Hedyosmum peruvianum Todzia

  • Authority

    Todzia, Carol A. 1988. Chloranthaceae: Hedyosmum. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 48: 1-138. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Chloranthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Hedyosmum peruvianum Todzia

  • Type

    Type. Peru. Huánuco: Prov. Huánuco, 45 km on rd. from Huánuco to Tingo María, trail on S side of Carpish tunnel, 2400 m, 3 Mar 1985 (pist), Todzia & Stein 2731 (holotype, TEX; isotypes, AAU, F, GH, K, MO, NY, US, USM).

  • Description

    Latin Diagnosis - Arbores dioeciae 12-30 m altae, caules glabri, laminae foliorum anguste ellipticae vel ellipticae acuminatae, venae subtus prominenter strigosae, nervis lateralibus utroque latere (15-)23-35 parallelis, vaginae furfuraceae longae, inflores-centiam staminatam non vidi, inflorescentiae pistillatae ex 1-3 cymulis et rhachidi brevi con-stantes, fasciculis 5-15-floribus, monas disper-salis purpurea.

    Species Description - Dioecious, aromatic trees 12-30 m tall, 10-40 cm dbh, with prop roots; bark smooth, tan, brown, or gray; wood white, turning orange when exposed to air; young stems quadrate, green, glabrous; older stems terete, with tubular leaf sheaths disintegrating and leaving encircling scars; internodes 2.7-7 cm long; nodes slightly swollen. Leaves narrowly elliptic to elliptic, (8-) 12-16.5(-21.9) x (3.2-)5.1-8.3(-9) cm, with acuminate serrated tips ().3-0.6 cm long, cuneate to obliquely cuneate at base, margins serrulate with teeth 2-3.5 mm distant, fleshy to subcoriaceous, smooth, dark green shiny above, light green dull beneath when fresh, drying chartaceous to coriaceous, smooth, dark slate brown above, light brown beneath; midveins impressed above, raised beneath, with dense white to brown branched trichomes or scales; lateral veins (15-)23-35, 37 m distant, straight, raised and strigose beneath, sometimes furcate, with obscure intersecondary veins extending one-half to three-fourths distance to margin; free portion of petioles scurfy, 0.6-1.5 cm long, narrowly winged; petiolar sheaths smooth to rugose, glabrous to scurfy, (2-)2.9-3.5(-3.9) x 0.7-1.5 cm at apex, slightly inflated to not inflated, slightly flared at apex, quadrangular, disintegrating with age, each distal margin with two fimbriate stipular processes 23 mm long, extending ca. 2 mm beyond free portion of petioles. Staminate inflorescences not seen. Pistillate inflorescences terminal or axillary, 2.4-4.6 cm long, composed of (l-)3 cymules; bracts subtending cymules narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 1-4 x ca. 1 mm, acute at apex, cuneate at base, entire along margin; cymules green to purplish green, globose, borne on short peduncles 0.4-1.5 cm long; terminal cymules 1-1.3 cm in diam., 10-15-flowered; lateral cymules 0.8-1 cm in diam., 5-8-flowered; subtending floral bracts completely fused into a bract matrix enclosing flowers completely except for exserted stigmas. Pistillate flowers trigonous, 3-5 x ca. 1.5 mm, with a pore on each face of the ovary; perianth lobes 1-1.5 mm long, united almost to apex with the small free lobes acute; stigmas white to purple, 1-2 mm long, linear, terete, with very short papillae. Fruiting cymules dark purple, globose to oblong, 0.8-1.5 cm in diam. Seeds trigonous, ca. 3 mm long with apical beak ca. 0.75 mm long, smooth.

  • Discussion

    Hedyosmum peruvianum is poorly represented in collections, in large part because it is a large canopy tree up to 30 m tall. The large leaves with (15-)23-35, hirsute, closely spaced, raised lateral veins, long scurfy leaf sheaths (2-)2.9-3.5(-3.9) cm long (contrasting sharply with its glabrous, smooth stems), and 10-15-flowered terminal cymules characterize this species. It is most closely related to H. cuatrecazanum from which it is distinguished by 1) leaves with serrulate (not crenate) margins with the teeth continuing to the apex; 2) lateral veins (15-)23-35 (not 11-16) that are raised and hirsute (not glabrous) beneath; 3) petiolar sheaths (2-)2.9-3.5(-3.9) cm long (not 0.7-2.7 cm long); 4) fimbriate stipular appendages (versus stipules lacking); and 5) terminal cymules with 10-15 flowers (versus 5-10 flowers).

    Although very different in pistillate inflorescence morphology, sterile collections of H. peruvianum and H. strigosum can be confused because both have large leaves with close secondary veins that are raised and hirsute beneath. Hedyosmum peruvianum can be distinguished by the lack of both raised hirsute intersecondary and tertiary veins, and laciniate leaf sheaths that are found in H. strigosum.

  • Common Names

    Artacopa

  • Distribution

    Central and northern Peru in wet montane forest at elevations of 1900-2600 m. Pistillate flowering material has been collected in March and April. One fruiting specimen has been collected in March.

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