Krameria tomentosa A.St.-Hil.

  • Authority

    Simpson, Beryl B. 1989. Krameriaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 49: 1-108. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Krameriaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Krameria tomentosa A.St.-Hil.

  • Type

    Type. Brazil. Minas Gerais (Barra do Caioa), St.-Hilaire 1442 (lectotype, P; isotype, F-fragment). No specimens or localities were cited when St.-Hilaire first described this species in 1828. A few months later, St.-Hilaire and Moquin-Tandon gave a second circumscription in their treatment of the Polygalaceae citing Minas Gerais as the locality. Because this second publication is much better known than the earlier article in the Annales of the Royal Society of Orleans, the authorities for this species have often been given, incorrectly, as both St.-Hilaire and Moquin-Tandon. The epithet tomentosa refers to the dense tomentum that covers almost all of the plant parts.

  • Synonyms

    Krameria ovata O.Berg, Krameria tomentosa var. elliptica Huber

  • Description

    Species Description - Erect, openly branched shrubs to 2 m tall; young branches green, increasingly tomentose distally; branches striate, tomentose or variably strigose. Leaves simple, broadly lanceolate to ovate, 20-35 mm long including the 3-7 mm petiole, 5-15 mm wide, entire, acute, mucronate, narrowing obliquely at base into petiole, slightly fleshy when fresh, usually densely tomentose on both surfaces with midvein and often two lateral veins visible beneath. Flowers borne in open lateral and terminal racemes with densely tomentose rachises; flowering stalks 2.5-5.0 mm long, each separated distally into peduncle and pedicel by a pair of linear bractlets up to 2 mm long and ca. 1 mm wide; peduncle and bractlets persisting if a flower aborts; buds asymmetrically ovoid with the ventral side expanded; sepals four, connivent, lanceolate to ovate, pink to deep crimson, turning white with age, tomentose to sericeous on the dorsal surfaces; uppermost sepal 7-9 mm long, 4-8 mm wide, broadly ovate, scarious along the margins; lowermost sepal 7-10 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, ovate, saccate; lateral sepals almost as wide as the upper and lowermost sepals; glandular petals rectangular in outline, 4.0-4.5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, deep pink to red, flaring outward from the ovary, covered dorsally with thin, elongate, vertically oriented blisters; petaloid petals (2-)3, clawed, 5-10 mm long, variably connate at the base for 0.10-0.35 mm, expanding distally into deltate blades to ca. 1 mm wide, red at the apex, green below; stamens (3-)4, didynamous, inserted at the base of the petaloid petals, free beyond point of insertion with the longer pair 5.0-5.4 mm long and the shorter pair 4.04.5 mm long, green, white, or cream-colored throughout; pollen 26-32 µm in diam., synorate; ovary ovoid, 2-3 mm long bearing a stout, glabrous, arcuate pink style 2-3 mm long. Fruits globose, 4.5-6.5 mm in diam. excluding spines, densely tomentose and bearing numerous, scattered, thin spines; individual spines red with yellow tips, 2.5-5.0 mm long and 0.20-0.25 mm in basal diam., densely glochidiate at the distal end and bearing a few, long, unicellular trichomes at the base. Chromosome number. Unknown.

  • Discussion

    As discussed in the treatment of Krameria ixine, there is little doubt that K. tomentosa and K. ixine are sister taxa. Yet, despite their sharing a large number of features, they differ in habitat, size and vestiture. Unlike K. ixine, K. tomentosa has a decided preference for sandy soils. Plants of the species, generally much larger than those of K. ixine, also usually have comparatively large, ovate leaves. In contrast to K. ixine which is variably strigose, plants of K. tomentosa tend to be densely tomentose and its pollen appears to be synorate whereas that of K. ixine is triporate. However, more specimens should be examined to determine the constancy of the differences in pollen morphology. The two species share a general open branching habit, overall flower and fruit morphology, and the tendency of the sepals to turn from pink to white with age. In Central Brazil (Mato Grosso) plants appear to have narrower leaves than those along the coast.

    It is odd that this species seems never to have been used medicinally whereas Krameria ixine was adopted into the local medicinal practices in Central America, northern South America and in the West Indies. Krameria argentea, which occurs to a more limited extent in central Brazil was also used by local people.

  • Common Names

    carrapicho de Cavalo

  • Distribution

    Found primarily in sandy areas and littoral dunes of eastern Brazil from Amazonas to Minas Gerais at elevations from sea level to 900 m. One specimen has been collected from eastern Bolivia. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year.

    Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Paraíba Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Piauí Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Norte Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America|