Tococa
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Authority
Michelangeli, Fabián A. 2005.
(Melastomataceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 98: 1-114. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Melastomataceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Species. Tococa guianensis Aublet.
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Synonyms
Truncaria DC., Myrmidone Mart., Sphaerogyne Naudin, Microphysa Naudin, Microphysca Naudin, Hormocalyx Gleason
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Description
Genus Description - Woody shrubs, erect or procumbent small trees, or rarely climbing or creeping vines, occasionally producing adventitious roots. Young stems and petioles glabrous or with long glandular trichomes, the nodes glabrous. Leaves opposite, isophyllous or anisophyllous, elliptic to lanceolate, membranaceous, chartaceous or coriaceous, the adaxial surface green, the abaxial surface green or pale red to crimson or purple, glabrous to glandular-pubescent, margins entire to slightly ciliolate-serrulate, seldom revolute, apex acuminate, aristate, acute or rounded, base acute to cordate, the sinus up to 7 mm long, nerves 3-7, basinervate or plinervate; swollen ant domatium often occurring at the base of the blade or the apex of the petiole, sometimes immersed in the leaf blade, the base of the leaf then attaching laterally or adaxially on the domatium, or domatia absent. Inflorescence of 2-50 flowers, a terminal panicle, raceme, or pseudoterminal cyme or panicle, bracts usually small and caducous, seldom over 10 mm, the axis green or magenta. Flowers (4-)5(-6)-merous; hypanthium in cross section often terete, seldom winged, conical, infundibuliform or globose, glabrous or pubescent; calyx more or less lobed, the outer teeth often developed, deltoid or subulate, adnate to the inner calyx teeth; the inner teeth opposite the outer teeth, often truncate, rarely developed; petals alternate with the calyx lobes, obovate to ovate, reflexed 30°-90°, emarginate at the apex, the base obtuse to cuneiform or attenuate, with or without glands, smooth, pruinose or granulose, usually white or pink, rarely red, green, yellow, or orange; stamens twice as many as the petals, all the same size or nearly so, exerted at anthesis, often then migrating towards one side of the flower, giving the a zygomorphic aspect; filaments flattened (ribbon-like), cream to yellow, glabrous, rarely pubescent at the base; anthers usually stout, erect, seldom reflexed, the apex sometimes inflexed, yellow to cream or blue to lilac or purple; connective often prolonged into a minute dorso-basal tooth (less than 0.1 mm); thecae apex acuminate, with a single apical pore oriented ventrally, apically, or dorsally, base slightly cordate; ovary 1/3 to completely inferior, 3 (4-5)-locular, apex conical to rounded, with or without a corona of glandular setae; style glabrous or sparsely pubescent at the base; stigma capitate, funnelform or truncate. Fruit baccate, ovoid or urceolate, terete or winged, blue or black at maturity, glabrous or pubescent; seeds numerous, truncate obovate, triangular, or narrowly ovate, the antiraphal area usually curved, the raphe occupying 60-95% of the total length of the seed, rarely less than 30%, 0.2-3.0 mm long, the anticlinal walls of the testa cells straight, sculpturing absent, periclinal walls flat or convex, trichomes in the raphal area present or absent. Chromosome numbers n = 17, 28. This description is based on those species here treated as Tococa sensu stricto. Characters found in the species treated as insertae sedis, but excluded from this description, include seeds with sculptured testas and cells with curved anticlinal walls and anthers of different sizes. Additionally, some species treated in the insertae sedis have tufts of glandular and nonglandular trichomes (up to 25 mm long) at the stem nodes and a glandular ring inside the torus. One species (T. carolensis) has a dehiscent calyx and anther numbers more than double the number of petals.