Persea mutisii Humb., Bonpl. & Kunth
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Authority
Kopp, Lucille E. 1966. A tasonomic revision of the genus Persea in the Western Hemisphere (Perseae-Lauraceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 14: 1-117.
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Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or tree 8 m. rarely to 20 m.; brandilets coarse, yellowish brown, bark not aromatic; petioles 0.6-2.5 cm. long, broad, flat, glabrous to sparsely strigulose; leaf-blades 7-22 cm. long, 4-10 cm. wide, coriaceous, ovate to obovate to rotund, the tips acute to obtuse to rotund, the bases cuneate, obtuse, rotund, truncate, or subauriculate, the upper surface glabrous, the lower surface glaucous, glabrous or rarely sparsely suigulose, the costa broad, impressed above, prominent beneath, the 7-11 pairs of primary veins divergent at 50-65°, plane above, prominent beneath, the reticulation obscme above, prominulous beneath. Inflorescences mosdy compact, axillary panides each equal to H the length of the smaller leaves, the inflorescences of a branchlet appearing as one large flat structure; pedundes coarse, flattened, progressively shorter toward the tip, glabrous, the secondary and tertiary branchlets densely strigulose, pedicels 3-4 mm. long, coarse, strigulose; flowers 6-7 mm. long; outer perianth-segments 2.5-3.8 mm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, broadly ovate, densely strigidose without, glabrous within; inner perianth-segments 5-6.8 (-7) mm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, ovate, densely strigulose without, glabrous within except for the pilose tip; stamens about 4.5 mm., the anthers about 2 mm., the filaments about 2.5 mm., the filaments of series I and II glabrous, rarely sparsely strigulose dorsall), the anthers oblong, glabrous, quadrilocular; filaments of series III glabrous, the glands sessile and adnate to the basal 1/5 of the filament, die anthers oblong, quadrilocular, laterally dehiscent; staminodia of series IV broadly sagittate, lacking terminal bristles; gynoecium mosdy glabrous, the ovary subglobose, glabrous; style 1.5-2.5 (-3.7) mm. rarely sparsely pubescent; stigma aiangular-peltate. Infructescences Avith short thickened pedicels; perianth-segments ligneous, patent, persistent in their entirety; fruits 1 cm. in diametei', glaucous, globose.
Distribution and Ecology - Distribution. Colombia: Western slope of the Eastern Cordillera 2900-3500 m.; Venezuela: Andes 2800-3200 m. and in their eastern extension 1500-2500 m.; Ecuador: Cordillera of cenaal Ecuador 3000 m.
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Discussion
Persea mutisii ß purdiei Meissn. in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 45. 1864.
Persea mutisii [Greek] lindenii Meissn. in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 45. 1864.
Persea pachytepala Lasser, Bol. Soc. Venez. 9: 178. 1944.
Couepia laurifolia Cuatr., Brittonia 8: 198. 1956.
Persea laurifolia (Cuatr.) Cuatr., Brittonia 11: 163. 1959.
Vernacidar names. Canelon: Colombia; curo de paramo: Venezuela; pacarcar (Bolivar), jiqueron (Chimborazo): Ecuador.
Type collection. J. Mutis s.n., Bogota, Colombia (holotype, presumably at P, isotypes F, P). See discussion.
A considerable amount of variation has been recognized in this species. Though it is represented by more collections than most South American species of Persea, its wide distribution indicates that there are few specimens per unit area. T h e floral morphology is consistent, but the leaf-shape is variable; their bases tend to be more acute in specimens collected in western \^enezuela and northern Colombia; their under surfaces lack glaucescence and are more obscurely reticulate in Ecuador. Rimbach states on the labels of his number 161 that the tree was 20 m. This is considerably taller than has been reported by other collectors. Ariste-Joseph s.n. has been included in this species though it differs from other collections of the taxon: its leaves are more coarsely reticulate beneath, more acute at the tips and bases, and relatively longer and narrower; its inflorescences have longer than average pedundes. Killip &: Smith 20596 and Ariste- Joseph s.n. (collected in 1919) have a small amount of pubescence on the styles, but do not vary from the average in other characters.
P. mutisii is most closely related to jP. sericea, but the former can be easily distinguished by its coarser, mostly glabrous, thicker leaves, broad petioles, glabrous branchlets, and almost glabrous floral parts (the outer surface of the perianth segments are sericeous).
The Mutis collection was given to Bonpland, and in the Kunth description the altitude was reported as 1360 hex. This information appeared on none of the sheets studied in preparing this paper, or on the type photograph of the collection in the Willdenow Herbarium. It is probably on the holotype which is presumably in Paris. The Paris and Chicago isotypes bear the number 2030; this is probably the Bonpland Herbarium number which he placed on them before he gave them to the Paris Herbarium. The Mutis sheets at the U.S. Natl. Herb, are probably not from the same collection as the type, or at least, not from the same tree. Those at the US might all have been collected from the same tree, but differ from the former sheets by their glaucous, completely glabrous leaves.