Nectandra puberula (Schott) Nees
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Authority
Rohwer, Jens G. 1993. Lauraceae:
. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 60: 1-332. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Synonyms
Persea puberula Schott, Nectandra amara Meisn., Nectandra amara var. australis Meisn., Nectandra amara var. chartacea Meisn., Nectandra puberula var. australis Peckolt, Nectandra puberula var. chartacea Meisn., Nectandra bahiana Coe-Teix.
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Description
Species Description - Trees to 20 m. Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud l-2.8(-3.5) mm in diam., initially ± angular, with a ± dense cover of predominantly very short (rarely a few up to 0.3 mm long), ± straight to ± curled, ± ascending to erect hairs, ± persistent for a long time (sometimes inconspicuous), older twigs becoming terete, indument becoming grey and felted, then slowly wearing off; terminal buds (ovate to) elongate, (3-)4-9(-13) mm long, 1-2(-4) mm thick, densely covered with short (up to 0.2 mm), straight to ± curled, appressed to ascending hairs. Petioles (5-)6-13(-16) mm long, 0.8-1.6(-1.9) mm thick, irregularly roundish below, mostly longitudinally ridged, flat to ± ridged or mostly slightly canaliculate above, indument ± as on twigs, often slightly longer and denser above, ± persistent, slowly wearing off. Leaves alternate, ± lanceolate, widest ± at the middle (2/5-3/5 from the base), (3.8-)5.5-15 (-20) cm long, (1.4-)1.7-4.5(-5.5) cm wide, (2.3-)2.8-4.8(-5.3) times longer than wide, tip acuminate or tapering towards a sometimes indistinct acumen, base attenuate to acute, margin flat to narrowly revolute, not uncommonly ending parallel to the petiole, midrib deeply impressed to ± level above, rarely slightly convex, prominent below, secondary veins slightly impressed to level above, sometimes slightly convex, distinctly raised to prominent below, 4-7(-10) pairs, diverging at (25-)30-55(-65)°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of (10-)15-30(-40)0 to the midrib, tertiary venation ± scalariform, often very indistinct, slightly raised to ± level above, raised to almost level below. Indument consisting of ± short hairs (<0.3 mm, rarely a few longer ones below) of variable structure and orientation, ± straight and appressed to ± curled and ± erect (Fig. 3A, B), initially moderately dense to sparse above, moderately dense to moderately sparse below, in mature leaves becoming much sparser or glabrescent above, staying moderately dense or becoming very sparse below, axils of the secondary veins usually with longer (up to 0.5 mm), ± erect, straight to curled hairs, sometimes around a glabrous spot. Gland dots in young leaves sometimes distinct above, otherwise scarcely or not at all visible. Inflorescences in the axils of distal leaves, rarely (pseudo?)terminal, 0.5-1.2(-2) mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of (0.8-)l.l-2.3(-3.5) mm diam., (2-)3-11(-15) cm long, reaching ca. (1/4-) 1/2 to slightly more than the length of the subtending leaf; peduncle (0.9-)1.5-6.5 cm long, i.e., ca. 1/3 to 2/3.the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches (0-)2-6(-10) below the terminal cyme or cluster of cymes, branched (0-)1-3 times, indument ± as on twigs. Pedicels 1.5-5.5 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm thick. Flowers 4.5-7(-10) mm in diam., tepals ± elliptic to elongate-obovate, 1.8-3.7(-4.5) mm long and 1-2.3 mm wide, distinctly papillose on the inside surface. Stamens ca. 0.8-1.1(-1.4) mm long including the short filament of 0.1-0.3 mm, anthers distinctly papillose, in the first whorl ± roundish-pentagonal with an obtuse to rounded tip, in the second whorl (pentagonal to) ± trullate with an acute to parabolic tip, in the third whorl ± obtrapeziform to obovate with a truncate to ± rounded tip. Staminodes slightly clavate and curved outwards, papillose on abaxial side, glandular on adaxial side, almost free. Pistil ca. 1.2-1.7 mm long, glabrous, ovary ellipsoid to depressed spheroidal, style ca. half as long to ± as long as the ovary. Receptacle ± hemispherical to deeply cup-shaped, glabrous or with some tightly appressed hairs inside. Only immature fruit known, berry ellipsoid, ca. 14 mm long, ca. 8 mm in diam., cupule ± trumpet-shaped, with a shallow bowl of ca. 2 mm height and 6-7 mm diam. on top of an increasingly thickened pedicel.
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Discussion
Uses. Nectandra puberula is reported to be the source of good lumber.
The most characteristic feature of Nectandra puberula is the dense, short indument on the young twigs. Other characters include the relatively small, lanceolate leaves, the fine, ± puberulous pubescence on the young leaves, and the relatively small Pomatium-type anthers.In the northern and southern parts of its range (Bahia and Santa Catarina, respectively), Nectandra puberula has a narrowly revolute leaf base, with the inrolled part usually ending parallel to the petiole. Towards the center of its range, however, the leaf base becomes less and less recurved, until it is ± flat near Rio de Janeiro. A similar geographically directed variation is also found in other characters. The revolute leaf base seems to be correlated with a ± distinctly impressed midrib in the dry leaves, but when the leaf base is flat, the midrib can be convex, flat, or likewise impressed. The indument of the young leaves tends to be most characteristic in the central part of the range of N. puberula, in that the hairs are ± curled, ± erect, and ± moderately dense (but still very short!). Towards the marginal parts of the range the indument mostly becomes sparser and more appressed, but sparsely hairy forms do also occur in the central part, and vice versa.Nectandra puberula is closely related to N. lanceolata and to N. venulosa, both of which differ mainly in their indument (see pp. 224, 227), to N. barbellata (see p. 225), differing in the arrangement of the inflorescences and in the structure of the anthers, and to N. warmingii, which differs by larger stamens and different proportions within the flower (see p. 220). The northern forms of N. puberula look more similar to N. warmingii than to those forms that grow near Rio de Janeiro, yet they are linked to the latter by a continuous series of intermediates. Nectandra warmingii, on the other hand, appears as a slightly but constantly different entity in the material available.Glaziou 18453 (NY, US) may represent yet another species in this complex. It differs from all other collections by relatively broad, reflexed lobes at the leaf base, and by a dense indument of strongly curled, distinctly reddish hairs along the midrib and the secondary veins on the lower leaf surface.Friderichs 30700 (B), from Rio Grande do Sul, resembles Nectandra warmingii in having rather wide leaves, some of them more than 6 cm wide. It differs from that species by a long style. Its inflorescence is obviously abnormal.Nectandra amara had to be lectotypified in the sense of one of the Gardner collections. Of the other syntypes, Peckolt 259 has clearly larger anthers, and may represent N. warmingii. Martius 1307 is at the same time a syntype of the variety chartacea, and the unnumbered Claussen collection cannot be identified with certainty. Among the two remaining collections, Gardner 613 and 614, the choice was relatively arbitrary.In Nectandra amara var. chartacea, Riedel 480 cannot be used as a lectotype because three different species are found under this number, and Martius 1307 has been excluded because it is also a syntype of the typical variety. Of the remaining collections, C. K. Allen (ined.?) annotated Schott 5609 as the lectotype, and I see no reason to reject this choice. -
Common Names
canela, Canela amarela, Canela anta, Canela branca, Canela cecho, Canela cheirosa, Canela de várzea, Canela gigante, Canela preta, Canela sassafras, louro sassafras
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Distribution
Forests and forest margins in central to southern Brazil, from sea level to 1200 m altitude, rarely also in savanna vegetation (cerrado) or secondary vegetation (capoeira). Flowers mainly from February to May, occasionally also at other times. I have not seen mature fruit.
Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America|