Nectandra spicata Meisn.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Nectandra spicata Meisn.

  • Type

    Syntypes. Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro, Riedel 474 (LE n.v., P, S); 477 (G, K, LE n.v., US); 482 (LE n.v., NY p.p., not G, P, NY p.p., US), see discussion.

  • Description

    Species Description - Small trees to 6 m (always?). Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 1.5-2.5 mm in diam., initially ± slightly angular/flattened, quickly becoming round, at first with short, appressed hairs, immediately below the terminal bud (moderately) sparse but very soon glabrescent; terminal buds mostly sprouting at anthesis, ca. 2.5-4.5 mm long and 0.8-1.2 mm thick, densely covered with short, appressed, pale brownish hairs. Petioles (7-)9-20 mm long, (0.8-)1.1-1.8 mm thick, ± roundish below, flat or slightly canaliculate above, usually irregularly ridged on both sides, indument consisting of short, ± appressed hairs, very sparse below, slightly denser above, glabrescent. Leaves alternate, elliptic to lanceolate-elliptic or ovate-elliptic, widest 2/5 from the base to almost at the middle, (7-)10-16.5(-20) cm long, (3-)3.5-7.5 cm wide, 1.9-3.2 times longer than wide, tip narrowed to a mostly short acumen, base attenuate to obtuse, margin flat to very narrowly bent down, midrib above slightly impressed but often also slightly convex, prominent below, secondary veins slightly convex above, often in a slight impression, slightly prominent below, secondary veins 5-7(-8) pairs, diverging at 35-60°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of 25-45° to the midrib, tertiary venation ± scalariform, ± level to slightly raised above, often rather inconspicuous, ± raised below. Indument consisting of short, ± appressed hairs, initially sparse on both sides, often slightly denser on veins, quickly glabrescent, sometimes some hairs on base of midrib persistent above, axils of at least some of the secondary veins nearly always bearded with relatively thick, ± straight, longer hairs (up to ca. 0.4 mm) below, spreading mainly from the veins but also from the intercostal area. Gland dots in young leves sometimes moderately distinct above, rarely even below, in mature leaves not visible. Inflorescences in the axils of foliage leaves, occasionally frondulose or (pseudo?)ter-minal, 0.8-1.5 mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of 1.2-2.5(-4.5) mm diam., 2.5-9 cm long, reaching ca. 1/4 to slightly more than the length of the subtending leaf; peduncle 1.4-5 cm long, reaching ca. 2/5-3/4 the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches 0-4 below the terminal cyme, branched 0-2 times, indument consisting of ± short, appressed to ascending hairs, extremely sparse to absent on peduncle, sparse to intermediate on receptacle. Pedicels 0.5-2 mm long, 1-1.5 mm thick. Flowers 8.5-14 mm in diam., tepals elliptic to oblong, 3-5 mm long and 2-3.3 mm wide, heavily papillose on the inside surface. Stamens ca. 1.6-1.9 mm long, anthers subsessile, heavily papillose, suborbicular to pentagonal in the first whorl with a broadly rounded to obtuse tip, ± pentagonal to trullate in the second whorl with an obtuse to acute or parabolic tip, roundish-rectangular, ± obtrapeziform or ± pentagonal in the third whorl with an obtuse to truncate tip. Staminodes reaching ca. 1/3 the length of the stamens, rather thick, pyramidal to slightly clavate, papillose on abaxial side, usually with a glandular patch in apical part on adaxial side, almost free or p.p. united with the adjacent glands. Pistil ca. 1.7 mm long, glabrous, ovary ovate to depressed spheroidal, gradually narrowed into the thick style which is ca. half as long as the ovary. Receptacle ± hemispherical, glabrous or with a few tightly appressed hairs inside. Berry elongate, ca. 18 mm long, ca. 9 mm in diam., cupule bowl-shaped, ca. 4-5 mm high and ca. 11-14 mm in diam., pedicel slightly but noticeably thickened.

  • Discussion

    Nectandra spicata is closely related to N. hihua and to N. leucantha. It differs from the former by large, apparently subsessile flowers, and from the latter by a relatively sparse, ± appressed indument on the flowers. With more material these characters may turn out to be insufficient to maintain specific status for N. spicata, but I decided to keep it separate here in order to draw attention to this rarely collected entity.

    In the original description Meissner cited three collections, Riedel 474, 477, and 482, which he had seen in the Herbarium Petropolitanum, now LE. Unfortunately, that institution did not answer a request to send the material on loan. The duplicates in other herbaria are very similar to each other. Riedel 482, however, is mixed with Nectandra reticulata in several herbaria. Therefore one of the other two syntypes should be selected as the lectotype.

  • Common Names

    Canela jacú

  • Distribution

    Poorly known, apparently only in the surroundings of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Flowering material has been collected in October, and between January and March, fruiting material in July and October.

    Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America|