Monographs Details:
Authority:
Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)
Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Synonyms:
Guarea aligera Harms, Guarea turrialbana León
Guarea aligera Harms, Guarea turrialbana León
Description:
Species Description - Young branches sparsely appressed puberulous at first soon glabrous, smooth, shining, dark brown sometimes with a few scattered pale lenticels. Leaves pinnate with a terminal bud showing intermittent growth, to 65(-100) cm long; petiole and rhachis broadly winged, to 2.3 cm wide, glabrous; petiolule 1-2 mm long or leaflets sessile. Leaflets 2-6 pairs, oblong to narrowly elliptic, apex attenuate to acuminate or obtusely cuspidate and tapering to an acute, rounded, or minutely subcordate base sometimes slightly asymmetric, chartaceous to coriaceous, 10-34[23.7] cm long, 3.5-10.7[7.7] cm broad, glabrous, not glandular-punctate or -striate; venation eucamptodromous, midrib usually prominent; secondary veins, (7-)8-12(-14) on either side of midrib, ascending, slightly arcuate, slightly convergent or parallel; intersecondaries and tertiaries obscure and widely spaced or absent. Inflorescence axillary, 35-80 cm long, usually much-branched with branches spreading widely, lower to 70 cm long bearing rather dense subfasciculate clusters of flowers, ultimate branchlets cymose, minutely and sparsely puberulous; pedicel 0.25-0.75 mm long. Calyx patelliform or shallowly cyathiform, 0.5-1.5 mm long with 4 rounded to triangular acute lobes 0.25-1 mm long, minutely appressed puberulous outside or glabrous. Petals 4, imbricate towards apex, valvate below, (3.5-)4-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, strap-shaped, apex rounded to acute, papillose or with a few minute appressed hairs or glabrous. Staminal tube (2.5-)3-4.5 mm long, (0.75-) 1-2 mm broad, margin undulate or shallowly toothed, glabrous; anthers (7-)8, 0.5-0.8 mm long. Nectary a stout stipe expanded below ovary, 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous. Ovary 2-locular, loculi with 2 superposed ovules, glabrous; style stout, tapering from ovary to discoid style-head. Capsule ± ellipsoid and borne obliquely on pedicel (when 1-seeded), or bilobed and constricted between valves (when 2-seeded), apex rounded to truncate or emarginate, abruptly contracted at base into a short stipe, smooth, glabrous, 1.5-2 cm long and broad, 2-valved; pericarp 0.75-1 mm thick. Seed solitary or 1 in each valve, ca. 1.7 cm long, 1.3 cm broad, ellipsoid, completely surrounded by a thin fleshy sarcotesta; hilum ca. 1 cm long, 0.8 cm broad; seed coat woody. Embryo with plano-convex, superposed cotyledons, radicle minute, abaxial, extending to surface.
Species Description - Young branches sparsely appressed puberulous at first soon glabrous, smooth, shining, dark brown sometimes with a few scattered pale lenticels. Leaves pinnate with a terminal bud showing intermittent growth, to 65(-100) cm long; petiole and rhachis broadly winged, to 2.3 cm wide, glabrous; petiolule 1-2 mm long or leaflets sessile. Leaflets 2-6 pairs, oblong to narrowly elliptic, apex attenuate to acuminate or obtusely cuspidate and tapering to an acute, rounded, or minutely subcordate base sometimes slightly asymmetric, chartaceous to coriaceous, 10-34[23.7] cm long, 3.5-10.7[7.7] cm broad, glabrous, not glandular-punctate or -striate; venation eucamptodromous, midrib usually prominent; secondary veins, (7-)8-12(-14) on either side of midrib, ascending, slightly arcuate, slightly convergent or parallel; intersecondaries and tertiaries obscure and widely spaced or absent. Inflorescence axillary, 35-80 cm long, usually much-branched with branches spreading widely, lower to 70 cm long bearing rather dense subfasciculate clusters of flowers, ultimate branchlets cymose, minutely and sparsely puberulous; pedicel 0.25-0.75 mm long. Calyx patelliform or shallowly cyathiform, 0.5-1.5 mm long with 4 rounded to triangular acute lobes 0.25-1 mm long, minutely appressed puberulous outside or glabrous. Petals 4, imbricate towards apex, valvate below, (3.5-)4-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, strap-shaped, apex rounded to acute, papillose or with a few minute appressed hairs or glabrous. Staminal tube (2.5-)3-4.5 mm long, (0.75-) 1-2 mm broad, margin undulate or shallowly toothed, glabrous; anthers (7-)8, 0.5-0.8 mm long. Nectary a stout stipe expanded below ovary, 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous. Ovary 2-locular, loculi with 2 superposed ovules, glabrous; style stout, tapering from ovary to discoid style-head. Capsule ± ellipsoid and borne obliquely on pedicel (when 1-seeded), or bilobed and constricted between valves (when 2-seeded), apex rounded to truncate or emarginate, abruptly contracted at base into a short stipe, smooth, glabrous, 1.5-2 cm long and broad, 2-valved; pericarp 0.75-1 mm thick. Seed solitary or 1 in each valve, ca. 1.7 cm long, 1.3 cm broad, ellipsoid, completely surrounded by a thin fleshy sarcotesta; hilum ca. 1 cm long, 0.8 cm broad; seed coat woody. Embryo with plano-convex, superposed cotyledons, radicle minute, abaxial, extending to surface.
Discussion:
RelationshipsGuarea pterorhachis as circumscribed here, includes G. aligera Harms, a species described from the same geographical area. According to Harms it differs in having only 2 pairs of leaflets (3-6 in G. pterorhachis) and a more slender inflorescence.Guarea pterorhachis has the characteristic indeterminate growth of the leaf apex and therefore the number of leaflets depends on the age of the leaf. Isotypes of G. aligera at G and NY have 3 pairs of leaflets.The slender inflorescence is typical of those specimens flowering while still small treelets, sometimes when less than 1 m high. As the plant matures, the inflorescence becomes stouter and the leaflet venation becomes more obscure.Guarea pterorhachis is a distinct and well defined species with little variability. Its closest relative is G. silvatica, an Amazonian species which shares the eastern part of its range with G. pterorhachis. Guarea silvatica lacks the winged petiole and rhachis but has a similar floral structure and fruit, although the latter is much larger than that of G. pterorhachis.Cuatrecasas 16598 (Colombia, Department del Valle, Río Calima) may represent a distinct species. The leaves have the winged petiole and rhachis as in G. pterorhachis but the leaflet venation differs in being brochidodromous with the secondary veins parallel, widely spaced and meeting in a prominent sub-marginal vein. The specimen has an inflorescence from which all the flowers have fallen and therefore it is not possible to make a final decision as to its relationships.
RelationshipsGuarea pterorhachis as circumscribed here, includes G. aligera Harms, a species described from the same geographical area. According to Harms it differs in having only 2 pairs of leaflets (3-6 in G. pterorhachis) and a more slender inflorescence.Guarea pterorhachis has the characteristic indeterminate growth of the leaf apex and therefore the number of leaflets depends on the age of the leaf. Isotypes of G. aligera at G and NY have 3 pairs of leaflets.The slender inflorescence is typical of those specimens flowering while still small treelets, sometimes when less than 1 m high. As the plant matures, the inflorescence becomes stouter and the leaflet venation becomes more obscure.Guarea pterorhachis is a distinct and well defined species with little variability. Its closest relative is G. silvatica, an Amazonian species which shares the eastern part of its range with G. pterorhachis. Guarea silvatica lacks the winged petiole and rhachis but has a similar floral structure and fruit, although the latter is much larger than that of G. pterorhachis.Cuatrecasas 16598 (Colombia, Department del Valle, Río Calima) may represent a distinct species. The leaves have the winged petiole and rhachis as in G. pterorhachis but the leaflet venation differs in being brochidodromous with the secondary veins parallel, widely spaced and meeting in a prominent sub-marginal vein. The specimen has an inflorescence from which all the flowers have fallen and therefore it is not possible to make a final decision as to its relationships.
Field Characters: Treelet or tree to 25 m, often flowering when less than 2 m high. The bark varies from brown to grey-brown and on larger specimens is smooth or scaling in small thin pieces. The broadly winged leaf rhachis gives it a distinctive appearance in the field, similar to that of Inga with which it is often confused. The flowers are whitish or cream-coloured, and the mature fruit, which is borne in large clusters, has a thin tough and leathery, reddish-brown pericarp which dehisces to reveal the seed surrounded by a bright orange sarcotesta. The seed is dispersed by birds (Budowski, pers. comm.).
Phenology: The flowering season throughout its range is from August to December and the two records of mature fruit are May (Peru) and February (Costa Rica).
Distribution:
Costa Rica South America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Cartago Costa Rica Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Pastaza Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Junín Peru South America| Cusco Peru South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Bolivia South America|
Costa Rica South America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Cartago Costa Rica Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Pastaza Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Junín Peru South America| Cusco Peru South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Bolivia South America|