Endlicheria bracteolata (Meisn.) C.K.Allen
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Authority
Chanderbali, Andre S. 2004.
(Lauraceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 91: 1-141. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Venezuela. Amazonas: San Carlos, Río Negro, 1853-4 (fl [male], juv), Spruce 3092 (syntypes: B-n.v., BM-n.v., E, G, GH, L, NY, OXF-n.v., P-n.v., U, W).
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Synonyms
Goeppertia sericea var. bracteolata Meisn.
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Description
Species Description - Trees to 15 m. Branchlets slender, midway along flush 3-4 mm diam., distally weakly angular, soon terete, silvery to golden sericeous, the surface concealed by the indument cover, the hairs rather short, to 0.15 mm, straight, closely appressed to the surface; terminal buds plump, 3 × 3 mm, sericeous. Leaves alternate, widely and evenly spaced along current flush; petioles slender, to 1.5 × 0.3 cm, semi-terete, the indument as on branchlets; laminae chartaceous to coriaceous, plane, ovate, 10-20 × 5-8 cm, the base obtuse to rounded, briefly decurrent, the apex acute, acuminate for up to 2 cm, the margins minutely recurved throughout; upper surface light green to olive-brown, the midrib immersed, secondary and tertiary veins prominulous; lower surface densely silvery to golden sericeous, the hairs uniformly distributed, all vein orders raised, their prominence decreasing with rank; secondary veins 2-4 per side, the lowermost pair(s) subopposite shortly above the leaf base, ascending at 50-60°, arcuate, distal pairs loop-connected; tertiaries roughly horizontal, between secondaries straight or forked. Staminate inflorescences all evenly spaced along leafless flushes in the axils of cataphylls, or the distal ones in the axes of foliage leaves, to 10 cm long with 10 lateral branches, branch orders 3-4, the highest order dichasial, lax, the flowers distant, the axes golden sericeous; bracts and bracteoles caducous by anthesis, lanceolate, sericeous; pedicels terete, to 1 mm long, those supporting secondary flowers slightly shorter. Flowers infundibuliform, 2 mm diam., golden sericeous outside; receptacle infundibuliform, 1 × 1 mm, densely silvery pilose inside. Tepals chartaceous, ovate to ligulate, 1 × 0.5 mm (the inner whorl slightly broader), ascending, surrounding androecium at anthesis, the inner surface moderately silvery tomentose, the margins minutely papillose. Stamens of whorls I and II stipitate, 0.8 mm tall, the anthers depressed-elliptic to ovate, 0.5 × 0.5 mm, glabrous, the apex rounded to truncate, the connectives broad above the 2 locelli, these suborbiculate, introrse-latrorse, the filaments laminar, narrower than anthers, densely silvery pilose; whorl III stamens sessile, 0.8 mm tall, the anthers oblong, 0.4 × 0.3 mm, erect, locelli 2, extrorse-latrorse, the filaments broader than anthers, laminar, densely silvery pilose, the basal glands sessile, globose, apiculate; whorl IV staminodial; pistillode filiform. Pistillate inflorescence with indument and color as in staminate plants, but shorter and with fewer lateral branches, the flowers campanulate; stamens sterile, smaller; ovary glabrous; style slender, distinct from ovary; stigma tri-lobed, 0.3 mm diam. Fruits borne on narrowly claviform pedicels of up to 0.5 × 0.2 cm; cupules hemispherical, to 0.5 × 0.7 cm, glabrous outside, sericeous inside, the margins entire; drupes ellipsoid, to 1 × 0.5 cm.
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Discussion
Endlicheria bracteolata is easily distinguished from other species with sericeous indument by its triplinerved leaves. Occasional production of a second pair of basal secondaries shortly above the leaf base results in quintuplinervation similar to that frequent in E. sericea. Indeed, Meissner (1864) considered this species a mere variety of E. sericea, but rotate flowers in the latter contrasting infundibuliform flowers with only ascending tepals in E. bracteolata supports Allen’s (1964) elevation to specific status. The inflorescence bracteoles to which the specific epithet alludes are present on the type material and other specimens with immature inflorescences, but fall by the onset of anthesis. Specimens from Valle and Antioquia in Colombia have slightly darker indument and tend to have larger leaves but otherwise cannot be distinguished from material east of the Andes.
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Common Names
Jigua, dimukuima, laurel bianco, laurel plateado, laurel rebalsero, Cèdre, louro cedinha
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Distribution
Mediumsized trees from seasonally inundated lowland and lower montane forests (50-1000 m) throughout northern South America. Flowers and fruits available year round.
Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Essequibo Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America|