Couepia

  • Authority

    Prance, Ghillean T. 1972. Chrysobalanaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 9: 1-410. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Chrysobalanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Couepia

  • Type

    Type species. Couepia guianensis Aublet. The name Couepia is derived from the vernacular name in French Guiana.

  • Synonyms

    Grymania, Moquilea Aubl., Acia, Pleragina

  • Description

    Description - Trees or shrubs with hermaphrodite flowers 7.0-40.0 mm long. Leaves entire, usually glabrous above, glabrous or with dense lanate or arachnoid very rarely hirsute indumentum beneath. Petioles with two sessile glands or eglandular, often canaliculate. Bracts and bracteoles eglandular. Inflorescences axillary or terminal panicles or racemes. Receptacle cylindrical to turbinate, but with much variation in shape and size, rarely flattened, usually hollow, the base within commonly glabrous (rarely hairy), with deflexed hairs at mouth, tomentose to glabrous on exterior. Calyx lobes acute or rounded, often reflexed. Stamens (10-) 14-100 (to 300 in C. macrophylla), most often in a complete circle, less frequently unilateral with staminodes opposite them; filaments exceeding the calyx lobes, usually much entwined to form a tangled mass. Ovary of I(-2-3) carpels, inserted laterally at mouth of receptacle; carpels unilocular. Fruit a hard or fleshy drupe, with a verrucose, smooth or tomentose epicarp; endocarp hard and roughish, with a characteristically granular exterior, breaking up in an irregular manner on germination. Germination hypogeal, the first leaves alternate.

  • Discussion

    Couepia contains 8 groups of two or more closely related species which include 26 of the 55 species. The remaining 29 species are clearly distinct from any group of species as well as from each other (ie, taxonomically isolated species in the sense of White, 1962, p 75). Variation in the genus suggests no overall pattern on which to base subgeneric taxa. The groups of related species do not represent any subgeneric or supra-specific taxa. This is confirmed by the fact that it is also impossible to group the taxonomically isolated species into any meaningful subgeneric taxa, either together with or apart from the species groups.

    The treatment of closely related species such as those in Couepia has been summarized by White (1962) in his study of speciation in Diospyros. White uses the following categories: 1. Superspecies with completely allopatric components. 2. Superspecies with imperfectly allopatric components, and 3. Sympatric species groups. The genus Couepia contains examples of all three categories of closely related species. These terms will be used in reference to Couepia without further explanation since they are clearly defined in White’s paper, and have also been discussed by me (Prance 1967). In this treatment of the genus the species groups are considered first, and the species descriptions of each group are followed by a discussion of the taxonomic problems within the group.

  • Distribution

    Mexico and Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, through the Guianas and Amazonia to southern Brazil.

    Mexico North America| Central America| Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Guyana South America| Brazil South America| Venezuela South America|