Nectandra viburnoides Meisn.

Authority

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

Family

Lauraceae

Scientific Name

Nectandra viburnoides Meisn.

Type

Type. Brazil. Amazonas: ad oram septentrionalem flum. Amazonum, ad ostium Rio Negro, Aug 1851 (fl), Spruce 1679 (lectotype, K, here designated; isotypes, B, BM, G, G-DC, GH, NY, OXF, P).

Synonyms

Nectandra tarumanensis Coe-Teix.

Description

Species Description - Shrubs or trees to 25 m tall. Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 1.8-3.3 mm in diam., initially irregularly angular, mostly with sharp ridges, with a dense, light (brownish-)grey cover of short, appressed hairs (rarely a few of them reaching 0.3 mm), older twigs becoming roundish, the indument long persistent; terminal buds elongate to ovoid, 3-8 mm long and 1-3 mm thick, densely covered with straight, (moderately) short, appressed hairs. Petioles 7-23 mm long, 1.2-2.2 mm thick, ± roundish below, often ± ridged, deeply canaliculate above, indument ± as on twigs. Leaves alternate, ± elliptic, widest ± at the middle, 8-15(-18) cm long, 3.5-6(-8) cm wide, 1.8-3 times longer than wide, tip acuminate, base obtuse to broadly attenuate, margin flat or rarely slightly recurved, midrib deeply impressed above, prominent below, secondary veins ± impressed above (sometimes very slightly), occasionally very slightly convex, distinctly raised to prominent below, (4-)5-8(-9) pairs, diverging at40-65°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of (10-)20-35° to the midrib, tertiary venation predominantly or entirely scalariform, often rather inconspicuous, ± level above, level to slightly raised below. Indument consisting of ± short (occasionally up to 0.3 mm), straight, appressed hairs, moderately sparse to subglabrous from the beginning on both sides but, especially above, usually much denser on veins, in mature leaves still sparser to absent. Gland dots sometimes distinct on upper surface of young leaves, otherwise inconspicuous to invisible. Inflorescences in the axils of foliage leaves and/or in the axils of cataphylls, at the base of the new growth or below the terminal bud, 0.5-1.5 mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of 1.3-3.2 mm diam., (2.5-)5-12 cm long, reaching ca. 1/3 to almost the length of the closest foliage leaves (rarely slightly more); peduncle (1-)2-5 cm long, i.e., ca. 1/3-1/2 the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches 2-12 below the terminal cluster of cymes, branched (1-)2-3 times, the lower branchlets often not entirely cymose, indument on peduncle usually ± as on twigs, sometimes sparser, closer to the flowers usually becoming sparser and sometimes more erect. Pedicels 1.1-3.5(-4.5) mm long, 0.2-0.4 mm thick. Flowers 2.8-4(-5) mm in diam., tepals ± elliptic to broadly obovate, 1-1.8 mm long and 0.7-1.5 mm wide, covered with rather long, fine, hair-like papillae on the inside surface, on outer tepals mainly in a central line and a basal triangle, on inner ones covering the entire surface. Stamens ca. 0.4-0.6 mm long including a short filament of up to 0.2 mm length, anthers apically and on abaxial side covered with long papillae, in the two outer whorls ± transverse elliptic to obtrapeziform, in the third whorl ± obtrapeziform, in all three broadly rounded to slightly emarginate at the tip. Staminodes reaching ca. 1/2-3/4 the length of the stamens, slightly clavate, with long papillae on abaxial side, possibly slightly glandular on adaxial side, free. Pistil ca. 0.7-1.1 mm long, glabrous, ovary pear shaped to ellipsoid, style very short to absent. Receptacle almost flat, glabrous inside. Mature fruit unknown.

Discussion

Nectandra viburnoides is closely related to N. cissiflora, and it may be no more than the Amazonian ecotype of that species. It is, however, usually easy to separate N. viburnoides from N. cissiflora, based on a (nearly) constant combination of characters, which includes relatively slender twigs with short appressed hairs only, smaller, more elliptic leaves with on the average fewer lateral veins, a clearly impressed, concave midrib on the upper leaf surface, and inflorescences which are shorter than the leaves. The last two characters appear to be the most reliable, and therefore they are used to define the species here. Some specimens, however, do create problems. Krukoff 5481 (M, MO, U, US), from the Brazilian territory of Acre, looks in almost all of its characters like N. viburnoides, except that the midribs of its leaves are clearly convex. Conversely, in some populations of N. cissiflora, especially in the "surinamensis" group, the midrib of the leaves may become convex only in old leaves.

Common Names

louro

Distribution

Amazonian lowland forests on sandy soil, usually on terra firme along rivers. Flowers July to October.

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