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Family:

Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Syst. Bot. Monogr. 39: 60. 1993

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Common Names:

cordobancillo

Description:

Description Author and Date: James D. Skean, Jr., January 2011, based on Skean, J. D., Jr. 1993. Monograph of Mecranium (Melastomataceae-Miconieae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 39: 1-116.

Description: Shrub or small tree with leaves nearly entire to obscurely toothed, the teeth 0.08-0.17 (-0.25) mm high, their apices not conspicuously thickened. Leaf blade 0.2-0.4 mm thick, membranaceous or coriaceous; abaxial surface with hairs in axils of junction of midvein and 2 largest secondary veins, smallest veinlets usually flat in dried material (viewed at 20x or higher magnification). Fig. 27A-C.

Habitat and Distribution: Central and eastern Cuba: broad-leaved cloud forests in the Sierra de Trinidad, Sierra de Sancti Spiritus and Sierra Maestra (Cordillera de Turquino and Cordillera de Gran Piedra); (400?-) 700-1972 m. See Carabia (1945), León (1946), Seifriz (1943), and Smith (1954) for general discussions of these forests. References on the vegetation of specific areas are listed in the discussion below. (Fig. 28).

Taxonomy and Systematics: Mecranium integrifolium subsp. integrifolium occurs in the central and eastern mountains of Cuba. In the Sierra Maestra (Cordillera del Turquino and Cordillera de la Gran Piedra) of eastern Cuba, this taxon occurs at elevations of 700-1972 m, and the plants have leaves bearing persistent axillary tufts of hairs located on the abaxial surface at the junction of the midvein and two largest secondary veins. The plants of lower elevations have glabrous twigs, while those of upper elevations (above ca 1800 m) often have twigs that are pubescent with hairs concentrated in internodal grooves. The plants of these populations typically have leaves with poorly developed marginal teeth. See Webster (1952) and León (1922, 1924) for discussions of the flora and localities in the Sierra Maestra, and Jervis (1953) for a discussion of a botanical expedition to Gran Piedra. In the mountains of central Cuba, the Sierra de Trinidad and Sierra de Sancti Spiritus, plants of M. integrifolium subsp. integrifolium have relatively glabrous twigs, and may or may not have axillary tufts on the leaf abaxial surfaces. The marginal teeth on the leaves of plants from this area tend to be larger and slightly more conspicuous than in plants from the Sierra Maestra. The most unusual populations of M. integrifolium subsp. integrifolium are found in the Sierra de Nipé and Sierra del Cristal, where this taxon intergrades morphologically with M. integrifolium subsp. alainii. Some populations in this region have leaves with veinlets that are slightly raised abaxially and have tufts of hairs in the two major veins axils on the abaxial surface. Roig (1965) reports (as M. amygdalinum) that M. integrifolium subsp. integrifolium is known by the common name "cordobancillo."

Notes: See additional information: Mecranium integrifolium (Naudin) Triana