Cavendishia axillaris A.C.Sm.

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Cavendishia axillaris A.C.Sm.

  • Primary Citation

    Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 28: 493. 1932

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Holotype -- F. W. Pennell 4375

  • Common Names

    el macho

  • Description

    Description: Terrestrial or epiphytic shrub 0.5-1.5(-3) m tall, glabrous throughout when mature; stem base 1-2.5 cm in diam.; mature branches often arching, terete to bluntly angled, smooth or striate; bark often reddish above and brown to grayish-brown beneath; twigs terete or complanate, densely puberulent, glabrate. Leaves ovate, obovate, elliptic or suborbicular, 4.5-10.5(-17) x (2.5-)4-11 cm, basally cuneate, obtuse or rounded and subcordate then often slightly amplexicaul, apically obtuse or rounded; pinnately veined, midrib conspicuously raised and thickened through the proximal 1/4 (3-5 times thicker than distal portion which narrows and is impressed above), raised beneath, lateral nerves arcuate and anastomosing near margin, impressed above (sometimes very strongly) and prominently raised beneath, hence leaves frequently bullate, veinlets impressed or slightly raised above and raised beneath, newly unfolding leaves puberulent becoming glabrous; petioles subterete, striate or rugose, 1.5-3(-5) mm long and 2.5-3.5(-4.5) mm in diam. Inflorescence solitary or rarely with 2-5 per axil, tightly racemose with floral internodes ca. 1 mm long, (5-)9-15(-47)-flowered, capitate or cylindric at anthesis, encircled at base by striate bracts; rachis terete or bluntly angled, 1-2(-8) cm long, nodes swollen; floral bracts concave, tightly appressed to and thus concealing calyx and lower portion of corolla at anthesis, often persistent until after berry has matured, smooth or muricate but striate when dry with conspicuously thickened, dichotomously branching veins, obovate to semiorbicular, 7-10(-13) x (5.5-)8-11(-13) mm, basally truncate, apically rounded or acute with apex usually splitting deeply, marginally scarious and densely glandular-fimbriate, pink to dark rose-red; pedicels to 1 mm long and in diam., rarely with few cartilaginous teeth distally; bracteoles concave and strongly keeled rarely flat, imbricate and completely enveloping perianth in bud, tightly appressed to calyx at anthesis, smooth or muricate when fresh but conspicuously striate when dry, elliptic-oblong, (5-)7-9 x (2-)4-6 mm, basally truncate, apically rounded, marginally scarious and densely glandular-fimbriate, pink to dark rose-red. Flowers: calyx (4.5-)6-7.5 mm long; hypanthium cylindric, smooth to rugose, (1.5-)2.5-3 mm long and 2.5 mm in diam., nonapophysate, pink to pale green; limb spreading to campanulate, conspicuously striate within and without when dry as are the lobes, (2.5-)3.5-4(-5) mm long, pale green; lobes ovate to triangular or rarely oblong, acute, 1-2 x 1.5-3 mm, erect after anthesis, margins glandular-fimbriate (fimbriae often early deciduous), occasionally slightly imbricate at base, pale green and occasionally marginally pink; sinuses acute or narrowly obtuse; corolla cylindric or slightly bottle-shaped, narrowed at throat, (6.5-)9-10 mm long and 3.5-4(-6) mm in diam., often glandular-fimbriate distally, white to pale green basal 1/3, green to yellowish-green middle 2/3, limb and lobes pale green, lobes oblong to narrowly triangular, obtuse, 1-2 mm long; stamens 6-8.5 mm long; filaments short-puberulent distally, alternately 1.5-2.5 mm and 2.5-3.5 mm long; anthers alternately 5-6.5 mm and 4-6 mm long; thecae 1.5-2.5 mm long; style 8-9 mm long. Berry 9-10 mm in diam.

    Distribution: Costa Rica, Panama, and N Colombia, in montane cloud forest, elfin forest, tropical wet forest, on remnant trees in pastureland, fence-row trees, and along disturbed roadside slopes, at elevations of 550-2700 m.

    Local name: Costa Rica: el macho (Alajuela).

    Cultivated: ABG, NY.

    Type: Colombia. Antioquia (formerly Bolívar): Forest above Cascada Chorrón, S of Antizales, 2300-2700 m, 25 Feb 1918 (fl), Pennell 4375 (holotype, NY, photo NY neg. 9684).

  • Floras and Monographs

    Cavendishia axillaris A.C.Sm.: [Article] Luteyn, James L. 1983. Ericaceae--part I. Cavendishia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 35: 1-290.

    Cavendishia axillaris A.C.Sm.: [Article] Luteyn, James L. 1976. A revision of the Mexican Central American species of Cavendishia (Vacciniaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 28 (3): 1-138.