Combretum llewelynii J.F.Macbr.

Authority

Stace, C. A. & Alwan, A.-R A. 2010. Combretaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 107: 1-369. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family

Combretaceae

Scientific Name

Combretum llewelynii J.F.Macbr.

Type

Type. Peru. Loreto: along Río Itaya, 1929-1930, Llewelyn Williams 143 (holotype, F n.v., BM fragment).

Synonyms

Combretum karijonorum R.E.Schult.

Description

Species Description - Usually a woody liana to 30 m, in the absence of support a shrub or scandent shrub to 7 m; combretaceous hairs (very scarce) and peltate scales present. Leaves opposite, chartaceous or subcoriaceous, 4.5-19 × 2.2-12.5 cm, ovate to elliptic or sometimes broadly or narrowly so, acute to acuminate at apex, cuneate to rounded or subcordate at base, usually hairless but rarely very sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, moderately to densely reddish- to golden-lepidote abaxially, more or less scaleless to sparsely lepidote adaxially. Venation as in C. fruticosum. Petiole 0.3-0.5 cm, glabrous, contiguously reddish- to golden-lepidote. Inflorescences unbranched, stout, 6-22 cm, usually terminal, rarely grouped, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent, densely to contiguously reddish-lepidote. Flowers borne densely around rhachis but in nature all swept up to vertical position from more or less horizontal rhachis, with long exserted stamens forming bottle-brush syndrome tetramerous, 21.5-30 mm, hairless on outside; lower hypanthium 4-4.5 mm, 4-angled, with pedicel-like proximal region 0.6-1 mm, contiguously reddish-lepidote; upper hypanthium 17.5-25.5 × 5-6 mm, infundibuliform to bucciniform, often slightly swollen in proximal region (below disk) and narrower distally (above disk) but flared near apex (below calyx lobes), 11.5-18.5 mm excl. calyx lobes, the proximal region slightly longer to slightly shorter than distal region moderately to densely reddish-lepidote, sparsely to densely pubescent inside; calyx lobes 5-7 mm, erect acute to narrowly so, moderately to densely reddish lepidote; petals 4, 4.3-4.6 × 1.1-1.5 mm, falling well short of calyx lobes, elliptic or narrowly so to narrowly obovate, acute to abruptly acuminate, with an ill-defined basal claw, glabrous but sometimes sparsely lepidote abaxially; stamens 8, far exserted with filaments 29-33.5 mm; disk densely pubescent at margin with straight hairs, with distinct free margin 0.2-0.6 mm; style 35-44 mm, exserted ca. as far as stamens, glabrous; ovules 5-6. Fruit 2.2-3.7 × 1-2.2 cm, oblong, rounded or truncate to retuse at base with very distinct narrow pseudostipe 0.1-0.2 cm, rounded or truncate to deeply retuse and scarcely apiculate at apex, moderately to densely reddish-lepidote especially on body; wings 4, 0.2-0.7 cm wide. Scales ca. 70-175(-210) µm diam., either as in C. rohrii with an isodiametric-celled central region or less often as in C. fruticosum without one; marginal cells ca. 20-70, nearly all to none reaching from margin to center. Reproductive biology. The flowers pass through the same yellow-orange-red stages as in related species, and visits by birds, bees, butterflies and monkeys are reported. P. A. Cotton (pers. comm., 1989) recorded two species of hummingbird (Thalurania furcata and Florisuga mellivora) as the main visitors in extreme southern Colombia, with occasional visits by other birds (Icteridae and Picidae) and the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciurus). As in Combretum rotundifolium and C. assimile the red upper hypanthium and calyx lobes provide extra attraction. The flowers are the longest and most conspicuous of any native member of the genus in the Americas apart from those of C. cacoucia. Flowering mostly October to March, but more sparsely at other times; fruiting September to February but probably in other months too.

Discussion

Uses. In Loreto, Peru, stems and leaves mashed and boiled are applied to bruises, skin irritations and fungal infections, and fruit is used to harden teeth. It would be a spectacular ornamental.

Common Names

Arkusacha, jaquilla, panki naik, cipó cravo, escova de macaco

Distribution

A plant of humid tropical forests, usually seasonally flooded and often by rivers, at 100-250 m. Western tropical South America, particularly in Ecuador and northern Peru, extending eastwards to ca. 65° W in Brazil, and southwards to ca. 9°50' S in Acre, Brazil. Largely the western vicariant of Combretum rotundifolium.

Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Loreto Peru South America| Orellana Ecuador South America| Pastaza Ecuador South America| Sucumbíos Ecuador South America| San Martín Peru South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Amazonas Colombia South America|