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Family:

Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Author: Nathan P. Smith, Scott A. Mori & Alex Popovkin

Type: Brazil. Alagoas, Maceió, Feb 1838 (imm. fr), G. Gardner 1312 (lectotype: K).

Description : Shrubs or small to medium trees, to 20 m tall but usually under 10 m. Bark slightly fissured when young, becoming thick and corky, with deep fissures when old, the outer bark thinner than inner bark, the inner bark beige. Twigs glabrous, the young bark green to reddish brown, often peeling; lenticels conspicuous on younger growth. Leaves present at flowering; petioles 3–10 mm long, slightly canaliculate; blades elliptic, ovate, oblong, obovate, or nearly round, 3.8–14.5 x 2.5–8.5 cm, glabrous, coriaceous, the abaxial side not whitish, without cuticular papillae, usually with conspicuous reddish-brown punctations, the base rounded to slightly cuneate or attenuate, often narrowly decurrent onto petiole, the margins slightly crenulate (apices of protrusions rounded) to nearly entire, often revolute, the apex rounded to short acuminate or acute, sometimes emarginate; venation brochidodromous to weakly eucamptodromous, the secondary veins in 7–15 pairs. Inflorescences terminal, rarely in axils of leaves, spikes, the rachis 0.8–8.5 cm long, rarely almost absent, with 1–15 flowers, glabrous, lenticellate. Flowers 2.5– 6.0 cm diam., glabrous, sessile or nearly so, subtended by one caducous bract and two caducous bracteoles; calyx-lobes 6, ovate, 0.5–1.2 x 0.3–0.9 cm, imbricate, with longitudinally oriented mucilage-bearing ducts (best seen in cross section), green, sometimes purplish-green centrally and basally, sometimes slightly thicker towards center; petals 6, subequal, rotund, oblong to oblanceolate, or obovate, 1.5–3.5 x 3 0.8–2.0 cm, pink to red or white with tinges of pink and red, the outer surface often dark red with white margins in bud, tightly appressed to androecium at base; androecium zygomorphic, the staminal ring flat, with 112–176 stamens, staminal lip present, the filaments 1.0–3.5 mm long, white, clavate, the anthers 0.5–1.0 mm long, yellow, the hood 1.8–3.0 x 1.3–2.5 cm, nearly flat, often slightly wrinkled on outer surface, white to yellowish, with 82–106 vestigial stamens, the vestigial stamens mostly inserted at apex of ligule but sometimes present between androecial ring and hood appendages, 3–12 mm long, stalked, yellow, curved but not swept inward, staminodes absent; ovary (2–)4(5)-locular, with mucilage ducts (only seen in cross-section), the ovules 4–12 per locule, inserted at base or middle of septum, the style obliquely oriented, ca. 3–4 mm long. Fruits usually dehiscent, but sometimes falling to ground without dehiscing, sub-globose to turbinate, 5.5–6.5 cm, the umbo sometimes pronounced, the pericarp 1–5 mm thick, the calycine zone sometimes conspicuous. Seeds 2–4 per fruit, 2.0–4.5 x 2.0–4.2 cm, the testa thin, less than 1 mm thick, chestnut colored, the veins impressed, dendritically arranged; aril present, basal, small and poorly developed.

Common names: Brazil: Ibiribá, inhaíba, inhaíba branca, inhaíba vermelha, sapucai.

Distribution: Known only from the northeastern Brazilian states of Alagoas, Bahia, and Sergipe.

Ecology: A shrub to medium-sized tree found in the Atlantic Forest and cerrado (rarely). Common in certain localities.

Phenology: Flowers of this species have been collected from Nov to Feb. Mature fruits have been collected in Sep and immature fruits have been collected in Feb, Mar, Apr, and May.

Pollination: Bees within Centris, subgenus Ptilotopus (sometimes treated as a genus), have been documented visiting the flowers.

Dispersal: The dispersal agent for this species is unknown. The seeds are probably not dispersed by mammals because the aril at the base of each seed is poorly developed. It is possible that the seeds fall to the ground after the fruit dehisces or fall to the ground while still in the fruit, as is known to occur in a few other species of Lecythis (e.g., L. lurida).

Predation: No observations recorded.

Field characters: Lecythis ibiriba is the only species of Lecythis that has mucilage ducts in the hypanthium in combination with an androecial hood that (1) lacks a coil, (2) lacks staminodes, and (3) has vestigial stamens that are pendent and not swept inward (as found in L. lurida, L. prancei, and Bertholletia excelsa). In addition, the posterior hood extension of L. ibiriba is nearly absent. The flowers of L. ibiriba are very similar to those of L. lurida and L. schwackei, which are also found in northeastern Brazil. Differences between these species are discussed in the taxonomic notes below.

Taxonomic notes: Lecythis ibiriba most likely belongs within a monophyletic clade containing L. lurida and L. prancei. These species have androecial hoods that are nearly flat with vestigial stamens that are slightly or fully swept inward, but do not form a complete coil. Lecythis ibiriba and L. lurida both occur in northeastern Brazil and have similar flowers; however, L. ibiriba differs from L. lurida by the following features: deeper fissured, corky, bark when older; leaf blades that are shorter and more ovate, obovate, or round (vs. narrowly elliptic to oblong), more coriaceous, with a non-papillate abaxial surface that lacks a whitish cast (vs. papillate with a whitish cast) and usually has conspicuous reddish-brown punctations; flowers with vestigial stamens that are only slightly curved inward (vs. swept inward); fruits that are dehiscent on trees or sometimes fall to the ground without dehiscing (vs. always indehiscent); and a poorly developed aril at the base of each seed (vs. no aril). Currently, it is believed that the fruits of L. ibiriba are sometimes indehiscent and that this is a reversion from a closely related species with dehiscent fruits. This belief is supported by the fact that the seeds of L. ibiriba lack a well-developed aril. Lecythis ibiriba is also similar to L. schwackei, which is a small tree that grows in savanna-like vegetation in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Lecythis ibiriba differs from L. schwackei in that its leaf blades lack cuticular papillae and its lateral veins are less impressed adaxially.

Conservation: Not on IUCN Red List. This species is common in certain localities but much of the habitat where it grows has already been destroyed due to the expansion of agricultural operations in northeastern Brazil. Very little is known about the distribution of L. ibiriba in relationship to suitable, protected habitat and that needs to be determined before its conservation status can be established.

Uses: Franco s.n. reported (on the specimen label of NY390428) that the seeds are edible; however, this has not been confirmed and seeds should not be consumed because of possible allergic reactions. No other uses have been documented.

Etymology: According to Miers (1874), this species was locally called ibiribá in Alagoas, which is what Miers based the name on.

Source: The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 139(4): 447-451. 2012.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to B. Angell for preparing the botanical line drawing.