Caryocar brasiliense Cambess.
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Authority
Prance, Ghillean T. & Frietas Da Silva, Marlene. 1973. Caryocaraceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 12: 1-75. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Caryocaraceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Tree to 10.0 m tall, usually smaller and with a gnarled trunk up to 30.0 cm diameter, sometimes a low shrub or suffrutex,the young branches tomentellous soon glabrescent with age. Leaves trifoliolate; petioles 1.0-10.5 cm long or rarely the apical leaflets subsessile, tomentose, terete; leaflets shortly petiolulate, the terminal petiolule 4.0-8.0 mm long, the lateral petiolules 1.0-4.0 mm long, the petiolules tomentose, terete or shallowly canaliculate; the laminas ovate elliptic, often markedly asymmetrical, rounded serrate at apex, rounded and markedly unequal at base, coarsely crenate at margins, sparsely villous above or rarely almost glabrous, usually villous beneath, rarely sparsely hirsute, the terminal lamina 10.0-18.0 cm long, 8.0-12.0 cm broad, the lateral laminas equal or smaller than the terminal one; primary veins 10-13 pairs, slightly impressed or plane above, prominent beneath; venation extremely prominent beneath; stipels absent. Peduncles 4.0-10.0 cm long, usually densely tomentose, rarely only puberulous, flattened, canaliculate. Inflorescences clustered racemes, the rachis 2.5-5.5 cm long, usually tomentose, rarely only puberulous; flowering pedicels 1.0-5.0 cm long, tomentose to puberulous, with 2 membraneous bracteoles on upper portion. Calyx broadly cupuliform, 10.0-13.0 mm long, sparsely puberulous on exterior, the base often tomentose, the lobes 5(-6), rounded. Corolla 1.8-3.0 cm long, the lobes 5~6, oblong, yellow or yellow within and orangish red on exterior. Stamens very numerous, ca 270-330, the filaments shortly united at base into a caducous ring, 3.5-5.0 cm long, yellow, the apical portion tuberculate, the innermost filaments shorter, 1.5-2.0 cm long, tuberculate for entire length, also with filaments of all intermediate lengths, the anthers small. Ovary globose, usually 4-locular, rarely to 6-locular, glabrous on exterior. Styles 4-6, usually 4, ca 5.0 cm long, glabrous, filamentous. Fruit ovoid-globose, ca 4.0-5.0 cm long, 4.0-5.0 cm broad, usually 2-locular; exocarp glabrous, smooth, without lenticels or sparsely lenticellate; pericarp thick, fleshy, remaining attached to mesocarp; mesocarp and endocarp enveloping seed to form an ovoid stone ca 2.5 cm broad, exterior of mesocarp smooth, the interior enveloping endocarp spines; endocarp with numerous fine spines 2.0-3.0 mm long and hard, thin, woody, the inner portion ca 1.0 mm thick, glabrous within.