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 - Glabrous tree to 11 m high with a trunk to 25 cm in diam; young twigs 4-winged. Leaves tending to be crowded on the twigs, 1.5-4 times as long as the internodes; petioles 0.8-1.8 mm long; blades paler beneath, 3.0-6.0 cm long, 1.4-3.0 cm wide, elliptic-oblong to elliptic to slightly ovate-elliptic, rounded to emarginate or sometimes broadly acute or acute at the apex, cordate at base or rarely truncate or broadly acute; midrib grooved above, rounded below in the lower 1/3-4/5, becoming plane more distally; lateral nerves invisible above, invisible or obscurely visible below when dry; margin often somewhat revolute. Margins of midrib xylem turned in and slightly downward; stomatal crypts a highly modified Type II, averaging in a leaf ca 20-29 µ in diam, 60 µ high, 112-150 per sq mm (extremes 15-40 µ diam, 55-65 µ high, 100-160 per sq mm); upper epidermis varying from one to two cells thick in the same leaf, sometimes one or the other condition predominating, mucilaginous walls few to many, in the cells contacting the palisade; hypodermis none; free cortical stone cells present along the length of the midrib, becoming much elongated below; terminal sclereids filiform, running from epidermis to epidermis at various angles but with a strong columnar tendency, turning abruptly at the epidermises and running next to them a short distance, often branching next the lower epidermis, not the upper. Inflorescences terminal and in the upper leaf axils, 1 per axil, each 1-3-flowered, 11.0-35.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 2 or 3 internodes in that distance; bracts (1.2-)2.0-4.4 mm long, the upper ones ovate-triangular to triangular and acute, usually shorter than the lower ones, the lower about the same shape as the upper or usually much narrower, the bracts usually present at anthesis, sometimes deciduous, all deciduous in fruit. Flowers rarely 6-merous. True pedicels 1.0-6.0 mm long, 1.0-1.1 mm in diam when dry, those of single flowers and the center flower in a dichasium 1.7-6.0 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.6-4.8 mm long, campanulate overall, the ovary itself rather obconic; free hypanthium none; top of ovary with 10 upright wings (0.3-)0.4-0.5 mm high radiating outward from the style base, the wings bounding the hollows containing the anther ends before anthesis; calyx lobes 1.6-3.0 mm long, 2.2-3.3 mm wide, 2.2-3.4 mm long from top of stamen scar, ovate-triangular to triangular or broadly so, acute to short-acuminate at the apex or seldom obtuse, the calyx not splitting between the lobes at anthesis. Petals usually white, sometimes yellowish-white or yellow or light rose-yellowish, wide-spreading at anthesis, 11.0-14.0 mm long, 4.5-7.0 mm wide, oblong to obovate-oblong, acuminate or abruptly so at the apex, sessile or narrowed to a short broad claw at base, rarely notched as in M. dumetosa; surfaces densely papillose. Filaments white, the antesepalous ones ca 6.2-1.5 mm long, the antepetalous ones ca 10.0-11.0 mm long; anthers violet, 3.0-4.0 mm long; sporangia horseshoe-shaped, curved over the apex of the anther, extending 1.5-2.1 mm on the side opposite the gland, 1.1-1.9 mm on the gland side, dehiscing by lengthwise slits; gland 0.6-1.1 mm long with a gap of 0.1-0.3 mm between it and the sporangia; cauda 0.6-1.0 mm long. Ovary 5-locular; placentae basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal column, 2-4 per placenta, ca 16 in all; style 11.0-15.0 mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm in diam at base when dry, round to 5-angled. Fruit yellow-salmon, edible with sweet taste; mature fruits not available for study, immature ones subglobose, crowned with the calyx, ca 7.07.5 mm high excluding calyx, 7.08.0 mm thick. Seeds 5 in the immature fruit examined, dark brown, shiny, irregularly obovoid with the thick end up, 5.6-5.9 mm long, ca 3.7 mm wide, ca 2.5 mm thick, with a lateral flattish elliptic hilum occupying most of one side of the seed.
Description - Glabrous tree to 11 m high with a trunk to 25 cm in diam; young twigs 4-winged. Leaves tending to be crowded on the twigs, 1.5-4 times as long as the internodes; petioles 0.8-1.8 mm long; blades paler beneath, 3.0-6.0 cm long, 1.4-3.0 cm wide, elliptic-oblong to elliptic to slightly ovate-elliptic, rounded to emarginate or sometimes broadly acute or acute at the apex, cordate at base or rarely truncate or broadly acute; midrib grooved above, rounded below in the lower 1/3-4/5, becoming plane more distally; lateral nerves invisible above, invisible or obscurely visible below when dry; margin often somewhat revolute. Margins of midrib xylem turned in and slightly downward; stomatal crypts a highly modified Type II, averaging in a leaf ca 20-29 µ in diam, 60 µ high, 112-150 per sq mm (extremes 15-40 µ diam, 55-65 µ high, 100-160 per sq mm); upper epidermis varying from one to two cells thick in the same leaf, sometimes one or the other condition predominating, mucilaginous walls few to many, in the cells contacting the palisade; hypodermis none; free cortical stone cells present along the length of the midrib, becoming much elongated below; terminal sclereids filiform, running from epidermis to epidermis at various angles but with a strong columnar tendency, turning abruptly at the epidermises and running next to them a short distance, often branching next the lower epidermis, not the upper. Inflorescences terminal and in the upper leaf axils, 1 per axil, each 1-3-flowered, 11.0-35.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 2 or 3 internodes in that distance; bracts (1.2-)2.0-4.4 mm long, the upper ones ovate-triangular to triangular and acute, usually shorter than the lower ones, the lower about the same shape as the upper or usually much narrower, the bracts usually present at anthesis, sometimes deciduous, all deciduous in fruit. Flowers rarely 6-merous. True pedicels 1.0-6.0 mm long, 1.0-1.1 mm in diam when dry, those of single flowers and the center flower in a dichasium 1.7-6.0 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.6-4.8 mm long, campanulate overall, the ovary itself rather obconic; free hypanthium none; top of ovary with 10 upright wings (0.3-)0.4-0.5 mm high radiating outward from the style base, the wings bounding the hollows containing the anther ends before anthesis; calyx lobes 1.6-3.0 mm long, 2.2-3.3 mm wide, 2.2-3.4 mm long from top of stamen scar, ovate-triangular to triangular or broadly so, acute to short-acuminate at the apex or seldom obtuse, the calyx not splitting between the lobes at anthesis. Petals usually white, sometimes yellowish-white or yellow or light rose-yellowish, wide-spreading at anthesis, 11.0-14.0 mm long, 4.5-7.0 mm wide, oblong to obovate-oblong, acuminate or abruptly so at the apex, sessile or narrowed to a short broad claw at base, rarely notched as in M. dumetosa; surfaces densely papillose. Filaments white, the antesepalous ones ca 6.2-1.5 mm long, the antepetalous ones ca 10.0-11.0 mm long; anthers violet, 3.0-4.0 mm long; sporangia horseshoe-shaped, curved over the apex of the anther, extending 1.5-2.1 mm on the side opposite the gland, 1.1-1.9 mm on the gland side, dehiscing by lengthwise slits; gland 0.6-1.1 mm long with a gap of 0.1-0.3 mm between it and the sporangia; cauda 0.6-1.0 mm long. Ovary 5-locular; placentae basal in each locule, the ovules borne on all sides of a short basal column, 2-4 per placenta, ca 16 in all; style 11.0-15.0 mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm in diam at base when dry, round to 5-angled. Fruit yellow-salmon, edible with sweet taste; mature fruits not available for study, immature ones subglobose, crowned with the calyx, ca 7.07.5 mm high excluding calyx, 7.08.0 mm thick. Seeds 5 in the immature fruit examined, dark brown, shiny, irregularly obovoid with the thick end up, 5.6-5.9 mm long, ca 3.7 mm wide, ca 2.5 mm thick, with a lateral flattish elliptic hilum occupying most of one side of the seed.
Discussion:
For a discussion of the differences between this species and M. dumetosa, see the latter.
For a discussion of the differences between this species and M. dumetosa, see the latter.
Distribution:
Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America|
Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America|
Common Names:
Uaucu
Uaucu