Eschweilera truncata A.C.Sm.
-
Authority
Mori, S. A. & Lepsch da Cunha, Nadia M. 1995. The Lecythidaceae of a central Amazonian moist forest. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 75: 1-55.
-
Family
Lecythidaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Species Description - Canopy trees, to 30 m tall, unbuttressed but trunk often irregular toward base. Bark brown, nearly smooth, with occasional, shallow, vertically oriented cracks, the outer bark ca. 1 mm thick, the inner bark 3-4 mm thick, yellowish brown. Leaves: petioles 8-17 mm long; blades elliptic, 10.5-20.5 x 5-8.5 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, with 10-15 pairs of lateral veins; base obtuse; apex acuminate to long acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, weakly once-branched paniculate arrangement of racemes, less frequently of simple racemes; pedicels 8-10 mm long, glabrous. Flowers ca. 4 cm diam.; calyx-lobes imbricate, 7-12 x 5.5-8 mm; petals 6, light yellow; androecial hood intense yellow, the staminal ring with 236-271 stamens; ovary 2-locular, the style broadly obconical, 1.2-1.5 mm long. Fruits globose, 1.5-3 (excluding operculum) x 2.5-3.5 cm, the calycine ring inserted below middle, often with persistent, nonaltered calyx-lobes, often truncate from calycine ring to pedicel, the pericarp 2-3 mm thick; operculum domeshaped, slightly umbonate. Seeds usually one per fruit, circular in cross section, ca. 20 x 15 mm, thetesta smooth, light brown, the veins nearly plane to slightly impressed, lighter brown than testa.
-
Discussion
Eschweilera rodriguesiana Mori in Mori & Prance, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(11): 255-256, fig. 89. 1990 Phenology. Flowers from Jan to Feb. Seedlings have been collected in Mar. Common name. Matamatá. Comments. Eschweilera truncata is similar to E. coriacea but differs from the latter in its raised midrib on the adaxial leaf blade surface, more salient tertiary veins, more imbricate and thinner calyx-lobes, whiter corolla, and smaller, more delicate fruits. In our treatment of Eschweilera for Flora Neotropica (Mori & Prance, 1990a), we mistakenly placed E. truncata in synonymy under E. coriacea. Fieldwork in central Amazonia has now made the differences between E. truncata and E. coriacea apparent. This fieldwork, and reevaluation of the type (Krukoff 1531), mandate that E. truncata be resurrected from synonymy and that E. rodriguesiana be placed in synonymy under it. This species is characterized by its (1) somewhat irregular bole towards the base, (2) broad, nearly glabrous, imbricate calyx-lobes with a scarcely gibbous base, and (3) small fruits with unaltered, persistent calyx-lobes.
-
Distribution
Habitat. Terra firme. The 100-ha plot contains 1321 individuals of this species >10 cm dbh.
Brazil South America|