Schoepfia schreberi J.F.Gmel.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Schoepfiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Schoepfia schreberi J.F.Gmel.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or small tree 2-7 m tall; bark grayish, deeply furrowed; twigs glabrous, furrowed, minutely papillose, becoming grayish at age. Leaf blades 4-8 x 1.5-3.5 cm, ovate to lanceolate, folded-falcate, coriaceous, glabrous, the apex acute to acuminate, the base rounded, obtuse, or cuneate, the margins entire; petioles 3-5 mm long. Flowers sessile, 1-3 in short, axillary racemes. Calyx green, cup-shaped, minute; corolla bell-shaped, 4-4.5 mm long, the tube yellow, with a tuft of hairs at point of attachment of anthers within, the lobes 4-5, triangular-ovate, reddish; stamens 4-5, included; ovary rugose, the style included, the stigma bifid. Drupe ellipsoid, 10-13 mm long, orange, red, or purple when mature.

  • Discussion

    Codonium arborescens Vahl, Skr. Naturhist.-Selsk. 2: 207. 1792. Schoepfia arborescens (Vahl) Schult. in Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg. 5: 160. 1819.

  • Distribution

    An uncommon shrub of coastal thickets and dry forests. Bordeaux (W617), Christ of the Caribbean (A2918), trail to Reef Bay (A2670). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; Puerto Rico (including Vieques), throughout the Caribbean region and Mexico to northern South America.

    South America| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| México Mexico North America|