Monographs Details:
Authority:
Morley, Thomas. 1976. Melastomataceae tribe Memecyleae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 15: 1-295. (Published by NYBG Press)
Morley, Thomas. 1976. Melastomataceae tribe Memecyleae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 15: 1-295. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae
Description:
Description - Small tree to ca 14 m high with a trunk to 11 cm in diam, sometimes shrub-like, glabrous except for the inflorescence; young twigs terete or when fast-grown prominently 4-winged; bark of trunk reddish-brown to almost black; wood hard, yellow. Petioles 0-1.5 mm long; blades 9.5-28.0 cm long, 3.1-9.6 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to elliptic-ovate to oblong, seldom of medium proportions, abruptly acuminate at the apex, acute with an included angle of 85° at base to rounded and abruptly attenuate to slightly cordate with a small shallow notch; leaves of leader shoots smaller and relatively broader; midrib above shallowly grooved, below prominent and 2-winged for its length; lateral nerves invisible or nearly so above and below when fresh, plainly to obscurely visible when dry. Midrib xylem tubular, the tube somewhat flattened; stomatal crypts Type III, averaging in a leaf ca 90-123 µ in diam, 47-53 µ high, 15-42 per sq mm (extremes 60-156 µ diam, 45-55 high, 14-51 per sq mm); upper epidermis one cell thick, mucilaginous walls infrequent to universal; hypodermis none; phloem fibers common along under side of midrib; free stone cells present only toward base of midvein except for a single interrupted strand that extends along the center of the upper side to the tip; terminal sclereids stellate, their central bodies roundish to elliptic or rectangular or triangular, 1-2 times as long as wide, their arms short to medium length, sharp to blunt, few to numerous. Flowers mostly cauliflorous and ramiflorous, sometimes on twigs as little as 6.0 mm thick, seldom in the lower leaf axils, 1-4 in clusters or the clusters grouped themselves and the flowers then 8-10 or more together; flowers l(-2) per peduncle, the peduncles 0.6-12.5 mm long with l-2(-3) internodes; bracts 1.6-3.4 mm long, ovate-triangular, acute to short acuminate, present at anthesis. Bracts, pedicels, free hypanthium, and calyx lobes glabrous or minutely puberulent. True pedicels pinkish, 7.0-17.5 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 8.5-16.0 mm long, campanulate; free hypanthium 3.6-5.0 mm long; calyx lobes pale yellow, before anthesis 0.8-2.8 mm long, 3.1-6.0 mm wide, 3.2-6.0 mm long from stamen attachment, truncate and apiculate to low-rounded and apiculate to triangular, the calyx splitting between the lobes at anthesis a distance of 0.3-0.6(-1.5) mm. Petals a waxy white or white tinted with rose, with a pinkish midrib, 12.0-15.0 mm long, 7.5-11.0 mm wide when fresh, as little as 8.0-10.0 mm long and 4.0-5.0 mm wide when dry, trullate to trullate-oblong, abruptly acuminate at apex, sessile. Filaments whitish, the antesepalous and antepetalous ones both 5.0-8.5 mm long; anthers pale yellow, 4.4-5.9 mm long; sporangia 4.2-5.6 mm long, dehiscing by apical slits; gland 0.4-1.0 mm long or none, when present 2.1-2.8 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 1.0 mm long or none but the filament set in a groove 0.3-0.6 mm deep. Ovary pale yellowish, 5-locular; placentae basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal column, 3-6 per placenta, 15-26 in all; style 15.0-21.0 mm long. Fruit edible, orange to orange-red, depressed-globose, crowned with the calyx, ca 12.0-21.0 mm long excluding calyx and 15.0-26.0 mm in diam when dry, estimated ca 24-40 mm long and 30-50 mm in diam when fresh. Seeds 2-4, dark brown, smooth, ca 11.0-11.5 mm long, 8.0-11.1 mm wide, 7.1 mm thick, flattened on the contact faces, rounded elsewhere except for the broad flattish irregularly elliptic hilum, the latter 7.0-10.0 by 6.0-7.5 mm.
Description - Small tree to ca 14 m high with a trunk to 11 cm in diam, sometimes shrub-like, glabrous except for the inflorescence; young twigs terete or when fast-grown prominently 4-winged; bark of trunk reddish-brown to almost black; wood hard, yellow. Petioles 0-1.5 mm long; blades 9.5-28.0 cm long, 3.1-9.6 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to elliptic-ovate to oblong, seldom of medium proportions, abruptly acuminate at the apex, acute with an included angle of 85° at base to rounded and abruptly attenuate to slightly cordate with a small shallow notch; leaves of leader shoots smaller and relatively broader; midrib above shallowly grooved, below prominent and 2-winged for its length; lateral nerves invisible or nearly so above and below when fresh, plainly to obscurely visible when dry. Midrib xylem tubular, the tube somewhat flattened; stomatal crypts Type III, averaging in a leaf ca 90-123 µ in diam, 47-53 µ high, 15-42 per sq mm (extremes 60-156 µ diam, 45-55 high, 14-51 per sq mm); upper epidermis one cell thick, mucilaginous walls infrequent to universal; hypodermis none; phloem fibers common along under side of midrib; free stone cells present only toward base of midvein except for a single interrupted strand that extends along the center of the upper side to the tip; terminal sclereids stellate, their central bodies roundish to elliptic or rectangular or triangular, 1-2 times as long as wide, their arms short to medium length, sharp to blunt, few to numerous. Flowers mostly cauliflorous and ramiflorous, sometimes on twigs as little as 6.0 mm thick, seldom in the lower leaf axils, 1-4 in clusters or the clusters grouped themselves and the flowers then 8-10 or more together; flowers l(-2) per peduncle, the peduncles 0.6-12.5 mm long with l-2(-3) internodes; bracts 1.6-3.4 mm long, ovate-triangular, acute to short acuminate, present at anthesis. Bracts, pedicels, free hypanthium, and calyx lobes glabrous or minutely puberulent. True pedicels pinkish, 7.0-17.5 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 8.5-16.0 mm long, campanulate; free hypanthium 3.6-5.0 mm long; calyx lobes pale yellow, before anthesis 0.8-2.8 mm long, 3.1-6.0 mm wide, 3.2-6.0 mm long from stamen attachment, truncate and apiculate to low-rounded and apiculate to triangular, the calyx splitting between the lobes at anthesis a distance of 0.3-0.6(-1.5) mm. Petals a waxy white or white tinted with rose, with a pinkish midrib, 12.0-15.0 mm long, 7.5-11.0 mm wide when fresh, as little as 8.0-10.0 mm long and 4.0-5.0 mm wide when dry, trullate to trullate-oblong, abruptly acuminate at apex, sessile. Filaments whitish, the antesepalous and antepetalous ones both 5.0-8.5 mm long; anthers pale yellow, 4.4-5.9 mm long; sporangia 4.2-5.6 mm long, dehiscing by apical slits; gland 0.4-1.0 mm long or none, when present 2.1-2.8 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 1.0 mm long or none but the filament set in a groove 0.3-0.6 mm deep. Ovary pale yellowish, 5-locular; placentae basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal column, 3-6 per placenta, 15-26 in all; style 15.0-21.0 mm long. Fruit edible, orange to orange-red, depressed-globose, crowned with the calyx, ca 12.0-21.0 mm long excluding calyx and 15.0-26.0 mm in diam when dry, estimated ca 24-40 mm long and 30-50 mm in diam when fresh. Seeds 2-4, dark brown, smooth, ca 11.0-11.5 mm long, 8.0-11.1 mm wide, 7.1 mm thick, flattened on the contact faces, rounded elsewhere except for the broad flattish irregularly elliptic hilum, the latter 7.0-10.0 by 6.0-7.5 mm.
Discussion:
The fruits are used for trapping “coumahou” fish (Oldeman 1203).
The fruits are used for trapping “coumahou” fish (Oldeman 1203).
Distribution:
French Guiana South America| Amapá Brazil South America|
French Guiana South America| Amapá Brazil South America|
Common Names:
oco-popi
oco-popi