Trichilia glabra L.

  • 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 glabra L.

  • Type

    Type. P. Browne s.n., Jamaica fl (LINN).

  • Synonyms

    Trichilia terminalis Jacq., Trichilia sloanei Macfad., Acrilia sloanei Griseb., Trichilia arborea C.DC.

  • Description

    Species Description - Young branches puberulous or short pubescent soon becoming glabrous, grey to dark brown, shining, usually lenticellate. New growth usually subtended by a small cluster of lanceolate, pubescent, bud scales, 3.5 mm long, 1 mm broad. Leaves imparipinnate, (3.5-)6-20(-28) cm long; petiole and rhachis terete or semiterete, puberulous, short pubescent or glabrous; petiolule (1-)2-5(-7) mm, terminal petiolule usually longer than laterals. Leaflets opposite, 5-13, ovate, lanceolate, elliptic or oblanceolate, apex attenuate or acuminate, base asymmetric, attenuate, acute, cuneate, obtuse or truncate, chartaceous, 3.5-12.5[6.5] cm long, 1.5-4.2[2.6] cm broad, sparsely puberulous or short pubescent or glabrous above, short pubescent, puberulous or glabrous below, often with tufts of hairs (domatia) in hollowed out axils of secondary veins, rarely with a few red granular papillae, usually obscurely glandular-punctate and -striate; venation eucamptodromous, midrib flat or slightly sunken; secondaries 6-10 on either side of midrib, arcuate ascending or less frequently straight, parallel or slightly convergent; intersecondaries short or absent. Flowers unisexual, plants dioecious; inflorescences usually clustered at stem apex in axils of bud scales, less frequently in axils of leaves, often produced before leaves develop, 3-10(-19) cm long, usually a corymbose thyrse, branches 1-3 cm long; peduncle nearly always exceeding or at least equalling inflorescence, peduncle and inflorescence densely to sparsely pubescent or puberulent rarely subglabrous; pedicel (1.5-)2-4 mm long. Calyx usually cyathiform, less frequently patelliform, 1.5-3 mm long, with (4-)5 triangular to ovate, acute lobes, 1/2-3/4 length of calyx, densely to sparsely pubescent or puberulent rarely glabrous. Petals (4-)5, imbricate, 4-7 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm broad, oblong to lanceolate, acute, densely to sparsely appressed puberulent or pubescent outside, papillose or puberulous inside. Staminal tube cyathiform or short cylindrical, 1.5-3.5(-4.5) mm long, 1-3 mm broad; filaments completely fused or for 1/4 their length, apex rounded to truncate, sparsely to densely pubescent outside, inside glabrous the lower half and sparsely pubescent to barbate the upper half; anthers (9-) 10, 0.7-1.4 mm long sometimes produced at apex into a short acute connective appendage, glabrous; antherodes narrower, not dehiscing, without pollen. Nectary in [male] flowers annular or patelliform surrounding or immersing the much reduced pistillode; [female] flowers much smaller and represented by a ring of tissue fused to base of swollen ovary, 0.25-0.5 mm high, pubescent at least on upper surface. Ovary 3-locular, loculi with (l-)2 collateral ovules, densely pubescent; style pubescent below, usually glabrous at apex; style-head capitate, sometimes with acute apex. Pistillode very slender, often immersed in nectary, loculi and ovules vestigial or absent. Capsule ovoid to globose when fresh, trigonous when dry, without a stipe, smooth, greenish-grey to mid-brown, densely puberulous, 1.3-1.6 cm long, 3-valved, valves strongly reflexed and wrinkling; pericarp 0.5-1.5 mm thick, leathery; endocarp thin, cartilaginous. Seeds 1-2, collateral in each valve, 0.9-1.1 cm long, 0.7-0.9 cm broad, usually markedly flattened dorso-ventrally; arillode thick fleshy, orange, confined to apex and adaxial surface of seed and spreading back to cover not more than 1/4 or 1/3 of seed, free except for attachment along raphe to micropyle; seed coat black, thin, soft. Embryo with thick, plano-convex, collateral cotyledons; radicle apical or lateral towards apex, extending to surface. Endosperm absent.

  • Discussion

    Relationships

    Trichilia glabra is related to T. hirta with which it has often been confused in the past. In the vegetative state they can be difficult to distinguish, but the flowers and fruits contain a number of good characters which can be used to separate them without difficulty. These are enumerated below:

    T. glabra Calyx 1.5-3 mm long Annular nectary pubescent Anthers glabrous Arillode strongly developed at apex of seed adaxial surface Seed coat not oily

    T. hirta Calyx 0.5-1(-2) mm long Annular nectary glabrous Anthers hirsute Arillode ± completely covering the seed and along Seed coat oily

    Other differential characters of T. glabra are the tufts of hair on the lower surface of the leaflets in the axils of the secondary veins, and the distinctive position and clustering of the inflorescence at the often leafless stem apex. The differences between T. glabra and T. havanensis are discussed under the latter.

    Field Characters: Small deciduous tree to 10 m. The species flowers at the end of the dry season and beginning of the wet season from February to June, and the fruits mature from April to August. The fragrant flowers are cream or greenish-cream and the fruit greenish-brown containing a black seed with red arillode.

  • Common Names

    Mata Piojo, Morgao Colorado

  • Distribution

    Trichilia glabra is a plant of tropical deciduous forest and semievergreen seasonal forest on the Yucatan Peninsula and in the Central Depression of Chiapas, Mexico. From these areas it extends in similar vegetation types through Central America to northwestern Costa Rica. It also occurs in Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Swan Islands.

    Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Honduras Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Cayman Islands South America| Jamaica South America|