Byrsonima stipulacea A.Juss.

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett. 1978. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part XI. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 32: 1-391.

  • Family

    Malpighiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Byrsonima stipulacea A.Juss.

  • Description

    Species Description - Trees 8-25 m tall; stems velutinous, the vesture a mixture of shorter hairs and straight, basifixed, spreading hairs up to 3 mm long, persistent or eventually (usually in subsequent seasons) deciduous. Lamina ofthe larger leaves 12-27 cm long, 6-13 cm wide, elliptical or rhombic, sometimes somewhat ovate or obovate, cuneate at the base, slightly revolute, acute or obtuse at the apex, sometimes acuminate or rounded, velutinous to glabrescent above with a mixture of long, basifixed simple hairs, stalked stellate hairs, and sessile stellate hairs, persistently velutinous below with most hairs stalked-stellate but the midrib and lateral veins with an admixture of long basifixed simple hairs, rugose above, the midrib, lateral veins, and scalariform tertiary veins quite prominent below; petiole 12-27 mm long, velutinous like the stems with the long spreading hairs sometimes deciduous; stipules (8-) 12-25 mm long, amplexicaulous, abaxially velutinous like the stems and petioles, occasionally glabrescent, adaxially glabrous, completely connate to form an intrapetiolar pair rounded or obtuse or rarely acute at the apex, lineate with many fine parallel veins, the pairs interpetiolarly short-connate soon tearing apart, each pair deciduous independently of and often well before the leaf. Inflorescence 8-21 cm long, velutinous, the flowers borne singly or in clusters (condensed cincinni) of 2-3 per bract; bracts 6-10 mm long, ca 2 mm wide, linear or narrowly triangular, straight or reflexed but not revolute, mostly deciduous before or during anthesis; peduncle none or up to 1 mm long; bracteoles 2.5-5 mm long, 1.3-2 mm wide, triangular, deciduous. Pedicel 10-13(-19) mm long, velutinous, straight or slightly circinate in bud, straight or slightly decurved in fruit. Sepals all biglandular or all eglandular, 2.5-4 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide. lingulate, rounded at the apex, strongly revolute, velutinous on both sides, accrescent and somewhat auriculate in fruit, the glands 2-3.5 mm long. Petals yellow, glabrous, erose or subentire. Filaments 1.5-2.3 mm long, basally connate, abaxially neariy glabrous, adaxially short-hirsute at the base; anthers 2.2-4.2 mm long, heterogeneous in the same flower, the locules linear, 1.5-3.2 mm long, loosely sericeous on both sides, free at the apex, the connective usually exceeding the locules by 0.4-1.1 mm , rounded or obtuse at the apex. Ovary conical, ca 1.5 mm high, densely short-velutinous with an overlay of appressed hairs, all 3 locules fertile; styles 4-5.3 mm long. Fruit globose, up to 18 mm in diameter, orangeyellow, tomentose to glabrate, "acidulous, edible," the nut ca 9 mm in diameter, deeply rugose.

  • Discussion

    2. Byrsonima stipulacea Adr. Jussieu, Ann. Sci. Nat. 2° Ser. Bot. 13: 332. 1840. Fig 16a. Byrsonima longibracteata Martius, Flora 24 Beibl. 61. 1841, nom superfl. Type = type of B. stipulacea. Byrsonima rugosa Bentham, London Jour. Bot, (Hooker) 7: 118, 1848, Type, Robt. Schomburgk 11870/Rich. Schomburgk 1379, Guyana (K). Byrsonima coleostachya Grisebach, Linnaea 22: 3. 1849. Type. Rich. Schomburgk 1603, upper Cuyuni River, Guyana (GOET? NY!). Alcoceratothrix longibracteata (Martius) Niedenzu, Arb. Bot. Inst. Lye. Braunsberg 1: 45. 1901. Alcoceratothrix rugosa (Bentham) Niedenzu, Arb. Bot. Inst. Lye. Braunsberg 1: 45. 1901. Alcoceratothrix stipulacea (Adr. Jussieu) Niedenzu in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV. 141: 762. 1928. Type. Mart. Hb. Fl. Bras. 567, "in sylvis ad Ilheos," Bahia, Brazil (holotype P, isotypes MO! NY!). This species is unusual in its stellate hairs and deciduous stipules. Niedenzu segregated it as the genus Alcoceratothrix (elk-horn-hair), but I reject that genus. Byrsonima stipulacea is the extreme in a series of closely related species, some with Stellate hairs, some with only bifurcate or otherwise typically malpighiaceous hairs. Therefore, the only basis for recognizing Alcoceratothrix becomes the large deciduous stipules of this species, and that, while an interesting feature, is not sufficient basis to justify separating this species from its close relatives in Byrsonima.

  • Distribution

    Distribution. Atlantic lowlands from Espirito Santo, Brazil, north through the Guianas to Terr. Delta Amacuro in Venezuela, and inland to Bolivar and adjacent Terr. Roraima. Guayana collections: GUYANA. Near Mazaruni Forest Station, Essequibo County, Archer 2435 (NY); Mazaruni River Jenman 5371 (NY); Mt. Ayanganna, mixed evergreen forest on talus from cliffs, elev 900 m, Tillett et al 45161 (K, MICH, NY, US). VENEZUELA. Bolivar: Selvas pluviales, Uriman, 400 m, Bernardi 915 (NY); Alto Caroni, Be

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