Monographs Details:
Authority:
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. (Published by NYBG Press)
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. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Lecythidaceae
Lecythidaceae
Description:
Description - Trees, to 35 m tall. Twigs gray, rimose, glabrous, 2.5-4.5 mm diam., lenticels, when present, vertically oriented. Bark brown or reddish-brown, smooth when young, with vertical cracks when older. Leaf blades narrowly to widely elliptic or infrequently oblong, 11-29 x 6-12.5 cm, glabrous, coriaceous, with 11-23 pairs of lateral veins; apex acute to short acuminate; base obtuse; margins entire, revolute, with scars left by caducous hairs; petiole 10-20 mm long, glabrous, canaliculate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, simple racemes or once-branched paniculate arrangements of racemes, the principal rachis 4-11 cm long, with 6-15 widely spaced flowers and dense, ferrugineous-pubescence; pedicels jointed, 5-10 mm long below joint, 1022 mm long above joint, rugose, the bract caducous, not seen, the bracteoles oblong, 7.5 x 4.5 mm. Flowers 3-6 cm diam.; calyx with six ovate to very widely ovate, green or green tinged with red lobes, 6-11 x 5-10 mm; petals six, widely obovate to very widely obovate, 19-32 x 14-26 mm, white; hood of androecium flat, 20-25 x 17-20 mm, white or reddish-orange, the appendages with yellow or orange anthers; ligule with lateral flanges; staminal ring with 190-320 dimorphic stamens, the outermost filaments curved inwards, in form of question mark, 9-12 mm long, the innermost filaments ± straight, 3 3.5 mm long, the anthers 0.7-2 mm long, white; hypanthium rugose, pubescent, cuneate at base; ovary 4-locular, each locule with 6-31 ovules attached on lower part of septum, the summit truncate, the style geniculate, 4-10 mm long. Fruits turbinate, 4-6 x 5-7 cm, the supracalycine zone poorly developed or well developed and erect, the infracalycine zone cuneate, the base often prolonged into woody stalk; pericarp 2-7 mm thick, sometimes oozing viscid mucilage when cut; operculum flat, with style persisting as woody spine. Seeds 2.8 x 1.5 cm, with basal, white aril 1.5 cm long.
Description - Trees, to 35 m tall. Twigs gray, rimose, glabrous, 2.5-4.5 mm diam., lenticels, when present, vertically oriented. Bark brown or reddish-brown, smooth when young, with vertical cracks when older. Leaf blades narrowly to widely elliptic or infrequently oblong, 11-29 x 6-12.5 cm, glabrous, coriaceous, with 11-23 pairs of lateral veins; apex acute to short acuminate; base obtuse; margins entire, revolute, with scars left by caducous hairs; petiole 10-20 mm long, glabrous, canaliculate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, simple racemes or once-branched paniculate arrangements of racemes, the principal rachis 4-11 cm long, with 6-15 widely spaced flowers and dense, ferrugineous-pubescence; pedicels jointed, 5-10 mm long below joint, 1022 mm long above joint, rugose, the bract caducous, not seen, the bracteoles oblong, 7.5 x 4.5 mm. Flowers 3-6 cm diam.; calyx with six ovate to very widely ovate, green or green tinged with red lobes, 6-11 x 5-10 mm; petals six, widely obovate to very widely obovate, 19-32 x 14-26 mm, white; hood of androecium flat, 20-25 x 17-20 mm, white or reddish-orange, the appendages with yellow or orange anthers; ligule with lateral flanges; staminal ring with 190-320 dimorphic stamens, the outermost filaments curved inwards, in form of question mark, 9-12 mm long, the innermost filaments ± straight, 3 3.5 mm long, the anthers 0.7-2 mm long, white; hypanthium rugose, pubescent, cuneate at base; ovary 4-locular, each locule with 6-31 ovules attached on lower part of septum, the summit truncate, the style geniculate, 4-10 mm long. Fruits turbinate, 4-6 x 5-7 cm, the supracalycine zone poorly developed or well developed and erect, the infracalycine zone cuneate, the base often prolonged into woody stalk; pericarp 2-7 mm thick, sometimes oozing viscid mucilage when cut; operculum flat, with style persisting as woody spine. Seeds 2.8 x 1.5 cm, with basal, white aril 1.5 cm long.
Discussion:
This species has been commonly misidentified as Lecythis amara Aublet. However, I have placed this name in synonymy with L. idatimon Aublet, a morphologically similar but different species, because Aublet’s specimens of L. amara at BM and S match the type of L. idatimon. See L. idatimon for a further discussion of this problem.Lecythis persistens is morphologically similar to L. idatimon. These two taxa, along with L. confertiflora and L. pneumatophora, are the only species of Lecythis with rugose hypanthia, lateral flanges on the ligule, and markedly dimorphic stamens in the staminal ring. Their flowers differ in the antheriferous hood appendages of L. persistens and the antherless ones of L. confertiflora and L. idatimon. Vegetatively, L. persistens and L. idatimon are difficult to separate. Lecythis persistens tends to have bigger, more oblong leaves, and more pronounced tertiary and higher orders of venation. It is noteworthy that the inflorescences of L. persistens are more ferrugineous-pubescent, and its pedicel bases, which persist on the rachis, are longer. Flower color helps to differentiate these species. The petals of L. persistens are completely white whereas those of L. idatimon are either pink or red or white tinged with pink or red.In 1978 (Mori et al., 1978), I mistakenly identified this species as L. alba Aublet, a name which is not validly published.
This species has been commonly misidentified as Lecythis amara Aublet. However, I have placed this name in synonymy with L. idatimon Aublet, a morphologically similar but different species, because Aublet’s specimens of L. amara at BM and S match the type of L. idatimon. See L. idatimon for a further discussion of this problem.Lecythis persistens is morphologically similar to L. idatimon. These two taxa, along with L. confertiflora and L. pneumatophora, are the only species of Lecythis with rugose hypanthia, lateral flanges on the ligule, and markedly dimorphic stamens in the staminal ring. Their flowers differ in the antheriferous hood appendages of L. persistens and the antherless ones of L. confertiflora and L. idatimon. Vegetatively, L. persistens and L. idatimon are difficult to separate. Lecythis persistens tends to have bigger, more oblong leaves, and more pronounced tertiary and higher orders of venation. It is noteworthy that the inflorescences of L. persistens are more ferrugineous-pubescent, and its pedicel bases, which persist on the rachis, are longer. Flower color helps to differentiate these species. The petals of L. persistens are completely white whereas those of L. idatimon are either pink or red or white tinged with pink or red.In 1978 (Mori et al., 1978), I mistakenly identified this species as L. alba Aublet, a name which is not validly published.
Distribution:
Guyana South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America|
Guyana South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America|