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Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

A phylogeny of Cariniana (Lecythidaceae) based on morphological and anatomical data.
Brittonia 60: 69-81. 2008

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

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

Type: Brazil, Amazonas, Manaus (fl), Ducke RB 23641 (holotype, RB; isotypes, K, S, US, frag. INPA).

Description: Trees, to 30 m tall. Trunk cylindric to ground. Bark deeply vertically fissured, laminated the outer bark ca. 3-5 mm thick, the inner bark ca. 5-7 mm thick, reddish in vivo. Stems ca. 3 mm thick, sparsely lenticellate, glabrous. Leaves: petioles 10.0-15.0 mm long x ca. 3 mm diam., convex adaxially, hemispherical abaxially, glabrous; blades elliptic, oblong, or rounded, 7.0-11.5 x 4.0-7.5 cm, glabrous throughout, the base obtuse to rounded, slightly decurrent onto petiole, the margins entire, often slightly revolute, at least when dry, the apex obtuse to rounded to short-obtuse-acuminate, the acumen 0-4.0 mm long; venation eucamptodromous, the midrib plane to prominulous adaxially, glabrous, prominent abaxially, the secondary veins in 7-9 pairs, without domatia at junction with midrib, plane to prominulous abaxilly, prominulous abaxially, 6.0-12.0 mm apart in middle of leaf blade. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, with one to two orders of racemose rachises, to 9.0 cm long, the rachis and branches glabrous, smooth; pedicels ca 1.5 mm long. Flowers when leaves present; hypanthium glabrous; ca. 3.0 mm long, turbinate, the lobes 5, broadly ovate or triangular, small, glabrous abaxially, the apex rounded or blunt obtuse; petals 5, obovate, 6.0-7.0 mm long, white; staminal tube ca 2.0 mm diam. at base, divided into ca. 11 reflexed stamens, the stamens inserted inside staminal tube, in two rows, one at top of staminal tube between staminal tube lobes and the other on staminal tube lobes; ovary 3-locular, the ovules 10 per locule, the summit convex (i.e., slightly raised), pubescence unknown, the style very short, cylindric, erect. Fruits very narrowly turbinate (i.e, tapering from apex to base, 9.0-11.0 x 3.0-3.5 cm, the calycine ring ca 5.0 mm below apex, the pericarp ca. 3-5 mm thick, without teeth at rim of opercular dehiscence; operculum ca. 2.5 cm diam., to 9.0 cm long, the columella triangular. Seeds rounded on one side, flat on the other, ca. 2.0 x 1.0 cm, the seed coat somewhat rugose when dry, surrounded by rugose, narrow wing extending into membranous wing proper, the wings ca. 3.0 x 1.0 cm, with one vein on rounded side of seed and two veins visible on flat side of seed; cotyledons two, fleshy, bowed.

Common names: Brazil: cerú, churú, tauarí (fide Prance in Prance & Mori, 1979).

Distribution: Known form the vicinity of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

Ecology: This species is a canopy tree that grows in non-flooded forest.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected from Aug to Nov. Fruits have been collected in Mar and Apr.

Pollination: No information recorded for any species of Allantoma; moreover, it is not known if species of this genus produce nectar or pollen as a pollinator reward--the staminal tube suggests that nectar is probably the reward.

Dispersal: The seeds of the species are wind dispersed. The cotyledons of this species are fleshy and bowed, features that are usually not associated with wind dispersal. We hypothesize that this is a vestigial feature once associated with water dispersal or that the seed air space created by the bowed cotyledons may make the seeds more bouyant in the air.

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: Allantoma integrifolia can be recognized by the combination of the following: (1) trunk cylindric to the ground; (2) fissured bark with the inner bark reddish and thicker than the outer bark; (3) leaf blades elliptic, oblong, or rounded, coriaceous, with entire, often revolute margins and a blunt or shortly acute apex, (4) venation eucamptodromous, the secondary veins without domatia at the junction with the midrib; (5) stamens that arise near the top of the staminal tube and on the staminal tube lobes; (6) non-costate fruits (seeAllantoma decandra), and (7) fleshy, bowed cotyledons.

Taxonomic notes: Knuth (1939b) described a round-leaved variety Cariniana integrifolia Ducke var. ovatifolia which Ducke mentioned in the protologue of C. integrifolia but did not provide it with a name. This variety falls well within the leaf variation of this species and, thus, was not maintained by Prance in Prance and Mori (1979). The presence of fleshy, bowed cotyledons is usually associated with water dispersal in Amazonian plants. However, this species grows in terra firme and possesses a unilateral wing that facilitates wind dispersal. The cotyledons of the riverine A. lineata and the terra firme A. decandra do not have bowed cotyledons, at least at the stage we examined.

Uses: No uses recorded but the closely related Allantoma lineata has edible seeds. Caution must be used eating this or any other species of Lecythidaceae because, although they are not known to be poisonous, the seed protein in some species of other genera has been known to cause allergic reactions (Kerdell-Vargas,

Etymology: The name refers to the entire leaves of this species.

Conservation: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable B1+2c ver 2.3. (Pires O'Brien, J. 1998. Cariniana integrifolia. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 12 March 2012.)

Source: This species page is based on Prance in Prance & Mori, 1979.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Mike Hopkins for allowing us to use his images to illustrate the characters of this species.