance & Mori (1979)

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Gustavia pubescens Ruiz & Pav. ex 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.