Morphology of the Lecythis ollaria clade of Lecythidaceae

Title

Morphology of the Lecythis ollaria clade of Lecythidaceae

Authors

Scott Alan Mori, Caroline Carollo, Nathan P. Smith

Scientific Name

Lecythis Loefl.

Description

From Huang et al. (in review)

Lecythis ollaria clade (100% BS; Figs. 2A, 5)—The three species of this clade have a narrow distribution limited to northwestern South America (Huang, 2010). Lecythis ollaria is the type of the genus and, thus, if this clade is recognized as a distinct genus it would be called Lecythis. The three species were included in Lecythis section Lecythis by Mori (1990b) in which he placed another 11 species.

A morphological synapomorphy for the Lecythis ollaria clade is the presence of a single coiled ligule with vestigial stamens found only on the exterior part of the coil (Figs. 2A, 4A; character 26). In addition, the style is short and erect (Fig. 4G; not coded), the seeds have a well-developed basal aril (Figs. 4J, 8A–B; character 48), and the major seed veins are plane or slightly impressed and the areas between the veins appear to be free of connecting veins and are smooth (Figs. 4J, 8; see Huang et al., 2011: 407).