Endlicheria sericea Nees

  • Authority

    Chanderbali, Andre S. 2004. (Lauraceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 91: 1-141. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Endlicheria sericea Nees

  • Type

    Type. Trinidad. Without locality and date (fl), Sieber 175 (holotype: B-n.v.; isotypes: BM-n.v., E, G, GH, L, LZ-n.v., MO, NY-n.v., P, W-n.v.).

  • Synonyms

    Goeppertia sericea var. opaca Meisn., Endlicheria guadaloupensis Mez, Goeppertia sericea Nees

  • Description

    Species Description - Trees to 20 m. Branchlets relatively stout, midway along flush 3-5 mm diam., distally weakly angular, soon terete, silvery to golden sericeous, the surface concealed by the indument cover, the hairs short, to 0.2 mm, straight, appressed; terminal buds plump, 3 × 2.5 mm, sericeous. Leaves alternate, widely and evenly spaced along current flush; petioles slender to robust, to 2 × 0.3 cm, semi-terete, the indument as on branchlets; laminae coriaceous to chartaceous, plane, ovate, 10-20 × 2-10 cm, the base obtuse, briefly decurrent, the apex acute, acuminate for up to 2 cm, the margins minutely recurved throughout; upper surface light olive-green, waxy, the midrib flat, sunken towards petiole, drying dark, conspicuous against the lamina, the secondaries immersed; tertiaries prominulous; lower surface densely sericeous, the hairs as on branchlets, uniformly distributed, all vein orders raised, their prominence decreasing with rank; secondary veins 4-5 per side, ± evenly spaced, slightly more distant around midlamina, or basal pairs closer, subopposite, all ascending at 50-60° (more obtuse around midlamina), arcuate, distal pairs loop-connected; tertiaries roughly horizontal, between secondaries once-forked to straight. Staminate inflorescences evenly spaced along current flush in the axils of foliage leaves or cataphylls, to 20 cm long with 15 lateral branches, branch orders 3-4, the highest order dichasial, lax, the flowers distant, the axes silvery to golden sericeous; bracts and bracteoles caducous by anthesis, lanceolate, the indument as on axes; pedicels terete, to 2 mm long, those supporting secondary flowers slightly shorter. Flowers rotate, to 4.5 mm diam., densely silvery sericeous outside; receptacle shallowly cyathiform, 2 × 4 mm, silvery pilose inside. Tepals fleshy, ovate, 1.6 × 1 mm, spreading, the androecium exserted at anthesis, the inner surface densely grey-tomentose, the margins and apex inside rusty papillose. Stamens of whorls I and II broadly stipitate, 0.6 mm tall, the anthers ovate, 0.4 × 0.3 mm, glabrous, the apex apiculate or truncate to emarginate, the connectives prolonged between, broad above, or level with the 2 locelli, these suborbiculate, introrse-latrorse, the filaments laminar, slightly narrower than anthers, basally grey-pilose; whorl III stamens sessile, 0.7 mm tall, the anthers oblong, 0.4 × 0.3 mm, erect, locelli 2, extrorse-latrorse, the filaments as broad as anthers, columnar, grey-pilose, the basal glands sessile, globose; whorl IV wanting; pistillode wanting. Pistillate inflorescence with indument and color as in staminate plants, but shorter and with fewer lateral branches, the flowers slightly deeper; stamens sterile, smaller; ovary glabrous; style slender, distinct from ovary; stigma tri-lobed, 0.3 mm diam. Fruits borne on stout claviform pedicels of up to 2 × 0.5 cm; cupules hemispherical, to 1 × 1.3 cm, glabrous outside, sericeous inside, the margins entire to undulate; drupes ellipsoid, to 2 × 1.3 cm.

  • Discussion

    Endlicheria sericea is distinguished from all other species where silvery to golden sericeous indument obscures the lower leaf surface by its rotate flowers with fleshy spreading tepals that bear a dense greyish tomentose cover on the inner surfaces. Stout claviform pedicels below hemispherical cupules and a sunken midrib in the lower lamina are also diagnostic.

    This species has been collected most frequently in the Lesser Antilles and the type is from Trinidad, but presence on the South American mainland is suggested by three collections from the Venezuelan Andes (viz., Steyermark & Davidse 116957, Steyermark et al 119895, and Aristeguieta 3012). All are fruiting specimens that are vegetatively indistinguishable from insular material and, moreover, show truncate anther apices in whorl I and II staminodes. Except for E. griseo-sericea with elliptic to obovate leaves and much larger cupules, and E. bracteolata with triplinerved leaves, all other species with densely sericeous lower leaf surfaces have definitely apiculate anthers.

    Endlicheria guadaloupensis is based on fruiting material from Guadeloupe (Duchassaing s.n.) that could not be located. From Mez’s (1889) descriptions and key to species it is apparent that he distinguished this species from E. sericea by ellipsoid rather than ovoid fruits and nonpersistence of tepals on cupule margins. Without floral correlates the specific value of these differences is questionable, and Kostermans (1937), who examined the type of E. guadaloupensis, considered it conspecific with that of E. sericea. His synonymy is maintained not only because the differences in fruit shape are rather slight, but also because tepal persistence appears to be temporary in E. sericea.

    The type material of E. sericea appears to be a mixed collection since the E, GH, and P duplicates bear staminate inflorescences, the MO duplicate pistillate inflorescences, and the G duplicate diseased inflorescences.

  • Common Names

    bois marble, laurier bord de mer, laurier pete, laurier gris, laurier gwa gwen, laurier marbre, sweetwood, sweetwood

  • Distribution

    Mediumsized trees from lower montane forests in the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and northern Andes in Venezuela at ca. 300-1350 m. Flowering throughout the year, fruits collected from February through April and in October.

    Dominica South America| Guatemala Central America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Táchira Venezuela South America|