Authority:

Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

Family:

Rubiaceae

Description:

Species Description - Tree 10-15 m tall; bark dark gray, smooth; twigs nearly cylindrical, rough, glabrous. Leaf blades 11-30 x 3-9.2 cm, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, chartaceous to coriaceous, puberulent along lower surface, the apex obtuse or acute, the base longtapering, the margins entire; petioles stout, 1-1.5 cm long; stipules 8-13 mm long, broadly deltoid, concave, early deciduous. Flowers few in axillary compound cymes; the axes 3-7 cm long. Hypanthium 1-1.2 cm long, green, bell-shaped, 5-toothed; corolla cream-colored, appressed pubescent without, the tube 10-12 mm long, cylindrical, the lobes 5, reflexed, oblong-ovate, 12-14 mm long; stamens exserted, the anthers lineate; style long-exserted. Fruit 7-10 x 6-7 cm, brown, globose to nearly ellipsoid. Seeds numerous, nearly circular, flattened, 4-5 mm long.

Distribution:

Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| South America| Central America| West Indies| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America|