Rinorea melanodonta S.F.Blake

  • 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 melanodonta S.F.Blake

  • Type

    Type. Colombia. Santa Marta: Vic. Santa Marta, Masinga Vieja, 245 m, 3 Feb 1898-1899 (fl, fr), H. H. Smith 1756 (holotype, US 533722; isotypes, BM, BR, G, HH, K, L, LL, MICH, MO, NY, P, PENN, S, U, UC).

  • Description

    Species Description - Treelet 1-8 m tall. Branchlets golden to ferruginous strigose and pilosulous when young, glabrescent when older. Leaves apparently opposite; petioles 3-10 mm long, golden to ferruginous puberulous when young, glabrescent when older; stipules deciduous, narrowly ovate to deltoid, 4-6 x 1-1.25 mm, herbaceous, ferruginous strigose especially near the apex of the costa, veined, ciliolate, apex acute; lamina elliptic to ovate, tapering to the apex, usually also to the base, (2.5-)6.5-17 x (0.75-) 1.75-5.25 cm, coriaceous to papery, glabrous on both sides; costa puberulous above near the base, sparsely ferruginous strigulose beneath near the base or glabrescent; domatia wanting; lateral veins 9-12 pairs (acumen excluded); tertiary venation reticulate; base cuneate to tapering into the petiole; margin subcrenate to subserrate, thin walled, mucronulate; acumen 0.7-2.5 cm long, apex subacute, mucronulate. Inflorescences axillary, lateral and subterminal, solitary, racemose, 2-5.5 cm long; central axis golden to ferruginous puberulous; ‘pedicels’ 4-8 mm long, articulate at ½-1/3 from the base, ferruginous puberulous; bracts and bractlets ovate to deltoid, herbaceous, golden to ferruginous strigulose, margin ciliolate, apex subacute, sometimes mucronulate; bracts 1.75-2.25 x 1.25-2 mm; bractlets subopposite just below the articulation, 1.5-1.75 x 1.25-1.5 mm. Flower buds tolpoid to conical, subobtuse. Flowers drooping, white, with odor of slippery elms. Sepals subequal, ovate to deltoid acuminate, 2-3 x 1.5-2.25 mm, herbaceous to scarious, golden to ferruginous puberulous near the apex, 5-9 veined, becoming striate when dried, margin ciliolate, apex (subacute. Petals narrowly ovate, 5-5.75 x 1.5-2.25 mm, herbaceous, margin sparsely ciliolate, apex obtuse. Stamens 4-4.5 mm long; filaments free, 0.75-1 x 0.6-0.8 mm, glabrous; dorsal glands free, adnate to the filaments, narrowly deltoid to (ob)ovate, ca. 1 x (0.3-)0.6-0.8 mm, equaling or slightly longer than the filaments, carnose, slightly pilosulous to glabrescent, apex rounded, truncate or obtuse; anthers (narrowly) ovoid, 1.5-2 x (0.3-)0.5-0.75 mm, apex of thecae obtuse or apiculate, sometimes appendaged by a cusp, 0.2-0.5 x ca. 0.1 mm; connective outside narrowly deltoid, subacute, 1.25-1.75 x 0.25-0.5 mm, sparsely golden to ferruginous pilosulous or glabrescent; connective scales lateral as well as apical, ovate, 3.25-3.5 x ca. 1.5 mm, scarious, orange-brown, margin suberose, sometimes fringed at the base, apex subacute and suberose. Ovary subglobose, (sub)conical or (ob)pyriform, 1.5-2 x (0.75-) 1.25-1.5 mm, golden to ferruginous strigose; ovules two per placenta. Style filiform, erect or slightly curved, 2.5-3 x ca. 0.25 mm, exceeding the stamens by 0.25-0.5 mm, strigillose near the base; stigma truncate, obtuse or pulvinate. Capsule more or less symmetric, (ob)ovoid, acuminate, coriaceous to subligneous, golden to ferruginous pilosulous, veined; valves three, (sub)equal, (1.5-)2-3.75 x 0.5-1 cm. Seeds two per valve, globose, 5-6 mm in diam., ferruginous pilose.

  • Discussion

    The three closely related species in this subgroup are characterized by their leaves tapering to the apex. Rinorea melanodonta differs from R. brachythrix and R. endotricha by: (1) leaf bases usually also tapering to the base; (2) pedicels 4-8 mm long (versus 1-3 mm long); (3) filaments 0.75-1 mm long (versus 0.25-0.75 mm long); (4) anthers ca. 2 x as long as the filaments (versus ca. 3 x or more); and (5) connective scales 3-5 x as long as the filaments (versus 5-8 x).

    Dried branchlets of Rinorea brachythrix and R. endotricha are usually reddish to purplish with whitish to brownish callose lenticels; such lenticels are wanting in R. melanodonta.

    Holo- and isotype specimens of Rinorea melanodonta (H. H. Smith 1756) have been previously distributed as Alsodeia (=Rinorea) marginata, which resulted in many errors of citation by various authors.

    Melchior (1925b) mentioned Venezuela, Isles of Margarita and Trinidad incorrectly as localities of occurrence for Rinorea marginata instead of that of R. melanodonta. This error has been perpetuated by H. Pittier et al. in their Catologue of the Flora of Venezuela (1947). <

    Distribution and Ecology: Flowering specimens have been collected in February and during the period May-August; fruiting specimens during the periods December-February and May-August. Mainly in Venezuela and W Guiana, also in an isolated spot in northern Colombia. Its areas of distribution include the following forest refugia: (a) Venezuela, W Guiana (S of the lower Orinoco): Itamaca; (b) isolated localities along the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela: Santa Marta, Rancho Grande, Sucre; and (c) Trinidad. The species occurs as a small tree in evergreen tropical rain forests in lowlands and submountainous areas from 100 to 900 m. Specimens have been collected on calcareous slopes, in gullies and along rivers and creeks.

  • Distribution

    Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Falcón Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Nueva Esparta Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Yaracuy Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Guyana South America|