Rinorea laevigata (Sol. ex Ging.) Hekking

Authority

Hekking, W. H. A. 1988. violaceae Part l—Rinorea and Rinoreocarpus. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 46: i-ii, 1-208. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family

Violaceae

Scientific Name

Rinorea laevigata (Sol. ex Ging.) Hekking

Type

Type. Brazil.  Rio de Janeiro, 1768 (juv fr, Banks herb. s.n. (=Banks & Solander s.n.) (holotype, BM).

Synonyms

Physiphora laevigata Sol. ex Ging., Rinorea physiphora (Mart.) Kuntze, Rinorea physiphora Baill., Alsodeia physiphora Mart., Conohoria lobolobo A.St.-Hil., Conohoria castaneifolia A.St.-Hil., Alsodeia castaneifolia (A.St.-Hil.) Spreng., Alsodeia castaneifolia Spreng., Rinorea castaneifolia (A.St.-Hil.) Baill.

Description

Species Description - Tree or treelet, 3-15 m tall. Branchlets sparsely puberulous when young, glabrescent when older. Leaves alternate, congested near the apex of the branchlets; petioles (0.5-)1.5-5(-7) mm long, puberulous to glabrescent above, glabrous beneath; stipules deciduous, deltoid to ovate, (0.5-)1.25-1.75 x (0.5-)1 mm, herbaceous, strigulose along the costa, 5-7 veined, ciliolate, apex subacute, occasionally mucronulate; lamina narrowly elliptic to obovate, acuminate, 2-15 x 0.5-5 cm, herbaceous to papery, glabrous on both sides; costa puberulous above, glabrescent beneath; lateral veins (11-) 13-16(-20) pairs; tertiary venation reticulate; base rounded to cuneate, symmetric to oblique, slightly obtuse to rounded at the petiole; margin (sub)serrate to (sub)crenate, mucronulate; acumen hardly differentiated, apex subacute, mucronulate. Inflorescences axillary, lateral and subterminal, usually solitary, sometimes accompanied by a lateral one, congested near the apex of the branchlets, usually racemose, occasionally pseudoracemose, laxiflorous, (1-)2-12.5 x 0.75-1.25 cm; central axis puberulous; flowers solitary; cymules, if present, 1-3 flowered; pedicels 3.5-9 mm long, usually articulate below the middle, pilosulous; bracts and bractlets ovate to deltoid, herbaceous, sometimes sparsely strigulose along the apical part of the costa, ciliolate, apex acute, mucronulate; bracts 1-1.25 x 0.75-1 mm; bractlets subopposite to alternate, 0.5-1 x 0.5-0.75 mm. Flower buds ovoid to conical, subobtuse. Flowers creamy- to yellowish-white. Sepals subequal, ovate, 1-1.75 x 1-1.25 mm, herbaceous, glabrous or sparsely ferruginous pilose near the apex, 1-3(-5) veined, margin scarious, cili(ol)ate, apex subacute, mucronulate. Petals (narrowly) ovate, acuminate, 4.75-5 x (1.25-)1.5-2 mm, herbaceous, glabrous or appressed pilosulous at the apex, margin sometimes sparsely ciliolate, apex (sub)obtuse. Stamens subsessile, 3.5-4.25 mm long; filaments free or slightly connate at the base, 0.2-0.4 x 0.3 mm, glabrous or slightly pilosulous; dorsal glands free or more or less fused to a tube, 0.25-0.75 mm long (or high), 0.25 mm wide (if free), carnose, slightly pilosulous to glabrous; anthers narrowly ovoid, 1.25-2 x 0.50.75 mm, apex obtuse to subacute, often appendaged by two free or connate cusps, ca. 0.4 x ca. 0.05 mm; connective outside deltoid, obtuse, ca. 0.75 x ca. 0.25 mm, whitish villose especially near the apex; connective scales lateral as well as apical, narrowly ovate 3-3.75 x 1-1.25 mm, scarious, golden-brown, glabrous, margin erose near the base, apex obtuse and subentire. Ovary subglobose 0.75-1.75 x 0.5-1.25 mm, pilose near the apex; ovules one per placenta, each inserted near the middle of the placenta. Style filiform to subclavate, slightly sigmoid at the base when young, erect when older, 3-3.5 x 0.25-0.75 mm, exceeding the stamens by 0.25-0.75 mm; stigma truncate. Capsule sometimes asymmetric, (sub)orbicular, acuminate, subacute, usually subtended by subpersistent floral parts, coriaceous, sparsely pilose to glabrescent, obscurely veined, shining; valves three, subequal to unequal, 5-9.5 x 2-4 mm, with the style subpersistent at the apex of one of the valves. Seeds one per valve, subglobose, 2-5.5 mm in diam., glabrous, shining.

Discussion

Uses: The leaves become mucilaginous when cooked, and are eaten by the local Negro population of Rio de Janeiro. The leaves acquire a more agreeable taste if the shrubs are planted in good soil under the shade of trees in order to blanch them (St. Hilaire, 1824a, 1824b; Don, 1831).

Distribution and Ecology: Flowering specimens collected May-July as well as in September-December, fruiting specimens in January, March and May-December. It is widely spread over SE Brazil and along the Río Paraguay, including the following forest refugia: (a) Bahía-South; (b) Rio de Janeiro; (c) Araguia; (d) Río Paraguay. Along the Río Paraguay Rinorea laevigata occurs together with R. ovalifolia, which has a wide Amazonian distribution. It is usually found in the understory of local tropical rain forests of the coastal region but, more interiorly, also in deciduous forests, as well as in gallery forests along rivers.

Common Names

Lobo-lobo

Distribution

Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| Paraguay South America| Concepción Paraguay South America|