Authority:

Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family:

Meliaceae

Synonyms:

Cedrela bogotensis Triana & Planch., Surenus montana (Turcz.) Kuntze, Cedrela rosei S.F.Blake, Cedrela subandina Cuatrec.

Description:

Species Description - Branchlets glabrous with prominent, white elongate lenticels, sometimes with a fuscous-brown pubescence. Leaves paripinnate, (20-)25-45(-55) cm long; petiole pubescent. Leaflets with thick petiolules, 3-8 mm long, 6-10(-13) pairs, opposite or subopposite, ovate-elliptic to ovate-oblong, sometimes oblong, apex short acuminate or obtuse, base cordate or broadly rounded more rarely obtuse, slightly asymmetrical, coriaceous, dark glossy yellowish-green above, paler beneath, midrib conspicuous with long reddish-brown hairs, lateral nerves closely and evenly spaced, puberulent with tufts of hairs in axils, (9-)9-15(-18) cm long, 3.5-5.5(-6.5) cm broad. Inflorescence terminal or subterminal, pubescent, thyrses congested and crowded, 12-25(-30) cm long, bracts deciduous or subpersistent. Flowers unisexual, with short pedicels, 1-2 mm long, densely tomentose. Calyx deeply and regularly 5-lobed to about or below middle, 1.5-3.0 mm long, lobes rounded to narrowly deltate, puberulous. Petals 5, free, imbricate, elliptic-oblong to oblong, thick and fleshy, (6-)8-10 mm long, 2-2.5(-3) mm broad, glabrous or minutely and densely puberulous on both surfaces, often with matted hairs along mid-line inside, adnate to gynophore by a carina along lower 1/2-1/3 their length. Stamens 5, free, 2-3.5 mm long; filaments with a few scattered hairs, adnate to base of broad, stout gynophore; anthers in [male] flowers large, yellow, markedly apiculate, in [female] flowers brown and shrivelled. Ovary in 9 flowers, glabrous, globose, 5-locular, each loculus with 12-14 ovules; style short, 1-2 mm long; style-head discoid, 1 mm thick, with 5 flat stigmatic lobes. Pistillode in [male] flowers slender, angular, with well-developed loculi, but ovules very small; style columnar, 3-4 mm long, glabrous; style-head thinner, lacking stigmatic lobes. Capsule obovoid to elongate-obovoid, pendulous, 5-valved, valves woody, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, greyish-brown, smooth, with large elongate whitish lenticels, 4-6(-7) cm long. Columella with 5 prominent broad wings extending to apex of capsule. Seed brown, 3.5-4.0 cm long including the wing.

Discussion:

The timber is highly esteemed and exploited for local use in carpentry and joinery, but its properties are unknown.

Relationships This species is clearly related to C. lilloi (q.v.) and the two are the only members of the genus with a distinctive calyx. In both it is lobed to the middle (or below); the sepals are sometimes ± free to the base.

Field Characters: Medium to very large trees up to 25 m tall with a bole of 50 cm diameter (much larger specimens up to 50 m tall and 2 m diameter have, however, been recorded (Delgado 208, Little 6545)). Bark grey, regularly and longitudinally fissured, in older trees reddish-brown and scaly. The flowers are greenish-white or cream, fading to yellow, with an unpleasant smell. The gynophore has been recorded as orange in colour. Flowering is variable, mostly from May to July; the fruits are mature from January to April, depending on locality.

Distribution:

Peru South America| Venezuela South America|

Common Names:

Cedro cebolla, Cedro Clavel, Cedro Colorado, Cedro oloroso, Cedro de castilla, cedro dulce, Cedro encarnado, Cedro rosado