Sideroxylon persimile (Hemsl.) T.D.Penn. subsp. persimile
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Authority
Pennington, Terence D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 52: 1-750. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Sapotaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
a synonym* of Sideroxylon persimile (Hemsl.) T.D.Penn.
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Synonyms
Bumelia persimilis Hemsl., Lyciodes persimile (Hemsl.) Kuntze, Bumelia leiogyna Donn.Sm., Bumelia pleistochasia Donn.Sm., Bumelia grisebachii Pierre, Bumelia megaphylla S.F.Blake, Bumelia guatemalensis Standl., Bumelia panamensis Standl., Bumelia barba-tigris Pittier, Bumelia lankesteri Standl., Bumelia austin-smithii Standl., Bumelia eloxochitlensis R.E.Schult. & Conz., Bumelia lanceolata Pittier ex R.Knuth
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Description
Subspecies Description - Tree; pubescence of young leaves and shoots appressed, sometimes sericeous; leaves soon becoming glabrous; leaf base usually cuneate or narrowly attenuate. Young branches at first finely appressed puberulous or sericeous to densely pubescent with the hairs ferruginous at first, and then greyish with age, becoming glabrous, grey-brown, ridged and cracked, often lenticellate. Sharp spines on larger twigs and branches, often several cm long, usually simple, occasionally branched. Leaves spirally arranged, not clustered, (3.5-)5-12 × (1.3-)2.5-3.5(-4) cm, usually elliptic or oblong-elliptic, less frequently lanceolate or ovate, apex narrowly attenuate, acute or obtuse, base usually narrowly attenuate or cuneate, less frequently rounded to truncate; upper surface glabrous, lower surface appressed brown puberulous at first, soon becoming glabrous or persistently pubescent with erect and spreading hairs, dark glossy green, sometimes brownish below; venation brochidodromous, marginal vein prominent, midrib not raised on upper surface; secondary veins 9-15(-20) pairs, ascending, straight, parallel; intersecondaries long; tertiaries few, parallel to secondaries, descending from the margin. Petiole 0.2-2 cm long, usually slightly channelled above, appressed puberulous or pubescent at first, usually becoming glabrous. Flowers mostly axillary, (2-)5-10(-15) in a fascicle. Pedicel 2-l(-8) mm long, appressed puberulous, pubescent or glabrous. Flowers bisexual. Sepals five, 2-4 mm long, ovate or broadly lanceolate, acute or obtuse, outside appressed puberulous or less frequently glabrous, inside glabrous; often becoming thickened with age. Corolla glabrous, 3-6 mm long, tube 1-1.5 mm long; lobes five, median segment elliptic with rounded or less frequently acute apex, sometimes erose, lateral segments narrowly acute, irregularly cut, 1-2.5 mm long. Stamens five, glabrous; filaments (2-)2.5-4.5 mm long, anthers 1.25-2.25 mm long, lanceolate-sagittate. Staminodes five, (1.75-)2-3(-4) mm long, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, infolded, margin erose to laciniate or fimbriate, erect and applied to style, glabrous. Ovary short, ovoid or flat-topped, (4-)5(-8)-locular, strigose around base or glabrous; style (2.5-)3-7 mm long after anthesis, glabrous; style head simple. Fruit 1.2-2 cm long, ellipsoid or broadly oblong, apex and base rounded to truncate, smooth, glabrous; pericarp 2-4 mm thick, fleshy. Seed solitary, 0.85-1.5 cm long, ellipsoid, with a rounded or tapering apex; testa hard, smooth and shining, 0.2-0.5 mm thick; scar basi-ventral, 2-4 mm long, usually almost as broad as long; embryo vertical, with planoconvex cotyledons, radicle exserted ca. 1 mm; surrounded by a thin sheath of endosperm. An evergreen tree to 20 m high with a dense crown of dark green glossy foliage. The trunk is sometimes fluted. The bark is dark brown or blackish, finely fissured and often scaling in small square pieces. The inner bark is pale straw-coloured with some sticky white latex. Both trunk and branches may be heavily armed with simple or compound spines, the latter as much as 50 cm long. The scented greenish-yellow or cream-coloured flowers are produced mostly from the end of the wet season in Nov through the dry season until Apr in Mexico and Central America, with some sporadic flowering in Jul. The flowering period is the same in Colombia and Venezuela. The purple or blackish fruit ripens from Mar to May.
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Discussion
The absence from Honduras is probably explained by undercollecting. A tree of moist seasonal evergreen forest and lower montane forest, particularly common at 800-2000 m altitude. It is occasionally present at lower altitudes as, for example, in Venezuela. It is recorded from mixed oak-semievergreen forest in S Mexico.
The wood is used locally (Mexico) for tool handles, and the ripe fruit is edible. -
Common Names
Acoma piquant, alfiler, barba de tigre, bastard cherry, bebelama de la sierra, bolchiche, corpus espina, doncello, espina de crujo, espino bianco, espino mono, espuelón, huistempisque, ispundio, limoncillo, porcupine tree, ya-ntsin-tsu, Zapotillo bravo, Zapotillo de pena
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Objects
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Distribution
From Sinaloa and Jalisco through S Mexico and all Central America to Panama, excluding Honduras. Also present in N Colombia (Atlantico and Bolívar) and N Venezuela.
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