Monographs Details:
Authority:
Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)
Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Theophrastaceae
Theophrastaceae
Synonyms:
Horta, Zacintha
Horta, Zacintha
Description:
Genus Description - Shrubs, treelets or small trees, unbranched or sparsely branched, stems unarmed. Leaves pseudoverticillate, chiefly towards summit of stem or branches medium-sized, large or sometimes very large, short- to long-petiolate, obtuse, acute or short-acuminate at apex, glabrous or lower side sometimes glandular-pilose; margins entire, serrulate or serrate, sometimes spinose-serrate; extraxylary sclerenchyma usually abundant, lacking in some species, when present arranged in subepidermal bundles or layers; crystals and druses absent. Racemes lateral, mostly with numerous flowers, borne singly or in small groups on stems among and beneath leaves, often much shorter on female plants than on male or bisexual plants; bracts narrowly to broadly ovate, inserted at junction of pedicel and rachis or rarely fused and decurrent on pedicels, with free parts extending from about midway between node and calyx. Flowers 5- or 4-merous, uni- or bisexual, plants dioecious, gynodioecious, androdioecious, or rarely hermaphroditic. Calyx greenish, lobes suborbicular, margins erose. Corolla pale to dark orange, rotate, eglandular, lobes broadly ovate to oblong or suborbicular. Stamen filaments in nonfemale flowers united, forming a permanent tube, in female flowers united at base only, usually glabrous; anthers ovoid, obtuse-apiculate at apex. Staminodes oblong to ovoid, forming a thick rim at mouth of corolla tube. Ovary in female flowers ovoid or broadly ovoid, in male or functionally male flowers narrowly ovoid to linear, rarely lacking, style shorter than to equal in length to ovary, stigma truncate; ovules usually few, sparsely set in 1 or a few series. Fruits yellow or orange, subglobose, glabrous or rarely glandular-pilose, pericarp thin and brittle when dried, or sometimes thick and woody. Seeds large, ovoid-ellipsoid, often irregularly obtuse-angled, light to dark brown, completely embedded in placental pulp.
Genus Description - Shrubs, treelets or small trees, unbranched or sparsely branched, stems unarmed. Leaves pseudoverticillate, chiefly towards summit of stem or branches medium-sized, large or sometimes very large, short- to long-petiolate, obtuse, acute or short-acuminate at apex, glabrous or lower side sometimes glandular-pilose; margins entire, serrulate or serrate, sometimes spinose-serrate; extraxylary sclerenchyma usually abundant, lacking in some species, when present arranged in subepidermal bundles or layers; crystals and druses absent. Racemes lateral, mostly with numerous flowers, borne singly or in small groups on stems among and beneath leaves, often much shorter on female plants than on male or bisexual plants; bracts narrowly to broadly ovate, inserted at junction of pedicel and rachis or rarely fused and decurrent on pedicels, with free parts extending from about midway between node and calyx. Flowers 5- or 4-merous, uni- or bisexual, plants dioecious, gynodioecious, androdioecious, or rarely hermaphroditic. Calyx greenish, lobes suborbicular, margins erose. Corolla pale to dark orange, rotate, eglandular, lobes broadly ovate to oblong or suborbicular. Stamen filaments in nonfemale flowers united, forming a permanent tube, in female flowers united at base only, usually glabrous; anthers ovoid, obtuse-apiculate at apex. Staminodes oblong to ovoid, forming a thick rim at mouth of corolla tube. Ovary in female flowers ovoid or broadly ovoid, in male or functionally male flowers narrowly ovoid to linear, rarely lacking, style shorter than to equal in length to ovary, stigma truncate; ovules usually few, sparsely set in 1 or a few series. Fruits yellow or orange, subglobose, glabrous or rarely glandular-pilose, pericarp thin and brittle when dried, or sometimes thick and woody. Seeds large, ovoid-ellipsoid, often irregularly obtuse-angled, light to dark brown, completely embedded in placental pulp.
Discussion:
The name Clavija honors the Spanish author and publisher José Clavigo y Fajardo (1730-1806), director of the Natural History Museum in Madrid and translator of Buffon’s Histoire naturelle into Spanish.Most characters used to distinguish species of Clavija are vegetative and pertain to variations in leaf morphology and leaf anatomy. However, many of these characters are plastic, so many species key out more than once. As for the expressions smooth, striate, and furrowed for the leaf surface, these states are caused by the arrangement of the adaxial, foliar sclerenchyma (or lack of it). Thus, a continuous layer or a lack of adaxial sclerenchyma produces a smooth, upper leaf surface, except for the ubiquitous, mostly prominulous veinlets, whereas a discontinous layer of adaxial sclerenchyma produces a furrowed surface; a striate leaf surface is caused by the subepidermal sclerenchyma being arranged in discrete bundles. The number of floral parts can be seen on fruiting specimens because the calyx usually remains intact. However, the number of floral parts often varies within one plant, so a calyx from a single fruit may be misleading.
The name Clavija honors the Spanish author and publisher José Clavigo y Fajardo (1730-1806), director of the Natural History Museum in Madrid and translator of Buffon’s Histoire naturelle into Spanish.Most characters used to distinguish species of Clavija are vegetative and pertain to variations in leaf morphology and leaf anatomy. However, many of these characters are plastic, so many species key out more than once. As for the expressions smooth, striate, and furrowed for the leaf surface, these states are caused by the arrangement of the adaxial, foliar sclerenchyma (or lack of it). Thus, a continuous layer or a lack of adaxial sclerenchyma produces a smooth, upper leaf surface, except for the ubiquitous, mostly prominulous veinlets, whereas a discontinous layer of adaxial sclerenchyma produces a furrowed surface; a striate leaf surface is caused by the subepidermal sclerenchyma being arranged in discrete bundles. The number of floral parts can be seen on fruiting specimens because the calyx usually remains intact. However, the number of floral parts often varies within one plant, so a calyx from a single fruit may be misleading.
Distribution:
South America| Haiti South America|
South America| Haiti South America|