Guarea cristata T.D.Penn.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Meliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Guarea cristata T.D.Penn.

  • Type

    Type. Pennington, Prance, Hill & Ramos 10074, Brazil, Amazonas, 180 miles up R. Javari from Tabatinga, fl (holotype, INPA; isotypes, FHO, NY).

  • Description

    Latin Diagnosis - Rami novelli primo dense aureo-hirsuti, postea glabri brunnei, asperi et fissurati vel desquamantes. Folia pinnata usque ad 50 cm longa, gemmula terminali incre-mento intermittente; petiolus semiteres; rhachis teres vel supra canaliculata, primo grosse hirsuta, postea glabra et aetate provecta desquamans; petiolulus 0.2 mm longus. Foliola usque senis paribus simul, anguste oblanceolata, apice attenuata usque anguste acuminata, basi acuta usque anguste cuneata, chartacea, 15-26[18.1] cm longa, 3.8-5.5[4.7] cm lata; pagina superior glabra vel secus costam hirsuta, pagina inferior secus costam nervosque grosse hirsuta, lamina raris pilis grossis munita vel glabra, interdum obscure pellucido-punctata; venatio brochi-dodroma, costa impressa; nervi secundarii 13-18 utroque costae latere, adscen-dentes, vulgo arcuati, paralleli vel aliquantulum convergentes, intersecundarii breves vel nulli, tertiarii reticulati usque obscuri. Inflorescentia axillaris, 2-5 cm longa, thyrsoidea vel racemiformis, congesta, densiflora, bracteolata, aureo-villosa; pedicellus crassissimus, ca. 1 mm longus. Calyx cyathiformis, 5-7 mm longus, tomentosus, irregulariter 3-4-lobatus, lobis ovatis, acutis, 3-5 mm longis. Petala 4, valvata, 16-17 mm longa, 5-7.5 mm lata, ligulata usque lanceolata, apice acuta usque obtusa, extus dense aureo-sericea, intus glabra. Tubus stamineus paullum attenuatus ad apicem, in sectione quadrangulare, 14-15 mm longus, ca. 7 mm latus, margine undulatus, glaber; antherae 8-11, ca. 1.8 mm longae. Nec-tarium late stipitiforme, infra ovarium in annulum ampliatum, ca. 0.75 mm longum, glabrum. Ovarium 4-6-loculare, dense strigosum, loculis superposita ovula 2 continentibus; stylus glaber. Capsula ± globosa, apice rotundata vel truncata, vulgo apiculata, basi rotundata, alis longitudinalibus tenuibus, carnosis, convo-lutis (12 majoribus 10-15 mm altis et 12-20 minoribus ad 5 mm altis alternis dispositis, inter se anastomosantibus) dense obtecta; capsula tota grosse pubescens, 4-5.5 cm diam., 4-6-valvata; valvae duobus seminibus superpositis; peri-carpium (alis exceptis) 2-3 mm crassum. Semen basi vel apice truncatum, 1-1.3 cm longum, 0.7-1 cm latum, sarcotesta carnosa superficie adaxiali paullum incrassata cinctum; testa tenuis, cartilaginea; hilum angustum, per longitudinem seminis extensum. Embryo cotyledonibus crassis, plano-convexis, superpositis; radicula abaxialis, superficiem attingens.

    Species Description - Treelet or small tree to 10 m, with horizontally spreading branches. The bark is pale brown, rather soft and suberous, and scaling in small patches or fissured in older specimens. The scentless flowers are produced in small axillary subfasciculate racemes, with a cream-coloured calyx, corolla and staminal tube. The fruit are solitary or in small clusters in the leaf axils, and are remarkable for the great development of the convoluted fleshy wine-red wings. The pericarp underneath the wings is tough but not woody. It is not known whether the fruit dehisces, but the unopened structure can itself be regarded as a very conspicuous dispersal organ. Guarea cristata flowers and fruits in October. Treelet or small tree to 10 m, with horizontally spreading branches. The bark is pale brown, rather soft and suberous, and scaling in small patches or fissured in older specimens. The scentless flowers are produced in small axillary subfasciculate racemes, with a cream-coloured calyx, corolla and staminal tube. The fruit are solitary or in small clusters in the leaf axils, and are remarkable for the great development of the convoluted fleshy wine-red wings. The pericarp underneath the wings is tough but not woody. It is not known whether the fruit dehisces, but the unopened structure can itself be regarded as a very conspicuous dispersal organ. Guarea cristata flowers and fruits in October.

  • Discussion

    Relationships

    Guarea cristata is similar to G. carinata and G. macropetala in its indumentum and in its floral structure but differs from both in its coarsely pubescent fruit with dense fleshy, convoluted wings.

    The following specimen probably belongs in G. cristata-Krukoff8753, Brazil, Amazonas, São Paulo de Olivença. This sterile specimen differs only in the ± eucamptodromous venation.

  • Distribution

    Known only from a few collections along the Javari river which marks the frontier between Brazilian and Peruvian Amazonia. There is one other possible record from another part of Amazonian Brazil (see note below). It is a species of non-flooded lowland forest.

    Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America|