Nectandra matthewsii Meisn.

  • Authority

    Rohwer, Jens G. 1993. Lauraceae: . Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 60: 1-332. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Nectandra matthewsii Meisn.

  • Type

    Type. Peru. San Martin: Near Moyobamba, Matthews 1431 (lectotype, NY, here designated; isotype, G, not BM, K, OXF, P, see discussion).

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrubs or trees, to 35 m tall, but already flowering when only ca. 1.5 m tall. Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 1.5-2(-2.8) mm in diam., initially deeply furrowed (the furrows often visible fora long time), indument consisting of short, appressed hairs, (moderately) dense below terminal bud, quickly becoming sparser so that most of the epidermis becomes visible, then ± slowly glabrescent; terminal buds ovoid to elongate, ca. 3-10 mm long and 1-2 mm thick, densely covered with ± short, ± tightly appressed hairs. Petioles 7.5-16 mm long, 0.8-2.4 mm thick, roundish below, slightly irregular, deeply canaliculate above, indument ± as on twigs, initially usually denser above and sparser below, ± quickly glabrescent. Leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong or lanceolate, widest ± at the middle, 9-21 cm long, 3-7.5 cm wide, 2.4-3.6 times longer than wide, tip acuminate, base attenuate to broadly obtuse, the very base (nearly) always attenuate due to the narrowly revolute margin, midrib narrowly impressed above, very prominent below, secondary veins ± slightly impressed above, prominent below, 5-9 pairs, diverging at (30-)35-50(-55)°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of 15-30° to the midrib, tertiary venation scalariform (rarely with a few, weak intersecondaries), often rather inconspicuous, ± level above, ± slightly raised below. Indument consisting of short, appressed hairs, plus sometimes a few longer hairs (occasionally reaching 0.5 mm on veins below), in young leaves sparse to glabrous above from the beginning, sometimes denser on veins, initially moderately dense to dense below, sparser on veins, mature leaves glabrous above or nearly so, indument usually still moderately dense to intermediate below but often very inconspicuous, nearly always covered with hyphae. Axils of secondary veins on lower leaf surface nearly always with inconspicuous tufts of short hairs, either erect or spreading from the veins, often surrounding a minute glabrous spot Gland dots in younger leaves (at 25x) distinct above, like pinpricks (see p. 14), in old leaves sometimes not visible. Inflorescences in the axils of foliage leaves, occasionally also (pseudo?)terminal, 0.6-1.2(-2) mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of 1.6-5 mm diam., 4.5-22 cm long, reaching ca. half to slightly more than the length of the subtending leaf; peduncle 2-8 cm long, i.e., ca. 1/6-1/2 the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches 4-10(-12) below the terminal cyme or cluster of cymes, branched 3-5 (-6) times, indument consisting of ± short, straight and appressed to almost erect and somewhat curled, usually whitish hairs, sparse to intermediate on peduncle, dense on flowers. Pedicels (almost 0-)l.2-4.5 mm long, 0.20.5 mm thick. Flowers ca. 2.5-4 mm in diam., tepals ± elliptic, ca. 1.2-1.6 mm long and ca. 0.9-1.3 mm wide, with minute papillae on the inside surface, not very dense, often only at the tip. Stamens ca. 0.6-0.8 mm long including a distinct filament of ca. 0.2-0.4 mm, anthers rather indistinctly papillose at the tip, in the two outer whorls roundish-trapeziform to suborbicular, minutely apiculate to truncate at the tip, rarely even slightly emarginate, in the third whorl ± rectangular to almost pentagonal, obtuse to truncate at the tip. Staminodes slightly clavate, reaching ca. 2/5-3/5 the length of the stamens, not papillose but with distinct oil cells and sometimes with a few hairs, apparently not glandular, for ca. 1/3-1/2 of their length united with the inner stamens. Pistil ca. 1.4-1.6 mm long, glabrous, ovary ellipsoid, style ca. half as long to almost as long as the ovary. Receptacular tube semi-ellipsoid, becoming almost ellipsoid by the united bases of stamens and staminodes, glabrous or covered with short, tightly appressed hairs inside. Only immature fruit known (but see below), with an ellipsoid berry (ca. 8 x 6 mm), and a bowlshaped, lenticellate cupule (in immature fruit ca. 6-7 mm in diam. and ca. 2-3 mm deep).

  • Discussion

    Nectandra matthewsii is recognized by its very small flowers with a dense, usually whitish indument, by the indument on the lower leaf surface, which is at least moderately dense but often rather inconspicuous, and by the almost invariable presence of short, ± erect hairs in the axils of at least the basal secondary veins. It is somewhat Ocotea-like, in that the papillosity of its flowers is largely reduced, and the position of the pollen sacs varies from a shallow arc to almost in two pairs, one above the other.

    Nectandra matthewsii is closely related to N. longifolia, from which it can be separated by a sparser indument on the twigs and by smaller stamens, as well as by a generally more delicate aspect. In contrast to N. longifolia, the flowers are usually not glomerate during anthesis, although they are often aggregated in bud. The cymes may still be dense glomerules as in N. longifolia when only the first few flowers are open (as in the type collection), but apparently their internodes elongate during anthesis.

    Intermediates between Nectandra matthewsii and N. longifolia do occur, but they are rare compared to the typical forms. The Colombian collections cited above are closer to N. matthewsii in overall appearance, but they also show characters of N. longifolia. In Cuatrecasas 10927, Soejarto 1272, and in one of the duplicates of Cuatrecasas 11360 the indument on the twigs is denser than in N. matthewsii, and in the first collection the flowers appear somewhat glomerate and show slightly larger stamens, like N. longifolia. In the second duplicate of Cuatrecasas 11360, however, the indument on the twigs is sparse like N. matthewsii, and the flower parts of this collection appear slightly less robust. Therefore, this collection would be placed in N. matthewsii with little hesitation, whereas Cuatrecasas 10927 would be placed in N. longifolia, but the two obviously belong to the same population. Another intermediate population, represented by Cerdn & Cerdn 4706 and Neill 6904, is found in the Ecuadorean province Napo. On first glance these specimens look exactly like N. matthewsii, except that some of their leaves are much narrower (up to 6.5 times longer than wide). Upon closer inspection, however, they do not only show a denser and more persistent indument on the twigs, but in the Neill collection stamen size is also rather in the range of N. longifolia. In contrast to that species, however, the flowers are not glomerate, and the gland dots on the leaves are much finer if visible at all. Neill 6904 and Cuatrecasas 10927 both include flowers as well as immature fruits, and in both collections the fruits are similar to those of N. longifolia, except that they are smaller and more delicate, like all other parts of these plants.

    Nectandra matthewsii and N. longifolia have been mixed even in the type collection. Under the same collection number, Matthews 1431, the former is found in G and NY, whereas the latter is found in BM, K, OXF, and P. The original description agrees slightly better with the former part, and therefore I selected the specimen in Meissner’s private herbarium, now NY, as the lectotype.

    Earlier (Rohwer, 1986), I had placed Nectandra matthewsii in synonymy with the widespread and variable N. membranacea. In spite of its variability, however, the latter species never has such a dense indument on the lower leaf surface, and never any erect hairs in the axils of the secondary veins. Its pollen sacs are more clearly collateral, and the staminodes are less distinctly united.

  • Common Names

    Jigua, moena, moena negra, palometa micuna, roble amarillo de río, roble cunchi

  • Distribution

    Colombia (see discussion), Ecuador and Peru, usually along rivers, between 200 and 800 m altitude. Flowers from April to July. Material with young fruits has been collected in August and December.

    Colombia South America| Putumayo Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Pastaza Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Junín Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Pasco Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America|