Trichilia euneura C.DC.

  • Authority

    Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Meliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Trichilia euneura C.DC.

  • Type

    Type. Le Prieur s.n., Cayenne, fl (holoytpe, G-DC; isotypes, G, K, P).

  • Synonyms

    Trichilia stelligera Radlk.

  • Description

    Species Description - Young branches stellate-puberulous soon becoming greyish-brown and glabrous, usually without lenticels. Bud scales absent. Leaves imparipinnate or pinnate with one leaflet of ultimate pair orientated to simulate a terminal leaflet, 1022 cm long; petiole and rhachis semiterete, minutely stellate-puberulous to subglabrous; petiolule 3-8 mm long. Leaflets alternate or rarely subopposite, 5-7, oblong to broad elliptic, less frequently oblanceolate, apex obtusely cuspidate to narrowly attenuate or acuminate, base narrowly or broadly cuneate or attenuate, coriaceous, (8-) 13-20[15.5] cm long, (4-)6-10[6.7] cm broad, both surfaces sparsely to moderately minutely stellate or peltate-stellate or subglabrous, glandular-punctate and -striate; venation eucamptodromous, midrib slightly sunken to slightly prominent; secondaries 9-20 on either side of midrib, steeply ascending, usually ± straight and parallel, less frequently slightly arcuate and convergent; inter-secondaries obscure or absent; tertiaries ± oblique and parallel, often closely spaced, moderately prominent on both surfaces. Flowers unisexual, plants dioecious; inflorescence axillary, 2.5-7(-17) cm long, a densely-flowered thyrse, stellate puberulous; pedicel 0.5-1.5 mm long. Calyx shallowly cyathiform, 1-2 mm long, with (4-)5 ± free, imbricate, broadly ovate to orbicular, stellate-puberulous often ciliate sepals. Petals 5, free, imbricate, 4-5 mm long, 1-2 mm broad, oblong, elliptic or lanceolate, apex rounded, obtuse or acute, stellate-puberulous outside, glabrous inside. Staminal tube urceolate, cyathiform or short cylindrical, 3-4 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm broad; filaments fused 1/3-1/2 their length, terminated by 2 acute appendages from 1/3 of to equalling anthers in length, indumentum outside varying from uniformly stiff pubescent (simple hairs) to glabrous, inside usually with a mixture of stellate and simple hairs, or less frequently glabrous; anthers 8 or 10, 0.4-1 mm long, usually with a few stiff hairs on dorsal side, rarely uniformly pubescent; antherodes slender, without pollen, not dehiscent. Nectary a small annular pubescent swelling around base of ovary or absent. Ovary ovoid, 3-locular, loculi with 2 collateral ovules, densely stellate pubescent; style densely stellate pubescent; style-head clavate, capitate or rarely ± discoid, below anthers; pistillode flattened-conical, containing small, non-functional ovules. Capsule ellipsoid to obovoid, apex acute to truncate, base acute, smooth or minutely tuberculate, densely stellate puberulous, 2.7-3.8 cm long, 1.5-1.6 cm broad, 3-valved, valves remaining erect; pericarp 1.5-2 mm thick, endocarp thin cartilaginous. Seed solitary, 2.5-3.2 cm long, 0.9-1.1 cm broad, ellipsoid or oblong, acute at base and apex, completely surrounded by a fleshy sarcotesta. Embryo with thick plano-convex, superposed cotyledons; radicle central, included. Endosperm absent.

  • Discussion

    Relationships. This plant is closely related to T. mazanensis and shares the same geographical range with it. The two species occupy different habitats, however, as T. mazanensis is a species of periodically flooded forest while T. euneura is found only in non-flooded (terra firme) forest. They differ morphologically in a number of small but fairly consistent characters which are enumerated below. Trichilia euneura is the only species of Trichilia which has the seed enveloped in a fleshy sarcotesta.

    T. mazanensis

    Petiolule 1-3(-5) mm long Leaflets usually lanceolate, 2.9-5(-7.2)[4.2] cm broad; mean length/breadth 3.1

    Secondary veins arcuate, convergent; tertiar-ies reticulate

    Pericarp ± smooth, ca. 0.5 mm thick

    Seed with free arillode

    T. euneura

    Petiolule 3-8 mm long

    Leaflets oblong, broad elliptic or oblanceolate, (4-)6-10[6.7] cm broad; mean length/ breadth 2.3

    Secondary veins usually ± straight, parallel; tertiaries ± oblique, parallel, often closely spaced

    Pericarp 1.5-2 mm thick, often minutely tuberculate

    Seed with fused sarcotesta

    Field Characters: Tree to 20 m. The bole in larger trees is slightly fluted at the base, and the bark greyish, lenticellate, scaling in long slender pieces. The flowers are sweet-scented, and the corolla yellowish-green with bright yellow anthers. The flowers are produced from July to December, with one record in February. The fruit, which ripens during the same period, is bright orange, and the seed with sarcotesta is described by Oldeman (field data) as "graine orange enveloppée dans mucosité à odeur agréable fruité."

  • Distribution

    Western and central Amazonia to northern Venezuela and Territorio Amapa, Brazil. A tree of non-flooded lowland forest.

    Venezuela South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Peru South America| Brazil South America|