Swartzia floribunda Spruce ex Benth.
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Authority
Cowan, Richard S. 1967. Swartzia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae Swartzieae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 1: 3-228. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type collection. R. Spruce 2958 (lectotype K; isolectotypes GH, P, W), San Carlos, Río Negro, Amazonas, Venezuela, Apr. 1853. The choice of a lectotype is required for this species because Bentham cited two collections in his original description.
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Description
Description - Shrub 1.5-3 m tall, the branchlets strigulose-velutinous, the older branchlets minutely papillate with persistent bases of hairs; stipules persistent, (0.7-) 1.5-2 mm long, narrowly lanceolate to oblong-triangular, acute, densely strigulose-velutinous, glabrescent; leaves unifoliolate, the petioles 3-5.5(-8) mm long, stipellate apically with bluntly triangular stipels 1-1.2 mm long, minutely strigulose-velutinous but soon papillate minutely by the persistent bases of the hairs, the petiolules 1-2.5 mm long, velutinous, the blade narrowly oblong to elliptic-oblong, (8-)10.5-19.5(-24) cm long, 3.5-6(-9) cm wide, the margins usually conspicuously deflexed narrowly, the base rounded, obtuse to subobtuse, the apex bluntly acute to acuminate, the upper surface glabrous, papillate-puberulous beneath, the costa impressed and the primary veins plane on the upper surface, both costa and primaries salient beneath, the primary veins interconnected intramarginally; inflorescences axillary, the axes (2.5-)6-11.5 cm long, densely strigulose-velutinous, the bracts deciduous to persistent, 1.5-2 mm long, linear, densely strigulose, the bracteoles deciduous to persistent, triangular, 0.8-1 mm long, densely strigulose; pedicels (6-) 10-15 mm long, densely strigulose-velutinous; buds ovate in outline, 10-12 mm long, 7-8 mm diameter, densely velutinous but becoming papillate by the persistent bases of the hairs; calyx segments 4, persistent, densely velutinous externally but becoming papillate by the persistent bases of the hairs, villose within but glabrescent; petal white, glabrous, the claw 3-4.5 mm long, the blade rounded, 13-15.5 mm diameter; larger stamens 2 or more, glabrous, the filaments 12-18 mm long, the anthers narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, the pollen globose, ca 28.5 µ diameter, some elliptic, ca 36.5 µ long and 31 µ diameter, the smaller stamens glabrous, the filaments 5.5-9 mm long, the anthers oblong-ovate, apiculate, 1-2 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, the pollen mostly globose, ca 34 µ diameter; gynoecium glabrous, the stigma punctiform, the style 3.5-6.5 mm long, the ovary elliptic to elliptic-oblong, black, flat, 6.5-8 mm long, 3 mm wide, the gynophore 9-15 mm long; fruits elliptic in outline, glabrous, 20-22 mm long, 10-11 mm diameter, the style persistent as a beak 5-8 mm long, the stipe 15-20 mm long; seeds 1 per fruit.
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Discussion
The interconnecting of the primary veins near the leaflet margin, the form of the buds, and the pubescent inner surfaces of the calyx, relate S. floribunda to S. iniridensis, a species known only from southeastern Colombia in the upper reaches of the Amazon Basin. The two differ in the glabrous gynoecium of the present species which typically also has marginally devolute leaflets.
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Distribution
(Fig. 43). Lowland rain forest and bushy-savanna in south-westernmost Venezuela near the Brazilian border at ca 125 m alt.
Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America|