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Additional Resources:

Family:

Capparaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

The reinstatement of Capparidastrum (Capparaceae).
Harvard Pap. Bot. 13: 232. 2008

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Author : Xavier Cornejo

Description: Shrubs or trees, to 7 m tall, mostly glabrous. Leaves spirally arranged; petioles of different lengths; blades elliptic to obovate, (4-)7-34 x 2.5-12 cm, coriaceous, the base cuneate to widely obtuse and shortly cordate, the apex often acuminate, the margin often undulate in lateral view; lateral veins in 8-16 pairs. Inflorescences erect racemes, usually terminal; peduncles (0.2-)1-10 cm long; pedicels 4-15(-35) mm long. Flowers with sepals deltoid, 1-1.5(-2) x 2-2.5 mm, glabrous abaxially; petals ovate, widely divergent, 8-11 x 5-6 mm, white to greenish-white abaxially, often purple tinged, the base subsessile, the apex rounded; nectary glands four, fleshy; stamens numerous, the filaments 15-20 mm long, purplish-red for lower half; gynophore 5-15 mm long, the ovary green. Fruits subpendulous capsules, oblong to oblong-subtorulose, often laterally curved, 2.2-10 x 0.7-2 cm, dark purple toward maturity without, the pulp white. Seeds 6-20, the testa dark brown; embryo cream.

Common names: COSTA RICA. talcacao (Zamora, 1989). ECUADOR. cafetillo (Cornejo & Bonifaz 7878 [GUAY, WIS]). VENEZUELA: dormilón negro (Aristeguieta 7015 [NY]), zapatilla de la reina (Steyermark 102018 [NY]). CUBA: palo de cochino (Fre León 11858 [NY]).

Distribution: Widely distributed from southwestern Mexico to northwestern Peru, Brazil and the West Indies from sea level to 800 m (Cornejo & Iltis, 2008).

Ecology: In dry and moist forests. During the mornings the flowers are visited by at least two species of butterflies. After flowering the ovaries, as well as the young fruits, secret micro-droplets of nectar, which are actively collected by ants (Cornejo & Bonifaz 7878 [GUAY] from Ecuador). It is likely that the ants protect this species from phytophagous insects. The leaf blades of Capparidastrum frondosum are sometimes infected by the fungus Leptodothiorella capparidis R.C. Srivast. (Cornejo & Bonifaz 7597 [GUAY, NY, WIS] from Cerro Blanco, Guayas, Ecuador).

Phenology: In Costa Rica, this species has been collected in flower in Feb (Zamora, 1989). Nocturnal.

Pollination: The flowers are most likely pollinated by moths or bats but, as of yet, no pollination observations have been made.

Dispersal: In Panama, the fruits of this species are reported as eaten by white-faced monkeys (Croat, 1978; Lentz & Dickau, 2005).

Taxonomic notes: Due to a Linnaean mistake (Sp. Pl. ed. 1. 504. 1753), the name of Capparis baducca L., an East Indian species, has been misapplied to the American Capparidastrum frondosum Jacq. thereby a great deal of confusion. This mistake was corrected by Linnaeus himself (Sp. Pl. ed. 2 [and 3]: 1763, 1764) who restricted the use of C. baducca to the SE Asian plants illustrated in Rheede's Hortus Indicus Malabaricus t. 57, 1678 (= C. rheedei DC.). At the same time Linnaeus accepted C. frondosa Jacq. for American plants and this decision has been supported by several authors (Iltis, 2001; Rankin & Greuter, 2004; Cornejo & Iltis, 2008).

Conservation: This is a widespread and often collected species which suggests that it is an IUCN species of Least Concern (LC) . However, in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru, at the south westernmost extreme of its distribution, it is known by few, relatively small, populations.

Uses: Wood flexible and very durable, used for "tajonas" (Zamora, 1989). The fruits are reported to be eaten by humans, although in some parts thought to be poisonous (Standley & Steyermark, 1946; Lentz & Dickau, 2005).

Etymology: Jacquin named this species "frondosa" most likely because it is evergreen condition during the dry season, a characteristic shared by most of the species of this family in Americas.