Taxon Details: Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora
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Family:
Fabaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Fabaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Scientific Name:
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora
Primary Citation:
Brittonia 62: 227 (-230, fig. 3, map. fig. 4). 2010
Brittonia 62: 227 (-230, fig. 3, map. fig. 4). 2010
Accepted Name:
This name is currently accepted.
This name is currently accepted.
Description:
Author: Benjamin M. Torke
Type: Costa Rica. San Jose´: Cant. Pe´rez Zeledo´n, El Brujo, Ri´o Divisio´n, lado Paci´fico de la Fila Costen~a, 9°25'45''N, 83° 56'30''W, 200-500 m, 29 Jan 2000 (fl, fr), M. Blanco 1312 (holotype: CR; isotypes: F, K, MO).
Description: Tree, to ca. 8 m; bark usually smooth; exudate sometimes present in trunk and branches, oxidizing red; young branchlets glabrous to sparsely minute-strigulose. Stipules narrowly triangular, 1.8-7 mm, minute-strigulose externally. Leaves imparipinnate, with 2-5 pairs of lateral leaflets; petioles often bicarinate to marginate above, 5-15 cm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose; rachis often marginate or weakly winged above, minutely stipellate at leaflets, 15-35 cm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose, wings to 5 mm wide; stipels less than 1 mm; petiolules 3.7-7.8 mm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose; leaflet blades chartaceous, elliptic to obovate, the largest 13.5-35.5 x 4.1-11.3 mm, the smallest 8-18 x 3.3-9.3 mm, base acute, apex acuminate, acumen pointed or rounded, upper surface mostly glabrous, usually thinly minute-strigulose on midrib, lower surface glabrous to sparsely minute-strigulose, more densely so on midrib and secondary veins, midrib and other veins impressed above, salient below. Inflorescences borne on trunk or on defoliate portion of branches, to ca. 35-flowered; axes 10-28 cm, minute-strigulose; bracts triangular, 0.8-2.1 mm, minute-strigulose abaxially, estipulate; pedicels 16-23 mm, moderately to densely minute-strigulose; bracteoles lacking; flower buds globose to ellipsoid, often umbonate, 6.9-10.1 x 5.5-10 mm. Calyx glabrous internally, glabrous to sparsely pubescent externally; segments 4-5, 6-10.5 mm. Corolla lacking. Stamens glabrous or nearly so, arranged in two groups; those of the abaxial group 8-12, filaments cream-colored, 14-18 mm, anthers oblong-elliptic in outline, 1.8-2.6 (-3.5) mm; those of the adaxial group numerous, more than 50, filaments cream-colored, 6-12.5 mm, anthers elliptic in outline, 0.9-1.9 mm. Gynoecium with stipe 2-4 mm, glabrous to somewhat densely strigulose; ovary arcuate, narrowly oblong-fusiform in outline, 9-16 x 1.3-2.5, glabrous to somewhat densely strigulose; style terminal, ca. 2.5-4 mm, glabrous or strigulose; stigma capitellate. Fruits green or greenish-brown, incompletely strigulose, glabrescent; stipe 8-13.5 mm; body moniliform, 7.5-26 x 1.7-2.2 cm, subchambers ellipsoid, base and apex attenuate. Seeds 1-several, white, obovoid, ca. 2.8 x 1 cm; aril narrowly fringing one side of seed from base to apex.
Common names: No common names have been recorded.
Distribution: Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica and adjacent west-facing front of the cordilleras in the states of San José and Puntarenas, including the Osa Peninsula, at less than 800 m elevation.
Ecology: Swartzia zeledonensis occurs in the understory of humid perennial tropical forest on clay soils, usually in hilly or mountainous terrain, often near streams. Nothing is known about its pollination or dispersal ecology. Some individuals appear to form associations with ants (Torke & Santa Maria 380).
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting September-May, apparently with at least two peaks.
Taxonomic notes: Swartzia zeledonensis belongs to the Central American apetalous clade of Swartzia section Terminales and is probably most closely related to the Panamanian species S. nuda, from which it differs in its larger stipules and bracts, more numerous leaflets, less elongate seeds, and distribution on the Pacific (versus Caribbean) side of the Central American isthmus. Swartzia zeledonensis displays notable variation across its small range, particularly from north to south. Plants in the northern part of the distribution usually have relatively numerous leaflets, with a strongly acuminate apex (versus acute to weakly acuminate in southern populations), a more strongly winged rachis, less clearly differentiated larger and smaller stamens, and a glabrous (versus thinly strigulose), more elongate gynoecium, but individuals with intermediate variation are sometimes encountered. In an unpublished molecular phylogeographical study Torke et al., found that geographically distant populations of S. zeledonensis tend to have widely divergent chloroplast alleles but similar nuclear alleles. Two remarkable collections (Hammel 18178; Torke & Santa Maria 385) from the Rio Sierpe, perhaps from the same individual, were excluded from the circumscription of the species by Torke and Zamora (2010), based on their substantially more robust, more densely pubescent inflorescence axes, pedicels, and flower buds, and a shorter, thicker and more densely strigose gynoecium. Molecular data associate the Rio Sierpe plants with nearby populations of S. zeledonensis. More study is clearly warranted to determine the taxonomic significance of divergent populations.
Uses: No uses have been recorded.
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the Costa Rican canton of Peréz Zeledón, from which the type collection was gathered.
Conservation status: The conservation status of Swartzia zeledonensis is unknown. The species is represented in several conservation areas, including Parque Nacional La Cangreja, Parque Nacional Corcovado, and the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Golfito, but it is relatively rare, and, as of 2011, it is represented in herbaria by fewer than 25 collections. The conservation significance of genetically and morphologically divergent populations deserves greater attention.
Author: Benjamin M. Torke
Type: Costa Rica. San Jose´: Cant. Pe´rez Zeledo´n, El Brujo, Ri´o Divisio´n, lado Paci´fico de la Fila Costen~a, 9°25'45''N, 83° 56'30''W, 200-500 m, 29 Jan 2000 (fl, fr), M. Blanco 1312 (holotype: CR; isotypes: F, K, MO).
Description: Tree, to ca. 8 m; bark usually smooth; exudate sometimes present in trunk and branches, oxidizing red; young branchlets glabrous to sparsely minute-strigulose. Stipules narrowly triangular, 1.8-7 mm, minute-strigulose externally. Leaves imparipinnate, with 2-5 pairs of lateral leaflets; petioles often bicarinate to marginate above, 5-15 cm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose; rachis often marginate or weakly winged above, minutely stipellate at leaflets, 15-35 cm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose, wings to 5 mm wide; stipels less than 1 mm; petiolules 3.7-7.8 mm, glabrous to moderately minute-strigulose; leaflet blades chartaceous, elliptic to obovate, the largest 13.5-35.5 x 4.1-11.3 mm, the smallest 8-18 x 3.3-9.3 mm, base acute, apex acuminate, acumen pointed or rounded, upper surface mostly glabrous, usually thinly minute-strigulose on midrib, lower surface glabrous to sparsely minute-strigulose, more densely so on midrib and secondary veins, midrib and other veins impressed above, salient below. Inflorescences borne on trunk or on defoliate portion of branches, to ca. 35-flowered; axes 10-28 cm, minute-strigulose; bracts triangular, 0.8-2.1 mm, minute-strigulose abaxially, estipulate; pedicels 16-23 mm, moderately to densely minute-strigulose; bracteoles lacking; flower buds globose to ellipsoid, often umbonate, 6.9-10.1 x 5.5-10 mm. Calyx glabrous internally, glabrous to sparsely pubescent externally; segments 4-5, 6-10.5 mm. Corolla lacking. Stamens glabrous or nearly so, arranged in two groups; those of the abaxial group 8-12, filaments cream-colored, 14-18 mm, anthers oblong-elliptic in outline, 1.8-2.6 (-3.5) mm; those of the adaxial group numerous, more than 50, filaments cream-colored, 6-12.5 mm, anthers elliptic in outline, 0.9-1.9 mm. Gynoecium with stipe 2-4 mm, glabrous to somewhat densely strigulose; ovary arcuate, narrowly oblong-fusiform in outline, 9-16 x 1.3-2.5, glabrous to somewhat densely strigulose; style terminal, ca. 2.5-4 mm, glabrous or strigulose; stigma capitellate. Fruits green or greenish-brown, incompletely strigulose, glabrescent; stipe 8-13.5 mm; body moniliform, 7.5-26 x 1.7-2.2 cm, subchambers ellipsoid, base and apex attenuate. Seeds 1-several, white, obovoid, ca. 2.8 x 1 cm; aril narrowly fringing one side of seed from base to apex.
Common names: No common names have been recorded.
Distribution: Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica and adjacent west-facing front of the cordilleras in the states of San José and Puntarenas, including the Osa Peninsula, at less than 800 m elevation.
Ecology: Swartzia zeledonensis occurs in the understory of humid perennial tropical forest on clay soils, usually in hilly or mountainous terrain, often near streams. Nothing is known about its pollination or dispersal ecology. Some individuals appear to form associations with ants (Torke & Santa Maria 380).
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting September-May, apparently with at least two peaks.
Taxonomic notes: Swartzia zeledonensis belongs to the Central American apetalous clade of Swartzia section Terminales and is probably most closely related to the Panamanian species S. nuda, from which it differs in its larger stipules and bracts, more numerous leaflets, less elongate seeds, and distribution on the Pacific (versus Caribbean) side of the Central American isthmus. Swartzia zeledonensis displays notable variation across its small range, particularly from north to south. Plants in the northern part of the distribution usually have relatively numerous leaflets, with a strongly acuminate apex (versus acute to weakly acuminate in southern populations), a more strongly winged rachis, less clearly differentiated larger and smaller stamens, and a glabrous (versus thinly strigulose), more elongate gynoecium, but individuals with intermediate variation are sometimes encountered. In an unpublished molecular phylogeographical study Torke et al., found that geographically distant populations of S. zeledonensis tend to have widely divergent chloroplast alleles but similar nuclear alleles. Two remarkable collections (Hammel 18178; Torke & Santa Maria 385) from the Rio Sierpe, perhaps from the same individual, were excluded from the circumscription of the species by Torke and Zamora (2010), based on their substantially more robust, more densely pubescent inflorescence axes, pedicels, and flower buds, and a shorter, thicker and more densely strigose gynoecium. Molecular data associate the Rio Sierpe plants with nearby populations of S. zeledonensis. More study is clearly warranted to determine the taxonomic significance of divergent populations.
Uses: No uses have been recorded.
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the Costa Rican canton of Peréz Zeledón, from which the type collection was gathered.
Conservation status: The conservation status of Swartzia zeledonensis is unknown. The species is represented in several conservation areas, including Parque Nacional La Cangreja, Parque Nacional Corcovado, and the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Golfito, but it is relatively rare, and, as of 2011, it is represented in herbaria by fewer than 25 collections. The conservation significance of genetically and morphologically divergent populations deserves greater attention.
Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on (Leguminosae) in Central America preliminary to the Flora Mesoamericana, with descriptions of two new species from Costa Rica. Brittonia. 62 (3): 222-232.
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on (Leguminosae) in Central America preliminary to the Flora Mesoamericana, with descriptions of two new species from Costa Rica. Brittonia. 62 (3): 222-232.
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on (Leguminosae) in Central America preliminary to the Flora Mesoamericana, with descriptions of two new species from Costa Rica. Brittonia. 62 (3): 222-232.
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on
Swartzia zeledonensis Torke & N.Zamora: [Article] Torke, Benjamin M. & Zamora Villalobos, Nelson A. 2010. Notes on