Gaultheria acuminata Schltdl. & Cham.

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Gaultheria acuminata Schltdl. & Cham.

  • Primary Citation

    Linnaea 5: 126. 1830

  • Common Names

    achocopa, arryan, ashocopa, astringosol, axocopani, axocopaque, pipicho, ya-to-skwa-ree, to-skwa

  • Description

    Description: Erect, usually arching shrub or small tree 0.5-7 m tall; mature stem terete to subterete, bluntly angled and/or striate, glabrous or occasionally with remnants of setae, sometimes glaucous, with odor of wintergreen when broken; bark thin, shredding in longitudinal strips; twigs subterete to complanate, striate to bluntly angled, glabrous to puberulent, without setose hairs; newly flushing stems and leaves sometimes with glandular setae leaving punctae after they fall. Leaves coriaceous, ovate to elliptic (or very rarely oblong or slightly obovate), (2.3-)8-15 x (1.3-)2.2-6(-7) cm, base cuneate or obtuse to rounded (or truncate to subcordate), apex acute to long-acuminate, rarely obtuse, serrulate, with each tooth terminating in a deciduous, basally swollen hair, glabrous above or puberulent along veins, glandular-fimbriate beneath becoming punctate after these fall (or glabrous), with odor of wintergreen when cut; midrib conspicuous and impressed above, lateral nerves 3-4 per side, impressed or slightly raised above, reticulate veinlets raised above, all veins raised beneath; petiole subterete, flattened to broadly canaliculate above, rugose, 3-9(-14) x 1-2.2 mm, glabrous to puberulent, sometimes glandular setose. Inflorescence axillary, racemose, to 38-flowered; rachis bluntly angled, 3-14(-21) cm long, glabrous or usually puberulent to densely short-pilose with white hairs (or very rarely with scattered glandular or eglandular setae); pedicels 4-9(-14) mm long, glabrous to densely short-pilose (or with few gland-tipped hairs); bracteoles located near base of pedicel or more usually above the middle, opposite to more often subopposite, striate, linear to ovate, 2-5 x 0.3-1.3 mm, glabrous or sometimes puberulent, ciliate but sometimes also with gland-tipped hairs along margin; floral bract striate, cochleariform, ovate to obovate, or oblanceolate, (3-)5.6-12.8(-13.3) x 3-4 mm, usually glabrous (or puberulent), ciliate. Calyx 2.3-4 mm long, usually glabrous or sometimes short-pilose especially at base (but then lobes essentially glabrous within), lobes narrowly to broadly triangular or ovate, 1.2-3.3(-3.8) x 1-2.3 mm, acute to acuminate, glabrous (or very rarely with a few gland-tipped setae on lamina), ciliate; corolla urceolate, 3.8-6.5(-7.8) x 3.5-5 mm, white or suffused with pink to dark pink when fresh, glabrous or sparsely to densely short-pilose without (or very rarely also with scattered gland-tipped or eglandular setae), usually puberulent within, lobes triangular, 0.5-1.2 mm long, obtuse, sometimes ciliolate; stamens 2-4.5(-4.8) mm long; filaments (1.2-)1.5-2.8(-3.3) mm long, densely short-pilose; anthers 1-2.2(-3) mm long, awns prominent, 0.3-1 mm long; ovary densely short-pilose; style 3.2-4 mm long, glabrous (or very rarely short-pilose). Fruiting calyx 4-12 mm diam., blue-black.

    Distribution: Common and widespread from east-central to southern Mexico, less frequent in El Salvador and Honduras, in disturbed, open areas, rocky slopes, forest edges, and volcanic craters at elevations of 950-3000 m. Flowering throughout the year.

    Common names: Mexico: axocopaque (Guerrero, Puebla); ya-to-skwa-ree (plant) and to-skwa (fruit) (Oaxaca, Mazatec Indians); astringosol, axocopani (Puebla); achocopa, arryan, ashocopa, pipicho (Veracruz).

    Uses: Used as decoration and as a bath for fever (Velázquez 73) in Veracruz. The fruits are eaten by the Mazatec Indians in Oaxaca (Schultes, 1941).

    Cultivated: E.

    Type: Mexico. Veracruz, Cerro Colorado, Aug 1828 (fl), Schiede 581 (lectotype designated by Luteyn, 1995, HAL, photo Corcoran neg. 7; isotype, HAL).

  • Floras and Monographs

    Gaultheria acuminata Schltdl. & Cham.: [Article] Luteyn, James L., et al. 1995. Ericaceae, Part II. The Superior-Ovaried Genera (Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Rhododendroideae, and Vaccinioideae P.P.). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 66: 560.