Trichilia pungens Urb.

  • 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 pungens Urb.

  • Type

    Type. Ekman 19058, Cuba, Province Camaguey, Pastelillo fl (holotype, S; isotypes, A, F, G, NY).

  • Description

    Species Description - Young branches puberulous soon glabrous, becoming greyish-white, finely cracked, without lenticels. Bud scales absent. Leaves (l-)3-foliolate; petiole 1-3 mm long, semiterete, puberulous; petiolule ca. 1 mm long. Leaflets (l-)3, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, apex acute or obtuse, produced into a sharp spine 1-2 mm long, base acute to rounded or truncate, margin minutely and irregularly crenulate, coriaceous, 1.6-2.2 cm long, 0.6-8 cm broad, glabrous or with a few appressed dibrachiate or medifixed hairs on lower surface, not glandular-punctate or -striate; venation craspedodromous with a prominent marginal vein, midrib flat; secondaries 10-13 on either side of midrib, shallowly ascending, straight, parallel; intersecondaries and tertiary reticulum moderately prominent to obscure. Inflorescence axillary, 1-1.5 cm long, 1-3 flowers borne at end of a slender stalk to 2 cm long, sparsely puberulous; pedicel (above articulation) 0.5-0.75 mm long. Calyx patelliform or cyathiform, ca. 0.75 mm long, with 4 ovate to triangular, obtuse shallow lobes ca. 1/2 length of calyx, subglabrous. Petals 4, free, valvate, ca. 3 mm long, 1.5 mm broad, lanceolate, apex acute, slightly hooded, sparsely appressed puberulous outside, glabrous inside. Staminal tube cyathiform, ca. 1.5 mm long, 1.5 mm broad; filaments completely fused, margin with 8 short acute or sometimes bilobed appendages alternating with anthers and ca. 1/3 their length, glabrous outside, sparsely hairy inside; anthers 8, ca. 0.7 mm long, glabrous. Nectary absent. Ovary ovoid, 3-locular, loculi with 2 collateral ovules, strigose; style glabrous at apex; style-head capitate, equalling anthers. Mature fruit unknown; a very young fruit shows a well-developed free, fleshy arillode, enveloping the seed.

  • Discussion

    Relationships These are discussed under T. aquifolia.

    Field Characters: Shrub or small tree, flowering in June and July, and again in December. Flowers whitish (Ekman, field data).

  • Common Names

    Ebano amarillo

  • Distribution

    Recorded only from eastern Cuba, in low woods over limestone.

    Cuba South America| Camagüey Cuba South America|