Schefflera morototoni (Aubl.) Maguire, Steyerm. & Frodin
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Araliaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Fast-growing, andromonoecious tree, to 15 m tall, trunk straight, unbranched or branched only at top; bark grayish, smooth, with many large leaf scars. Leaves spirally arranged along stems; leaflets 10-12, 8-45 x 3-21 cm, elliptic, oblong, oblanceolate, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, lower surface usually yellowish, the apex long- to short-acuminate, the base rounded or subcordate, unequal, the margins entire or finely serrate on young leaflets, the petiolules cylindrical, to 16 cm long; petioles to 1 m long, cylindrical and striate. Flowers staminate and bisexual, 4-7 in lateral umbels along many-branched inflorescences. Calyx cup-shaped, ca. 2 mm long in staminate flowers, forming a hypanthium 4-4.5 mm long in bisexual flowers, not toothed; petals ca. 4 mm long, reflexed at anthesis; stamens nearly sessile, the anthers lanceolate; styles 2, awl-shaped. Fruit dry, flattened kidney-shaped, 0.8-1.2 cm wide.
Distribution and Ecology - In moist secondary forests and disturbed areas such as roadsides. Bordeaux Mountain (A2887). Also on St. Thomas and Tortola; Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Mexico, to South America
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Discussion
Common name: match wood.