Clavija lancifolia Desf.
-
Authority
Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)
-
Family
Theophrastaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Type
Type. Original herbarium material lacking; lectotype, Fig. 14 of the original publication, designated by Stâhl (1991, p. 55).
-
Synonyms
Theophrasta lancifolia (Desf.) Kuntze
-
Description
Species Description - Shrub to 3 m, sometimes taller, young shoots puberulous or glabrous. Leaf blade oblanceolate, narrowly oblanceolate, or sometimes narrowly ovate, obovate or elliptic, 12-60 x 3.5-14 cm, coriaceous or subcoriaceous, 0.15-0.2 mm thick, glabrous or sometimes glandular-pilose beneath, base attenuate, apex acute or acuminate, margins entire, serrulate or rarely sparsely serrate, lateral veins rather inconspicuous, at least above, surfaces between veinlets striate beneath and striate, furrowed, or sometimes smooth above; extraxylary sclerenchyma adjacent to epidermis on both sides, abaxially arranged in bundles 3-10 cells thick, adaxially arranged either as more or less flattened bundles 3-10 cells thick or in a discontinuous layer, hypoderm lacking; petiole 1-8 cm long, 1-3 mm thick, puberulous at base, or glabrous. Racemes in male and bisexual plants to 20 cm long with (8-) 15-40 flowers, in female plants to 4 cm long with 5-12 flowers; rachis 0.5-1.4 mm thick, puberulous or sparsely puberulous; pedicels 1-3 mm long; bracts 0.5-1.2 mm long, inserted at nodes. Flowers 5-merous; calyx lobes very broadly ovate, 1.5-2.5 x 1.5-3 mm, glabrous; corolla orange or orange-red, tube 1.5-3 mm long, lobes 3-4(-5) x 3.2-5 mm. Stamen filaments glabrous, in male and bisexual flowers fused into a tube 0.7-1.5 mm long, in female flowers united at base only, free parts 0.5-1 mm long. Pistil in male flowers linear or rudimentary, in bisexual flowers sublinear with 1-5(-8) ovules in a single row, in female flowers ovoid with (7-) 12-18 ovules in 2 or 3 rows; stigma in bisexual flowers often 2- or 3-lobed. Fruits orange or orange-yellow, 1-3 cm diam., pericarp 0.2-0.4 mm thick, surface smooth; seeds 2-12, (5-)7.5-10 (-13) mm long.
-
Discussion
The circumscription of Clavija lancifolia presented here is based chiefly on my earlier work (Stâhl, 1991). The species is divided into two subspecies, which usually are easily distinguished. However, this classification does not handle the variation within subspecies chermontiana, which is more variable and has a much wider distribution than subspecies lancifolia. Material from N Bolivia and adjacent areas of Peru and Brazil is particularly problematical. Further studies of the variation within this complex are needed and should also include the C. weberbaueri complex of the W Amazon.
-
Distribution
Throughout most of E and C Amazon basin (Fig. 39) in lowland, terra firme forest.
Brazil South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America|