Nectandra oppositifolia Nees

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Nectandra oppositifolia Nees & Mart.

  • Type

    Type. Brazil. Without locality, Sello 5722 (lectotype (Meissner, 1864), B, see discussion; isolectotypes, BM n.v., GZU s.n., K).

  • Synonyms

    Nectandra oppositifolia var. amplifolia Nees, Nectandra oppositifolia var. angustifolia Nees & Mart., Nectandra oppositifolia var. attenuata Meisn., Nectandra schottii Meisn., Nectandra rigida var. canescens Mez, Nectandra labouriaviana Machado, Nectandra mollis subsp. oppositifolia (Nees & Mart.) Rohwer

  • Description

    Species Description - Trees to 20 m (but mostly collected from much smaller individuals). Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 2-4(-5) mm in diam., often ± flattened towards the nodes, the younger parts covered with a dense, reddish brown indument of strongly curled hairs of variable length, the shortest hairs persistent for some time and becoming greyish, then slowly wearing off; terminal buds ± lanceolate-elongate, 6.5-14 mm long, 1.54 mm thick, densely covered with dark reddish-brown hairs. Petioles 8-21 mm long, 1.1-3 mm thick, mostly flattened in young leaves, irregularly roundish or irregularly triangular below, ± ridged, usually canaliculate with ridges along the central furrow above, indument as on twigs. Leaves (sub)opposite (but see discussion), ± lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, rarely ± elliptic, widest 1/3 to 3/5 from the base, usually slightly below the middle, (7-)10-24(-32) cm long, (1.9-) 2.5-8.5(-14.5) cm wide, (2.1-)2.7-4.9(-6.1) times longer than wide, tip acuminate, usually tapering towards the acumen, base attenuate to acute, rarely obtuse, margin flat to distinctly inrolled, midrib and secondary veins level and slightly convex to impressed above, very prominent below, secondary veins (7-)8-11(-12) pairs, diverging at (35-)40-60(-65)0, in midlamina running at an angle of (15-)20-35(-45)° to the midrib, tertiary venation scalariform (to almost percurrent), level to slightly impressed above, distinctly raised to very prominent below, usually also finer veinlets clearly raised below. Indument variable (see discussion), consisting of pale or reddish, strongly curled, short hairs which form a dense cover on the intercostal area in young leaves above, and/or of longer, sparser, more erect, curled, reddish hairs, (sometimes slowly) glabrescent in older leaves, except for the base of the midrib; indument as a rule consisting of short, ± pale, ± curled, appressed to ascending hairs in the intercostal area below (Fig. 3C, D), and longer, more reddish and more erect, usually ± curled hairs which are denser on veins and veinlets, usually very dense in young leaves, in mature leaves usually very slowly becoming sparse (quickly becoming inconspicuous e.g., in the restinga ecotypes). Gland dots not visible to distinct, usually inconspicuous. Inflorescences in the axils of distal leaves, 1.1-2.3 mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of 1.3-4.5 mm diam., (2.5-) 3-12 cm long, reaching ca. 1/4 to 2/3 the length of the subtending leaf; peduncle (l-)1.3-4.5 (-5.5) cm long, i.e., 1/3 to 2/3 the length of the inflorescence (usually slightly less than 1/2), lateral branches (0-)2-6(-8) below terminal cyme, branched (1-)2-3(-4) times, indument very dense, consisting of short to moderately long, strongly curled, reddish hairs. Pedicels up to 3.2(-4.5) mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm thick. Flowers (8-)9-12 mm in diam., tepals ± elliptic, (2.8-)3.3-5(-5.5) mm long and (1.8-)2.6-4(-4.5) mm wide, papillosity dense on the inside surface, moderately thick and often relatively long (Fig. 1B). Stamens ca. 1-2.3 mm long, including a very short but still mostly distinct filament, anthers heavily papillose, long ovate to trullate, rarely only pentagonal, the sterile tip mostly longer than wide, acute or parabolic, rarely obtuse. Staminodes thickish, united with the inner stamens at the base. Pistil ca. 1.8-3 mm long, ovary ellipsoid to spherical, glabrous, style ca. as long as the ovary, papillose or glabrous. Receptacle deeply urceolate to almost spherical, glabrous inside (in Panama often with some hairs brous inside (in Panama often with some hairs inside). Berry ellipsoid, ca. 13-15 mm long, ca. 11 mm in diam., cupule deeply cup-shaped, sometimes slightly constricted at the margin, 7-11 mm high, 13-17 mm in diam., somewhat irregular, often with small lenticels, pedicel relatively slightly but increasingly thickened.

  • Discussion

    Uses. Nectandra oppositifolia yields a good wood.

    Nectandra oppositifolia appears as one of the better defined entities within the N. reticulata group. Most specimens can be easily recognized by their (sub)opposite leaves which usually have a more or less (strongly) curled, dense indument of short, more or less appressed, pale hairs and longer, erect, reddish hairs on the undersurface. In contrast to the other major entities within this group, N. discolor, N. laurel (but see p. 290) and N. reticulata, the inside of the receptacle is usually glabrous.

    The strange distribution pattern may be taken as an indication that the combination of characters identified here as N. oppositifolia may have originated twice within the notoriously variable N. reticulata group. Based on morphology, however, it is not possible to separate the collections from Colombia and Panama from the Brazilian ones. On the average the former tend to have larger leaves and larger flowers than the latter, but the ranges are widely overlapping. Furthermore, the variation within the Brazilian group is far greater than the difference between the two groups.

    The most strikingly different entity within Nectandra oppositifolia is an ecotype from the coastal restinga forests near Rio de Janeiro, which had been described as Nectandra labouriaviana. In some individuals of this group the indument on the leaves is so much reduced that on first glance they do not seem to be related to N. oppositifolia at all. The leaves are mostly subopposite, but more frequently than in other populations there are some branches with mainly alternate leaves. Perhaps these forms deserve recognition as a species, but I have found so many specimens to be intermediate to the central concept of N. oppositifolia that I am unable to define the limits of N. labouriaviana.

    Other populations are much less distinctive. Specimens from Minas Gerais usually have an inrolled leaf base, whereas this is very rare elsewhere. In some of them the longer hairs on the lower leaf surface are denser than usual, and the shorter ones are absent, but there are several intermediates.

    In Panama Nectandra oppositifolia seems to intergrade with N. reticulata. The indument on the leaves may become similar to local forms of N. reticulata, and the receptacle usually has some hairy patches inside (in N. reticulata it is densely hairy). The most striking intermediates between the two, however, come from Ecuador. In J. Jaramillo & Coello 3548 (AAU) and Palacios 2286 (HBG, MO) from the province of Napo the leaves are (sub)opposite, and the receptacles or young cupules, respectively, appear to be glabrous inside, like N. oppositifolia, but on the other hand the leaf base shows well developed reflexed lobes, and the indument on the lower leaf surface looks more like that in N. reticulata.

    Idrobo & Schultes 1240 (COL, U, US), from Amazonian Colombia, illustrates a possible connection to N. bartlettiana. Only some of its leaves are opposite, and in other characters the two species are similar. Merging them, however, would set off an avalanche of mergers, since N. bartlettiana is only slightly different from N. dasystyla, which borders on N. reticulata, which in turn intergrades with N. laurel and with N. discolor. Nectandra oppositifolia is also connected to N. amazonum, via egensis (see p. 244).

    As mentioned above, a few Brazilian specimens of Nectandra oppositifolia have most of their leaves alternate (Cervi2365, MO; Claussen 218, MO, NY, US; Duarte 4637, F). They are nevertheless placed here because in other characters they agree completely with the respective local forms of N. oppositifolia, and because duplicates of the same collection often have subopposite leaves. Hayes 905=1037 (NY) from Panama, also with largely alternate leaves, is too poor to decide whether it belongs here or not.

    In the original publication, Nees (1833a) did not cite a number for the type collection, but he indicated (in the title of the paper) that the material was preserved in Berlin. Later (1836) he cited the Sello collections 4428 and 5722. Only the latter collection is mentioned in the treatment of Meissner (1864), who thereby effectively lecto-typified the species.

    Mez (1889) placed Nectandra oppositifolia in synonymy under N. rigida, but in the type of that name the leaves are clearly alternate, the indument is different, and the receptacle is densely hairy inside (compare p. 296). Mez also published the name N. rigida var. canescens. Although this name is based on the Sello syntype of N. canescens Nees, it has to be treated as a new variety and not as a combination based on N. canescens, because Mez accepts N. canescens in the sense of its Martius syntype (p. 276) in the same publication. Since Mez cites the name N. schottii and its type collection under N. rigida var. canescens, it seems best to treat the latter name as a homotypic synonym of the former.

    Phenology: Flowers from December to April in Colombia and Panama, and from late February to May in Brazil. Fruits have been collected in May in Colombia, and from September to January in Brazil.

  • Common Names

    caidita, laurel negro, canela, Canela amarela, Canela amare-linha, Canela branca, Canela cheirosa, Canela da restinga, Canela ferrugem, Canela gamba, Canela garuva, Canela nhiogara, Canela tucano, Canela Vermelha, canelao, injuva Vermelha, louro

  • Distribution

    Disjunct, with its main range in east central to southern Brazil (Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul), and a second group in the Colombian Choco region and Panama. Grows mostly in somewhat open forest formations, like gallery forest (also seasonally inundated), coastal restinga, or secondary vegetation (capoeira), up to 1100 m elevation, but especially at the southern end of its range it is also found in primary rainforest.

    Panama Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Colombia South America| Bolívar Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Sul Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America|