Abarema curvicarpa

  • Title

    Abarema curvicarpa

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Abarema curvicarpa (H.S.Irwin) Barneby & J.W.Grimes

  • Description

    6. Abarema curvicarpa (Irwin) Barneby & Grimes, Acta Amaz. 14 (1/2, Supl.): 95. 1984 [1986]. Pithecellobium curvicarpum Irwin, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 15: 107. 1966. —Typus infra sub var. curvicarpa indicatur. Fig. 6

    Amply microphyllidious trees attaining ±30-45 m, with sometimes buttressed trunk to 4-15 dm dbh, the young branchlets, all lf-axes, and young inflorescence densely minutely puberulent with forwardly incurved sordid hairs <0.3 mm, the lvs bicolored, the lfts on upper face brown-olivaceous smooth, glabrous except for a line of hairs along midrib, paler dull and remotely minutely strigulose or glabrate beneath, the spiciform racemes arising singly or geminate in the axil either of coeval or of new-fallen lvs, the ligneous fruits borne below current foliage. Stipules 0 (absent in vernation). Lf-formula (v-)vi—xii (on shade lvs -xiv)/14-26 (lfts 120 or more per lf); lf-stks (6—)9— 15 cm, the ventrally flattened petiole 2-3.5 cm, the longer interpinnal segments ±12-17 mm; lf-nectaries sessile, the first, situated either near mid-petiole or immediately below insertion of proximal pinna-pair, elliptic in outline, either patelliform or shallowly cupular with coarsely wrinkled rim, 2.6-7 x 1.5-3.3 mm, random smaller nectaries on distal interpinnal segments and yet smaller ones between some distal pairs of lfts; pinnae decrescent proximally, otherwise subequilong, the rachis of those at and beyond mid-lf 9 cm, the longer interfoliolar segments 2-6.5 mm; lfts slightly decrescent at base or at each end of rachis, the rest (disregarding the slightly broader furthest pair) subequiform, in outline obliquely oblong, elliptic-oblong or linear-oblong from inequilateral base, broadly rounded or shallowly emarginate at apex, the longer ones 7-18 x 1.8-6 mm, 2.7-4.4 times as long as wide; venation weakly prominulous on lower face only, the slender subcentric midrib either straight or obscurely sigmoidally curved, either simple or pinnately branched, the 4-7 pairs of secondary nerves then faintly brochidodrome well within the nearly plane margin, further venulation obscure. Peduncle and raceme-axis together ±6-12 cm, the raceme ±30-50-fld, the floral axis in var. curvicarpa becoming 3.5—4.5 cm, in var. rodriguesii perhaps shorter; bracts (few seen) very early dry and caducous, linear-oblanceolate 1-1.6 mm; pedicel of proximal fls 0.3-0.9 mm, that of distal ones as broad as long or obsolete; fls (of var. curvicarpa) subhomomorphic, the distal one(s) slightly broader but their androecium not modified; perianth 5-merous, greenish, externally yellow-silky-puberulent, the corolla lobes tipped with white polyp-like trichomes, the filaments white; calyx submembranous campanulate, that of most fls 2-2.2 x 1.6 mm, the depressed-deltate teeth 0.2 mm, that of the furthest fl ±2.6-3 x 2 mm; corolla 4.5-5.2 mm, the ovate lobes ±1.3 x 0.9 mm; androecium ±28-merous, 11-12 mm, the stemonozone ±1.5 mm, the tube 5-5.5 x 1 mm; ovary glabrous; style scarcely dilated at apex. Pods turgid, moniliform and evenly incurved through 1-2 full spirals, 10-16-seeded, in profile ±10-16 x 1.7-2.3 cm, contracted at base into a cuneate neck, the prominent, undulate or serpentine ventral (seminiferous) and evenly recurved dorsal (interior) sutures 4-8 mm wide, the ventral one rather shallowly depressed or deeply recessed between seeds, the woody valves to 4—8 mm thick where grossly dilated and domed over each seed, externally coarsely rugose, bright red or red and yellow, glabrous, the endocarp orange-red, the seed cavities separated by solid isthmi; funicle ligulate ±1.2-2.3 mm wide, sigmoid distally; dehiscence tardy, primarily along the ventral suture, the valves widely gaping to disperse the seeds, their thick woody texture inhibiting lateral twist; seeds (of var. curvicarpa) transverse, compressed-obovoid, in broad view ±9 x 7 mm, the testa (at least when fresh) white on basal portion, translucent above, ±0.1 mm thick in section, loosely investing the fuscous, when fresh aniline-tinged, coarsely wrinkled embryo, pleurogram 0. Eophylls opposite, bipinnate, these and next few lvs of formula i/6-12.

    Assuming that the grossly lignified pods of A. curvicarpa and A. macradenia are homologous, these species must be more closely related to each other than to any known species. They are further alike in the broader, but otherwise homomorphic flowers and lack of pleurogram on the seed. Because the two species differ in length of the floral receptacle they are not directly contrasted in the key to the species, as they deserve:

    1. Lf-formula v-xii/14—26, the larger lfts 4-18 x 1.8-6 mm; first lf-nectary shallowly cupular or patelliform, in profile 1.5-3.3 mm tall; floral receptacle (unknown in var. rodriguesii) 3.5-4.5 cm; corolla of peripheral fls 4.5-5.2 mm; central Amazonian Brazil and the Guianas ......A. curvicarpa

    1. Lf-formula ii—vi/7—12, the larger lfts 27—46 x 9-20 mm; first lf-nectary campanulate, in pro file 4-11 mm tall; floral receptacle 5-11 mm; corolla of peripheral fls 6.5-9.5 mm; SE Central America and Pacific NW South America (S to Ecuador) ................A. macradenia

    The bicentric range of A. curvicarpa, which resembles that of Monopteryx inpae W. Rodrigues (Barneby & Grimes, 1984: 46), coincides with somewhat modified foliage and perhaps with variation in length of the floral receptacle, but this will remain uncertain until flowering material from central Amazonia is obtained. The fruits are essentially similar at the extremes of dispersal, but the differences in size and venation of the leaflets require formal recognition.