Manihot caudata Greenm.

  • Authority

    Rogers, David J. & Appan, S. G. 1973. Manibot, Manihotoides (Euphorbiaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 13: 1-272. 1 chart. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Euphorbiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Manihot caudata Greenm.

  • Type

    TYPE. Pringle 8687; Mexico, Michoacan: Volcanic hills, Monte Leon, 21 Aug 1902 (syntypes, F-2, GH, MO, NY, UC, US, W); Palmer 201: Mexico, Chihuahua: Hacienda San Miguel, near Batopilas, Sep 1885 (syntype, US).

  • Description

    Description - Trees, ca 10.0 m tall, the main trunk with a diam of ca 30.0 cm supporting an umbrella-like spreading, thick foliaged canopy; bark grayish brown. Young stems light reddish brown, shiny, sparsely pubescent; mature stems glabrous, reddish brown, epidermis peeling off. Young foliage strong yellow-green (5 GY 6/8). Leaves alternate; stipules deciduous, sparsely pubescent; petioles ca 15.0 cm long, glaucous, terete, occasionally very slightly canaliculate, dark red (2.5 R 3/7); lamina narrowly peltate, ventral surface dark green (5 G 3/4), abaxial surface wax pattern reticulate; venation camptodromous; palmately 5 lobed, 3 major and 2 smaller lobes; median lobes obovate, entire, usually ca 13.0 cm long, 6.0 cm wide, occasionally as long as 25.0 cm and as wide as 10.0 cm, apex abruptly caudate-acuminate, terminating in a bristle, occasionally 2.0 cm long; lowest lobes slightly smaller than median lobes, conspicuously nonsymmetric, curved up. Inflorescence a monoecious, axillary panicle, usually many branched, 15.0-25.0 cm long; peduncles, pedicels and young buds coated with ashy-blue glaucescence; bracteoles setaceous, occasionally semi-foliaceous and as long as 4.0 cm, glaucous, margin smooth; bractlets setaceous, glaucous. Pistillate flowers restricted to the base of the inflorescence, borne on 2.0-4.0 cm long pedicels; tepals ca 1.4 cm long, greenish yellow, often glaucous externally, cleft to base into 5 oblong-lanceolate, tapering lobes; disc prominent, fleshy, entire, staminodes often present around the disc; pistil ca 0.9 cm long, ovary subglobose to slightly elongated, the trifid stigma moderately lobed and lobulate. Staminate flowers campanulate, tepals greenish yellow, often glaucous, ca 1.6 cm long, cleft 1/3 way down into 5 oblong-obtuse lobes, not prominently reflexed at anthesis; disc fleshy, shallowly 10 lobed; stamens 10, in 2 whorls of 5 each, superior whorl ca 1.1 cm long, inferior whorl ca 0.9 cm long, filaments and anthers pale yellowish. Fruit pedicels 2.0-4.0 cm long, almost straight; capsules ovate-ellipsoid, ca 2.25 cm long from base to apex, slightly pointed; fruit dehiscence septicidal. Seeds oblong, ca 1.5 cm long, flattened and conspicuously ribbed along the lateral edges; caruncle not prominent.

  • Discussion

    The specimens of McVaugh and Rogers, collected at the same locality on the south shore of Lake Chapala, indicate that this species is used in hedgerows, and thus propagated by man. This fact may account for the disjunct localities (Palmer 201, in Chihuahua) where the species has been collected.

    Manihot caudata is most closely related to another tree species, M. michaelis, and is distinguished from the latter by its long, attenuated leaf apex, and by the glabrous condition of several of its parts.

  • Distribution

    (Fig 23A). Mexico: Michoacan, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Chihuahua. Abundant on the rocky slopes above the south shore of Lake Chapala, at ca 1500 m; in the volcanic hills near Monte Leon, west of Lake Chapala; and also towards the north in Guanajuato and Zacatecas.

    Mexico North America| Michoacán Mexico North America| Guanajuato Mexico North America| Zacatecas Mexico North America| Chihuahua Mexico North America|