Cecropia hispidissima Cuatrec.

  • Authority

    Berg, Cornelius C. & Franco Rosselli, Pilar. 2005. Cecropia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 94: 1--230. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Urticaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cecropia hispidissima Cuatrec.

  • Type

    Type. Colombia. Valle: Río San Juan, below Queremal, 27 Mar 1947 ([female]), Cuatrecasas 23986 (holotype: US; isotype: F).

  • Description

    Species Description - Tree, to 10(-25) m tall, often with a short trunk. Leafy twigs 3-9 cm thick, green, setose with irritating hairs, sometimes subsetose to subvillous, or also with arachnoid indumentum. Lamina coriaceous, ca. 40 × 40 cm to 85 × 85 cm (to 115 × 115 cm), the segments (9-)10-13(-15), lanceolate, the incisions down to 2-5 cm from the petiole or to the petiole and then often almost petiolulate; apices (sub)acuminate to acute; upper surface smooth or nearly so, (sub)glabrous, the "umbilicus" usually (sub)setose; lower surface with brown pluricellular hairs or often also with arachnoid indumentum and sometimes ± sparsely setose on the main veins, with arachnoid indumentum in the areoles and on the smaller veins, often (initially) extended to the main veins; lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment 25-40(-44) pairs, submarginally loop-connected, unbranched; petiole 30-85(-100) cm long, with sparse to dense arachnoid indumentum and filiform brown pluricellular hairs, usually also (partly) setose (with irritating hairs) to hirsute, glabrescent; trichilia fused, their margins often not well-defined, sometimes extending to the base of the stipules or almost lacking, the brown indumentum intermixed with irritating bristles, the Mullerian bodies relatively large (ca. 3 mm) and pink; stipules 12-40 cm long, dark red-brown, dark purple-red (to blackish), green, or sometimes whitish, densely subhispid to hirsute to substrigose (to subvillous) and with sparse to dense arachnoid indumentum outside, glabrous inside. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, erect; peduncle 8-12 cm long, very densely hispid; spathe 5-14 cm long, yellowish green or reddish brown to dark red to dark purple (to blackish), densely hispid to setose or to hirsute, sometimes subvillous and with dense arachnoid indumentum outside, glabrous inside; spikes ca. 15-65, (3-)7-13 × (0.3-)0.7-l cm, with stipes 0.30.4 cm long and hispid; rachis hairy. Staminate flowers sessile or short-pedicellate; perianth tubular, ca. 2-2.5 mm long, glabrous or with arachnoid hairs below the apex, the apex slightly convex to plane; filaments slightly swollen; anthers ca. 0.7-0.8 mm long, appendiculate, detached at anthesis, reattached to the margins of the aperture by the appendages (?). Pistillate inflorescences in pairs, erect; peduncle 6-18 cm long, densely setose to hirsute (to subvillous) and with dense arachnoid indumentum, glabrescent; spathe ca. 4-13 cm long, the color and indumentum as in the staminate inflorescence; spikes 6-20, 3-12 × ca. 0.4 cm, to 19 × 1-1.5 cm in fruit, (sub)sessile; rachis (sparsely) hairy. Pistillate flowers: perianth, ca. 2.5 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, absent inside, the apex slightly convex, muriculate or glabrous; style long, straight; stigma penicillate. Fruit ellipsoid to ovoid, ca. 1.2-1.5 mm long, ± tuberculate.

  • Discussion

    The species is very closely related to Cecropia garciae, as discussed under the latter. This species shows a variation in the trichilia from almost absent to even extended to the base of the stipules. In Valle (Colombia), a lowland and a submontane type appear to be present, probably morphologically distinct by different color of the stipules (green vs. dark red to [dark] purplish). The stipules are occasionally whitish due to dense arachnoid indumentum. The characteristic stiff (setose) hairs are absent in some collections made in Chocó and Valle, being replaced by weaker hairs providing a subvillous indumentum. Ants are often absent, or if present, then a species of Pachycondyla. These ants perforate the node bearing the stipules forming the apical bud cover and they harvest the (large and pink) Mullerian bodies when still enclosed in the bud.

  • Distribution

    From eastern Panama to western Ecuador, in forest or secondary growth, at elevations to 1500 m.

    Colón Panamá Central America| Esmeraldas Ecuador South America| Panamá Panama Central America| San Blás Panama Central America| Azuay Ecuador South America| Cañar Ecuador South America| Cotopaxi Ecuador South America| El Oro Ecuador South America| Los Ríos Ecuador South America| Pichincha Ecuador South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Nariño Colombia South America| Risaralda Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America|