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 - Shrub or tree to 12 m high, the trunk to 20 cm in diam; plants glabrous except for the inflorescences; young twigs narrowly 4-winged; branches sometimes horizontally elongate; bark of trunk thin, reddish, scaly; wood dark yellow to dark brown, odorless. Petioles 1.0-3.0 mm long; blades coriaceous, somewhat shining above, 9.0-18.0 cm long, 2.1-7.0 cm wide, 2.4-4.4 times as long as wide, narrowly elliptic, elliptic-ovate, or elliptic-oblong, acuminate or abruptly so at the apex, cordate at base with a notch about as deep as the petiole is long or deeper; midrib plane to low-rounded above, often with a shallow groove along each side, prominent below and sharply 2-angled to very narrowly 2-winged; lateral nerves flat and invisible or faintly visible above and below when fresh, raised and faintly to plainly visible above and plainly visible below when dry. Midrib xylem tubular except at the distal end; stomatal crypts mostly Type III, rarely Type II, averaging in a leaf ca 31-80 µ in diam, 17-28 µ high, 57-230 per sq mm (extremes 20-110 µ diam, 15-30 µ high, 33-235 per sq mm); upper epidermis one cell thick, occasional cells to all cells with mucilaginous walls; hypodermis none; free stone cells present along the length of the midrib; terminal sclereids stellate, the central bodies relatively large, l-2(-2.5) times as long as wide, round to rectangular, seldom short-branching, with several to many short usually sharp arms. Inflorescences axillary and at leafless nodes of twigs up to 9.5 mm thick, 1-4 per side, each usually branching near the base, forming a dense cluster, each 1-17-flowered, 1.0-6.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 1-3 internodes in that length; bracts 0.9-1.8 mm long, ovate to ovate-triangular, acute or the very tip blunt, mostly deciduous by anthesis or shortly after. Axes of inflorescence, pedicels, and sometimes the bracts and ovary base minutely puberulent. True pedicels 3.0-8.0 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.0-5.0 mm long, broadly cup-shaped or campanulate with the 5 locules bulging somewhat externally; calyx yellow; apparent free hypanthium as measured to style base 2.0-2.4 mm long; calyx lobes before anthesis 0.4-0.6 mm long, 1.8-3.3 mm wide, 0.9-1.4 mm long from stamen attachment, broadly rounded and apiculate, splitting apart at anthesis a further length of 0-0.7 mm. Petals white to rose, 3.2-6.5 mm long, 2.0-4.0 mm wide, elliptic and acute with a basal claw. Filaments white to reddish, the antesepalous ones ca 4.5-5.0 mm long, the antepetalous ones ca 6.0-7.0 mm long; anthers yellow, 2.3-3.2 mm long; sporangia 2.3-2.8 mm long, dehiscing by elongate apical pores; gland 0.4-1.2 mm long, 1.6-2.0 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 0-1.0 mm long. Ovary 5-locular, the locules widely separated and appearing as if in the base of the hypanthium; placentae basal or parietal-basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal or parietal-basal column, 5 or 6 per locule, 25-30 in all; style 11.5-13.0 mm long. Fruits red, ca 13-14 mm broad overall when dry, estimated 15-17 mm when fresh, consisting of 3-5 subglobose lobes independently attached to the old hypanthium and calyx, the lobes sometimes contacting each other but not laterally fused, each lobe ca 5.2-5.8 mm in diam when dry, estimated 6.5-7.3 mm when fresh, 1-seeded, developed from 1 locule of the ovary. Seeds brown, shiny, irregularly spheroid with a flat lateral hilum, ca 5.0 mm high, 5.4 mm wide, 4.5 mm thick, the hilum irregularly roundish, ca 3.6 by 4.4 mm.
Description - Shrub or tree to 12 m high, the trunk to 20 cm in diam; plants glabrous except for the inflorescences; young twigs narrowly 4-winged; branches sometimes horizontally elongate; bark of trunk thin, reddish, scaly; wood dark yellow to dark brown, odorless. Petioles 1.0-3.0 mm long; blades coriaceous, somewhat shining above, 9.0-18.0 cm long, 2.1-7.0 cm wide, 2.4-4.4 times as long as wide, narrowly elliptic, elliptic-ovate, or elliptic-oblong, acuminate or abruptly so at the apex, cordate at base with a notch about as deep as the petiole is long or deeper; midrib plane to low-rounded above, often with a shallow groove along each side, prominent below and sharply 2-angled to very narrowly 2-winged; lateral nerves flat and invisible or faintly visible above and below when fresh, raised and faintly to plainly visible above and plainly visible below when dry. Midrib xylem tubular except at the distal end; stomatal crypts mostly Type III, rarely Type II, averaging in a leaf ca 31-80 µ in diam, 17-28 µ high, 57-230 per sq mm (extremes 20-110 µ diam, 15-30 µ high, 33-235 per sq mm); upper epidermis one cell thick, occasional cells to all cells with mucilaginous walls; hypodermis none; free stone cells present along the length of the midrib; terminal sclereids stellate, the central bodies relatively large, l-2(-2.5) times as long as wide, round to rectangular, seldom short-branching, with several to many short usually sharp arms. Inflorescences axillary and at leafless nodes of twigs up to 9.5 mm thick, 1-4 per side, each usually branching near the base, forming a dense cluster, each 1-17-flowered, 1.0-6.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 1-3 internodes in that length; bracts 0.9-1.8 mm long, ovate to ovate-triangular, acute or the very tip blunt, mostly deciduous by anthesis or shortly after. Axes of inflorescence, pedicels, and sometimes the bracts and ovary base minutely puberulent. True pedicels 3.0-8.0 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.0-5.0 mm long, broadly cup-shaped or campanulate with the 5 locules bulging somewhat externally; calyx yellow; apparent free hypanthium as measured to style base 2.0-2.4 mm long; calyx lobes before anthesis 0.4-0.6 mm long, 1.8-3.3 mm wide, 0.9-1.4 mm long from stamen attachment, broadly rounded and apiculate, splitting apart at anthesis a further length of 0-0.7 mm. Petals white to rose, 3.2-6.5 mm long, 2.0-4.0 mm wide, elliptic and acute with a basal claw. Filaments white to reddish, the antesepalous ones ca 4.5-5.0 mm long, the antepetalous ones ca 6.0-7.0 mm long; anthers yellow, 2.3-3.2 mm long; sporangia 2.3-2.8 mm long, dehiscing by elongate apical pores; gland 0.4-1.2 mm long, 1.6-2.0 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 0-1.0 mm long. Ovary 5-locular, the locules widely separated and appearing as if in the base of the hypanthium; placentae basal or parietal-basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal or parietal-basal column, 5 or 6 per locule, 25-30 in all; style 11.5-13.0 mm long. Fruits red, ca 13-14 mm broad overall when dry, estimated 15-17 mm when fresh, consisting of 3-5 subglobose lobes independently attached to the old hypanthium and calyx, the lobes sometimes contacting each other but not laterally fused, each lobe ca 5.2-5.8 mm in diam when dry, estimated 6.5-7.3 mm when fresh, 1-seeded, developed from 1 locule of the ovary. Seeds brown, shiny, irregularly spheroid with a flat lateral hilum, ca 5.0 mm high, 5.4 mm wide, 4.5 mm thick, the hilum irregularly roundish, ca 3.6 by 4.4 mm.
Discussion:
For the differences between this species and M. sideroxylon, see the discussion following the latter. The outstanding feature of this species as well as of the following three is the remarkable separation of the ovary locules, resulting in the production of a fruit with individual lobes attached to the old hypanthium. The Peruvian location is far from the rest of the range, and since that collection bears only fruit, the possibility exists that when the flowers are known the plants of that area will prove to differ from the others. Mouriri nervosa is very closely allied to M. angustifolia and may properly be synonymous with it; see the latter for a discussion of the matter.
For the differences between this species and M. sideroxylon, see the discussion following the latter. The outstanding feature of this species as well as of the following three is the remarkable separation of the ovary locules, resulting in the production of a fruit with individual lobes attached to the old hypanthium. The Peruvian location is far from the rest of the range, and since that collection bears only fruit, the possibility exists that when the flowers are known the plants of that area will prove to differ from the others. Mouriri nervosa is very closely allied to M. angustifolia and may properly be synonymous with it; see the latter for a discussion of the matter.
Distribution and ecology: Bolivar in Venezuela; Surinam; French Guiana; east-central Peru; in Brazil, northeast Amazonas, north Pará and central southeast Pará, and Amapá. The one Venezuela collection is sterile and not identified with absolute certainty, being easily confused with M. sideroxylon. The species occurs in the understory of moist primary or secondary forests or in open woods or savannas, mostly on sandy soil, above flood level, at low elevations, up to 275 m altitude in Peru. Addendum to distribution: a recent collection comes from Brazil, Mato Grosso, Dardanelos Mato Grosso, Rio Aripuana, Estrada Sta. Elena (fr, 16 Jun 1974, M. R. Cordeiro 121, US).
Distribution:
Bolívar Venezuela South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Loreto Peru South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America|
Bolívar Venezuela South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Loreto Peru South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America|
Common Names:
Guaratarillo, taki-taki, Boni, tope, Topi, bois-fleche, Miraúba
Guaratarillo, taki-taki, Boni, tope, Topi, bois-fleche, Miraúba