Pourouma guianensis Aubl. subsp. guianensis

  • Authority

    Berg, Cornelius C., et al. 1990. Cecropiaceae: Coussapoa and Pourouma, with an introduction to the family. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 51: 1-208. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Urticaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Pourouma guianensis Aubl. subsp. guianensis

  • Synonyms

    Pourouma palmata Poepp. & Endl., Pourouma acutiflora Trécul, Pourouma heterophylla Mart. ex Miq., Pourouma fuliginea Miq., Pourouma scabra Rusby, Pourouma radula Benoist, Pourouma subtriloba Rusby, Pourouma substrigosa Mildbr., Pourouma mildbraediana Standl., Pourouma cinerascens Miq. ex Mart.

  • Description

    Subspecies Description - Leafy twigs pale to bright yellow-hirtellous to -subvelutinous to -hirsute, brown, pluricellular hairs dense to sparse. Lamina entire, 3-5-lobed to -parted, or sometimes 5-7-parted, base shallowly to deeply cordate or sometimes rounded; lateral veins mostly 10-16, sometimes up to 20, or occasionally up to 25 pairs; stipules outside pale to bright yellow-hirtellous, -subvelutinous, -subtomentose or -hirsute, inside glabrous or sometimes hairy. Fruiting perianth 1.2-2 cm long, mostly densely hairy, sometimes sparsely hairy or scabrous.

  • Discussion

    This subspecies is very variable in the density and length of the indument. The material from eastern Brazil often has 5-fid leaves, the indument is rather short, and the leaf base is deeply to shallowly cordate. Some collections from the southern part of the Amazon Basin (Bolivia and adjacent parts of Brazil) usually have 5-7-fid to -parted leaves, while elsewhere in the Amazon Basin the leaves are 3-lobed to -fid or entire. Most collections from the Guiana region and the Lower Amazon Basin have 3-fid leaves with a shallowly cordate to truncate leaf base or entire leaves; the indument is short, and the brown, pluricellular hairs on the twigs are usually dense.

    Material from the Upper Amazon Basin is much more variable. Some of the collections have almost elliptic (to oblong) entire leaves. Another group of collections have entire leaves (often with relatively short petioles) or 3-fid to -parted, sometimes 5-parted leaves with the lobes rather close together, due to a smaller angle in which the main basal lateral veins depart from the midrib. These collections often have sparse pluricellular hairs on the leafy twigs, and those with entire leaves resemble P. velutina, from which they differ in a greater number of lateral veins. A third group of specimens have 3-fid to -parted leaves with a deeply cordate leaf base, often with overlapping lobes. Several of these collections have relatively long yellow hairs on the leafy twigs and stipules, or have a rather densely hirtellous upper leaf surface. The collections with long, yellow hairs usually have stipules in which the inner surface is rather densely hairy, unlike the other collections of subsp. guianensis which have the inner surface of the stipules glabrous or sometimes with very sparse, white hairs. Three collections (Croat 20616, Krukoff 4817 and 8369) have 3-fid, deeply cordate leaves and long, yellow hairs on various parts, including the inner surface of the stipules and more numerous lateral veins (up to 25 pairs), in medium-sized leaves less than 1 cm from each other. Other collections of subsp. guianensis (and collections of subsp. venezuelensis) have the lateral veins more than 1 cm from each other.

    The material examined does not provide clear indications about the nature of the various forms within the subspecies no more than about the distribution of these forms. Material received from an inventory of a forest in the Upper Rio Moa region (Brazil, Acre) by Campbell and collaborators indicates the presence of several distinct forms of the subspecies in the same area and the absence of intermediates between these forms.

    In several specimens from the Upper Amazon Basin the leafy twigs, petiole, stipules, and lower surface of the lamina are covered by a white layer, actually the mycelium of some fungus which apparently uses the pluricellular hairs as a substrate.

  • Common Names

    papaquillo, amía-yek, chaparro de agua, sandpaper, Manbospapaja, Bois canon, kuluma, kalate, shuiya, sugkama(t) shuiya, tsakap suiya, papaya del monte, uvilla, uvilla, uvilla blanca, itararanga, tararanga blanca, kaymbe’y, imbaübarana, imbauba-torém, amapati, mapati, imbaubarana, pau de jacu, embauba da mata

  • Distribution

    Throughout the Amazon Basin, extending to eastern Colombia and the Guiana region; occurring disjunctly in eastern Brazil (from Pernambuco to Santa Catarina); mostly in non-inundated forest, sometimes in periodically inundated (varzea) forest; mostly at low altitudes, in Venezuela (Bolívar) up to ca. 1300 m, in Bolivia up to 1500 m.

    Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Amazonas Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Madre de Dios Peru South America| Pasco Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Pando Bolivia South America|