Couratari longipedicellata W.A.Rodrigues
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Family
Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Couratari longipedicellata W.A.Rodrigues
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Primary Citation
Acta Amazonica 4(1): 10. 1974
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Type Specimens
Specimen 1: Isotype -- O. P. Monteiro s.n.
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Description
Author: Ghillean T. Prance, Nathan P. Smith & Scott A. Mori
Type: Brazil. Amazonas: Manaus-Itacoatiarara, km 70, 18 May 1969 (fl), O. P. Monteiro s.n. (holotype, INPA.27371; isotypes, MG, NY).
Description: Canopy trees, to 30 m tall, the trunk not buttressed (fide protologue) or buttressed. Bark smooth, with vertically oriented lenticels and hoop marks. Stem angled, 7 mm diam., dark brown, glabrous at maturity. Leaf presence at anthesis not known; petioles 15-20 mm long x 2-5 mm diam., glabrous at maturity, newly flushed leaves not seen but said to be puberulous when younger (fide protologue); blades mostly oblong but sometimes elliptic even on same specimen, 10-23 x 7-10.5 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, shiny adaxially, paler abaxially, the base obtuse to rounded, the margins entire, the apex abruptly acuminate, short; venation brochidodromous, with five orders of venation, the midrib flat or slightly impressed adaxially, salient, glabrous abaxially, the secondary veins flat to slightly impressed, glabrous adaxially, salient, glabrous to puberulous on petiole and midrib abaxially, in 12-18 pairs, 8-10 mm apart in middle of leaf, the angle between secondaries and midrib greater toward base, the intersecondary veins occasionally present, arched secondary veins present but poorly developed, the tertiary veins percurrent, the higher order veins reticulate. Inflorescences terminal or subterminal, racemose, to 20 cm long (fide protologue); pedicels ca. ca. 7 cm long (fide protologue). Flowers: calyx-lobes 6, 3-4 x 4-6 mm; petals 6, oblong-spathulate, to 30 mm long, purple; androecium zygomorphic, the staminal ring flat with ca. 40-45 stamens arranged in 2-3 rows, with a staminal lip, the hood with external flap, externally rugose (not echinate); ovary 3-locular. Fruits 13-17 (excluding persistent pedicel) x 5.5-7.5 cm, nearly cylindric but often 3-angled in cross section, the calycine ring inserted near opercular opening, the pericarp ca. 5 mm thick, the exocarp dark brown to nearly black, not lenticellate when dry, the pedicel, woody, persistent, and long in dried fruit. Seeds narrowly elliptic in outline, flat, 7.5-8 x 1.5-2.2 cm, the wing surrounding seed, with notch at base.
Common names: Brazil: Tauarí (fide Prance in Prance & Mori, 1979).
Distribution: Endemic to Central Amazonian Brazil in the vicinity of Manaus.
Ecology: This species is a canopy tree of non-flooded forest.
Phenology: Flowers have been collected in May and fruits with seed have been collected in Mar, Aug, and Nov.
Pollination: There are no observations on the pollination of this species but other species of Couratari with pinkish or purple flowers, especially those that flower when leafless, are pollinated by bees, e.g., Couratari tenuicarpa (Nelson et al., 1985). The type specimen has both flowers and leaves present but the inflorescences are not directly associated with the leaves so the individual from which the type was gathered may have been flowering in a leafless part of the tree while it retained leaves in another part of the tree. The protologue does not mention if the tree was leafless when in flower.
Dispersal: The seeds, surrounded by a circumferential wing, are dispersed by the wind as are all other species of the genus.
Predation: No observations recorded.
Field characters: This species is characterized by its: (1) smooth bark with vertically oriented lenticels and hoop marks, (2) oblong leaf blades with the proximal secondary veins with a much greater angle of attachment to the midrib than the ones above them; 3) short shoots that appear to develop into inflorescence rachises,l (4) purple flowers that probably appear when the tree is leafless or partially leafless, and (3) large fruits with very dark, nearly black exocarps.
Taxonomic notes: This is a poorly known species with the presence or absence of leaves at anthesis, the type (simple and/or stellate) pubescence, the change of pubescence with time (i.e., in juvenile versus adults), and some flower details still to be described.The leaves of juvenile individuals are said to be puberulous (fide protologue, Rodrigues 1974), whereas those of the adults are glabrous or very minutely puberulous. According to Rodrigues the leaf possess both simple and stellate trichomes but we have only seen simple trichomes. In adult leaves trichomes are difficult to see.
Conservation: IUCN Redlist: Vulnerable B1+2c, D1 ver 2.3. (Pires O'Brien, J. 1998. Couratari longipedicellata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 30 March 2012.)
Uses: No uses recorded.
Etymology: The epithet refers to the long pedicels of the holotype collection (see Fig. 3 in Rodrigues, 1974).
Source: This species page is based on Mori & Lepsch-Cunha, 1995; Prance in Mori & Prance, 1990; and Rodrigues, 1974.
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Floras and Monographs
Couratari longipedicellata W.A.Rodrigues: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Prance, Ghillean T. 1990. Lecythidaceae - Part II: The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Bertholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Lecythis). With a study of secondary xylem of Neotropical Lecythidaceae by Carl de Zeeuw. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-376.
Couratari longipedicellata W.A.Rodrigues: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Lepsch da Cunha, Nadia M. 1995. The Lecythidaceae of a central Amazonian moist forest. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 75: 1-55.
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Narratives
