Monographs Details:
Authority:

Kubitzki, K. & Renner, Susanne S. 1982. Lauraceae I (Aniba and Aiouea). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 31: 1-125. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:

Lauraceae
Scientific Name:

Aniba guianensis Aubl.
Synonyms:

Cedrota longifolia Willd., Aniba salicifolia (Nees) Mez, Aydendron salicifolium Nees, Aniba tessmannii O.C.Schmidt
Description:

Species Description - Tree to 25 m, trunk to 45 cm diam.; branchlets straight, stiff, glabrous or laxly pilose, lenticellate, 2-3 mm in diam.; branches slender, greyish, with many lenticels; terminal bud slender, 5 mm long, laxly tomentellous. Leaves subverticillate, thinly chartaceous or chartaceous, glabrous on both sides, lanceolate, obovate-lanceolate or elliptical, 9-18 x 2.5-6 cm, base cuneate, gradually merging into petiole, apex obtuse and protracted into an acumen, midrib and nerves flat or impressed above, slightly prominent beneath, nerves 6-9 pairs, erect-patent, arcuate and indistinctly fusing near margin, margin flattish, sometimes undulate; petioles slender, slightly canaliculate, sometimes slightly thickened towards base, laxly tomentellous, glabrescent, 0.5-1.3 cm long. Panicles subterminal, in axils of deciduous bracts or of persistent leaves, little branched, minutely tomentellous or minutely appressed-pilose, 5-9 cm long. Flowers minutely appressed-pilose, 2.2 x 1.8 mm wide; floral tube glabrous inside; pedicels 0.5-1 mm long; tepals ovate-orbicular, rather thin, with translucent dots, slightly fimbriate at margin, equal, 1-1.2 mm long; stamens included, 0.7-1 mm long, those of ser. I and II with glabrous, depressed anthers, large cells, slightly protracted connectives and pilose filaments wider than anther or as wide as anther (those of row II slightly narrower), of ser. III with glabrous anthers, large cells and broad, pilose biglandulate filaments; staminodes mostly absent; pistil glabrous, 1.8-2.2 mm long; style slender; stigma small, oblique. Berry ellipsoid, slender (to 4 x 1.1 cm) to thick (to 3.5 x 1.8 cm); cupule red, funnel-shaped, 1-2.5 cm high, with large rusty wart-like spots.

Discussion:

This species can easily be recognized by its distinctly whorled, chartaceous, glabrous, cuneate leaves and by its glabrous ovaries. These characters are constant throughout the major part of its distribution. At its margin, however, some collections differ with respect to some features. The specimens from Peru, especially Mathias & Taylor 6044, are notable for their thin peduncles and pedicels (to 3 mm long) and slightly pubescent ovaries. Moreover, there and in Zulia (Venezuela), the inner side of the floral tube is sericeous. García-Barriga 16227 from Colombia (from 2600 m) has rather large leaves (to 17 x 7 cm) and condensed inflorescences. Two collections from Pará, Brazil, A. S. Silva 145 and Berg et al. 688, can hardly be included here. They correspond to each other but differ from A. guianensis in having pubescent ovaries and ovary tubes and non-whorled leaves.

Up to the present, this species has been misinterpreted. It was the first and the only Aniba described by Aublet who founded the genus. Meissner (1864), hesitantly merged it, with Oreodaphne commutata Nees, a species of Ocotea. Mez (1889) and Kostermans (1938b), in their respective monographs, gave descriptions of A. guianensis and cited only the type material without recognizing the identity of A. guianensis with the widespread A. salicifolia. Kostermans (1938b) doubtfully placed A. guianensis in the wrong section, Microporantherae. That there was no clear concept of A. guianensis is underlined by the fact that Kostermans (1953) misidentified some collections as A. guianensis of which Fróes 24995 is in fact A. megaphylla and Fróes 26712 and Black 49-8439 and A. citrifolia. Aniba tessmannii, which was reduced to A. puchury-minor by Kostermans (1938b), is identical with A. guianensis.
Distribution:

Colombia South America| Boyacá Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America|