Mouriri grandiflora DC.

  • Authority

    Morley, Thomas. 1976. Melastomataceae tribe Memecyleae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 15: 1-295. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Melastomataceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mouriri grandiflora DC.

  • Type

    Type. Brazil: Para:  habitat in sylvis ad fl. Amasonum passim. In flower, Aug 1819, K. F. P. von Martius s n (holotype, M; isotypes, BR, G-DC, K, L).

  • Synonyms

    Mouriri macrophylla Willd. ex Cham., Mouriri princeps Naudin

  • Description

    Description - Usually a small tree, often shrubby, often leaning with weak hanging branches and somewhat vine-like, sometimes to ca 30 m high with a trunk to 30 cm or more in diam, glabrous except for the inflorescence; young twigs terete to narrowly 4-winged; bark maroon to brownish, becoming gray or whitish, with many small fissures; wood very hard. Petioles 2.0-5.0(-6.0) mm long; blades 11.0-30.8 cm long, 4.6-11.3 cm wide, ovate-oblong to elliptic-oblong to elliptic-ovate or seldom ovate, acuminate or abruptly so to long acute at the apex, cordate to rounded or rarely acute with an included angle of 90° at base; midrib flat to low-rounded above, prominent and rounded below or rarely becoming 2-angled distally; lateral nerves obscurely to plainly visible above and below when dry. Midrib xylem tubular; stomatal crypts none or present and Type I, then averaging in a leaf ca 25-31 µ in diam, (5-) 17-21 µ high, (rare-)38-100 per sq mm (extremes 15-55 µ diam, 15-23 µ high, 38-100 per sq mm), shallow transitional forms often present; upper epidermis varying irregularly from one to two cells thick in the same leaf, mucilaginous walls common in the inner of the doubled cells, occasional in the single cells; hypodermis none; free stone cells present only in base of petiole or scattered along midvein for up to about half its length; terminal sclereids appearing stellate from surface view but usually consisting of a short columnar segment which produces few to several long narrow radiating arms above and below, the arms approaching the epidermises, rarely short, often fewer above than below, the central bodies mostly 1-2 times as long as wide, usually consisting of the columnar segment, sometimes a more usual central body present. Inflorescences on trunk, branches, or twigs, or in the lower leaf axils, 1-several per side, each l-5(-9-)-flowered, 2.0-10.0(-l 3.2) mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 1-3 internodes in that length; bracts 0.8-2.5 mm long, triangular, acute to ovate-acuminate at apex, mostly deciduous by anthesis; axes, bracts, and pedicels glabrous to minutely puberulent. True pedicels (1.0-)1.5-5.0(-7.0) mm long; calyx greenish to yellow or cream; calyx including inferior ovary (8.0-)9.0-12.0(-17.0) mm long, obconic, glabrous to puberulent; free hypanthium 4.0-7.0 mm long; calyx lobes before anthesis triangular to rounded, 0.6-2.5(-3.5) mm long, 1.6-3.6 mm wide, (2.0-)2.5-4.0(-5.0) mm long when measured from stamen attachment, the calyx splitting between the lobes at anthesis a distance of (1.3-)1.6-3.0 mm. Petals white to rose or yellow, often whitish with the midvein red on the outer surface, sometimes yellow with orange spots, roundish to squarish to rhombic, apiculate at apex, usually with a short claw at base, erose on the margins, 8.0-11.0 mm long, 7.0-9.2 mm wide. Filaments white and perhaps pinkish or yellowish, the antesepalous ones 7.0-12.0 mm long, the antepetalous ones 9.0-17.0 mm long; anthers yellow to pink or light brown, 4.2-8.0 mm long, sporangia 43-1.1 mm long, dehiscing by apical pores; gland 0.6-1.1 mm long, 2.7-4.4 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 0.5-1.0 mm long. Ovary 4- or 5-locular; ovules axile-basal, produced only outwardly from each placenta, 15-19 in all; style curved, rose to white, 16.0-24.0 mm long. Fruit edible, yellow to orange or reddish, subglobose to depressed-globose, crowned with the remains of the calyx, ca 14-18 mm high excluding calyx and 14-19 mm thick when dry, estimated 17-23 mm high and 17-24 mm thick when fresh. Seeds 1-5, ca 8.0-9.0 mm high and thick, brown and shiny except for the basal hilum, flattened on the contact faces when more than one, the hilum flattish, ca 4.3-4.7 mm in diam.

  • Discussion

    fruits used for fishing by Guaica Indians. a timber tree, good furniture wood, used for arrow points by Indians. use for fishing rods mentioned. fruits used to poison fish.

    This is one of the most widespread and variable species of Mouriri. Among the different varying characters the ones most clearly associated with distribution are those of the lower epidermis, namely the presence or absence of stomatal crypts, and of a papillose epidermal surface as opposed to nonpapillose.

    Stomatal crypts are most often present in the east and northeast part of the range, and are almost completely lacking along the western periphery ; a gradient appears to be present from one region to the other, although with a relatively sharp break between Pará and Amazonas in Brazil. Pieces of leaves of 46 collections were cleared, stained, and mounted for microscopic examination. In addition, leaves of 41 more collections were examined under high magnification without clearing and staining. The clearing and staining process is infallible for the piece examined, but tedious and time consuming. Examination without such methods is fairly reliable; it was checked against microscope preparations in 26 cases and all agreed except two in which the microscope revealed stomatal crypts which were not seen with ordinary high magnification. One objection to the clearing and staining method is that only a single leaf is ordinarily sampled, which does not allow for the possibility that crypts might be present on some leaves and not on others; however, experience has shown the latter to be a very unlikely event. Occasionally, crypts are present in one part of a leaf and absent in another, but that is uncommon.

    Therefore it seems significant that in the three Guianas 15 of 15 microscope preparations showed crypts to be present, and crypts were seen in four more without microscope examination. In Amapá, Brazil, the microscope showed two collections without crypts, while other observations yielded five with and four without. In Pará the microscope revealed nine collections with crypts and one without; twelve with and two without were found in non-microscopic examinations. The one collection from extreme northern Goias, examined microscopically, had crypts. In Amazonas, on the other hand, the microscope showed only one with crypts and six without, while other observations gave a count of four with and three without. In Acre and in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela the microscope showed one preparation with crypts and ten without; other observations indicated two with and two without crypts.

    In a very general way although with a major contradiction this distribution agrees with the expectation that crypts would be developed in drier areas as a mechanism to reduce water loss. The rainfall map of Reinke (1962) as adapted in Haffer (1969, 1974) and Prance (1973) shows a broad relatively dry zone across the western half of Pará and extreme eastern Amazonas, grading to the east and west into moister zones, and extending northwest into Venezuela, touching western Guyana. The dry region is east of the center of Amazonia, and crypts are most common in the east; thus the agreement. However, the contradiction lies in the prevalence of crypts in Surinam and French Guiana, from whence carne most of the Guiana collections, and in Amapá and eastern Pará, all part of a wet region. It appears as if the crypts originally developed in the dry zone and spread through introgression into adjacent moister areas; expansion and contraction of the dry area with climatic change (Haffer, 1969) may have played a part. The similarity of this distribution pattern to the dines of M. vernicosa and M. guianensis, which focus on French Guiana, is suggestive, but the situations do not seem to be quite the same, although some of the same factors may be involved. The occurrence of two dry seasons in much of the Guianas could be a causal factor; however, the total rainfall of most of the area is relatively high. Perhaps a more complete study, with a more detailed rainfall map, will help elucidate the matter.

    A papillose under surface of the leaf, readily observed without clearing and staining, has been found only in plants from the western part of the range. Six collections exhibit it: Martius s n from Caquetá and Schultes & Black 8379 and 8526 from Amazonas in Colombia; Asplund 14365 and Williams 8125 from Loreto, Peru; and Ducke sn, RB 21660, from western Amazonas, Brazil. Of these collections, only Schultes & Black 8526 has stomatal crypts. I have been unable to find other characters which correlate with the papillose epidermis. Its significance is difficult to guess; one might think it another device to reduce water loss, but it appears in a zone of high rainfall.

    Floral characters appear to present little variation associated with distribution. Data at present suggest that the calyx lobes are shorter (0.6-1.2 mm long) in the three Guianas than elsewhere (0.9-2.0 mm excepting Amazonas) and that in parts of Amazonas they become unusually long (up to 3.0 mm). One collection from Japurá, Ducke s n, MG 6813, has unusually great elongation of the infloresence and calyx lobes: the total peduncle length to base of the farthest pedicel is from 19 to 31 mm instead of the normal maximum of about 13 mm, and the calyx lobes are 3.5 mm long. In addition, the foliar terminal sclereids have unusually short arms. However, all else seems normal for the species, so for the present this plant is regarded as an aberrant form and not another taxon.

    It was reported under the topic of The Species that one collection of Ducke, RB 21664, is more or less intermediate between M. grandiflora and M. guianensis, and may be a hybrid between the two. Such a hybrid would be an intersectional cross, not ordinarily to be expected, although the two sections are not far apart. However, the nature of this Ducke collection is very uncertain. Its leaves in size and shape fall within the overlapping ranges of the two species, but are a bit more like those of M. grandiflora than those of M. guianensis in appearance. The plant resembles M. grandiflora in its upper leaf epidermis, lack of a hypodermis, placentation form, and seed form; it is like Af. guianensis in the splitting distance between calyx lobes and in fruit size and shape.

    The anthers are intermediate between the two species; flower and calyx size are at or just below the bottom of M. grandiflora's range; the stomatal crypts approach Type III and resemble those of neither species; the pollen appears to be 30-50% well-formed. If not a new species or some kind of hybrid the plant would have to be considered an abberrant member of M. grandiflora.

    Addendum: two recent collections bear notice. Short papillae occur on the under surface of the leaf in Agostini 1543 from Venezuela (Amazonas: lower Manapiare R. and the Ventuari R. above the mouth of the Manapiare, fl & fr, 29-31 Mar 1973, US). And the collection Simpson & Schunke 744 from Peru (Loreto: Maynas: along trail between Santa Maria de Nanay and Santa Rosa, fr, 26 Feb 1968, US) is atypical in having leaves with acute bases (80-90° included angle) and petioles 6-7 mm long. Its fruits, however, are fairly typical for M. grandiflora. A further evaluation must await flowering material.

  • Common Names

    Molokoto kahi, derello, Manniballi, mamuri-balli, Spikrihoedoe, komotorie, komotoriballi oenilokodikoro, kimoto, wokopopi, wakopopi, pauwies mofo, bois-fleche, taki-taki, chipayeopo, Topi, graine-coumarou, Charachuela, chanchulla, lancacaspi, dauicu, guajaray, remelo de cachorro, arpoeira, tucunaré mereja , amaron, Miraúba, mereuba, Camutim, Camutim

  • Distribution

    From the upper Orinoco drainage in Colombia and Venezuela through the three Guianas, through the Amazon drainage in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, and in Acre, Amazonas, Pará, the north tip of Goiás, and Amapá of Brazil. Plants of moist primary or secondary forests, above or below flood level, commonly near streams, sometimes at edges of savannas, at elevations up to 400 m.

    Vichada Colombia South America| Caquetá Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Loreto Peru South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America|