Leaf morphology and anatomy of Lecythis retusa

• Title

  Leaf morphology and anatomy of Lecythis retusa

• Authors

  Nathan P. Smith, Caroline Carollo, Scott Alan Mori

• Scientific Name

  Lecythis retusa Spruce ex O.Berg

• Description

  The stems of this species possess a whitish cast when the leaves are first flushed. At this stage lenticels and horizontally oriented squamae are not evident. The petiole is hemispherical in a cross section close to the stem and displays an abaxial arc of vascular bundes and an adaxial solitary bundle. The adaxial leaf blade surface is green and the abaxial leaf blade surface is white. There is a single column of festoons between the secondary veins and the leaf blade margin and only a slight hint of another column of smaller festoons between those festoons and the margin of the leaf blade.