Couratari riparia Sandwith

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Couratari riparia Sandwith

  • Primary Citation

    Kew Bull. 10: 473. 1955

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Type -- G. S. Jenman 7311

  • Description

    Author: Ghillean T. Prance

    Type: Guyana. Demerara River, nr. Great Falls, Mar 1898 (fl), enman 7311(holotype, K; isotypes, F, IAN, NY, S, U, S).

    Description: Trees, to 12 m tall, usually smaller, rarely larger, unbuttressed or with low buttresses only, the young branches minutely puberulous or glabrous. Leaf blades elliptic to obovate-elliptic, 3.5-8 x 2.5-5 cm, coriaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, often papillose beneath; midrib prominulous above, prominent and glabrous beneath; secondary veins 7-12 pairs, prominulous on both surfaces, the tertiary venation distinctly prominulous on both surfaces; apex bluntly acute to acuminate; base rounded to cuneate; margins undulate, almost entire or slightly crenulate; petiole 2-9 mm long, glabrous, terete, not winged. Inflorescences of rather lax terminal panicles or racemes, the rachis sparsely puberulous; bracts oblong, ca. 4 mm long, caducous, sparsely puberulous on exterior, with ciliate margins; pedicels 23-50 mm long, puberulous. Flowers with hypanthium campanulate, 3-5 mm long, calyx lobes rounded-triangular, puberulous on exterior, with ciliate margins; petals oblong-spathulate, 22-35 mm long, sparsely puberulous on exterior, glabrous within, ciliate on margins, rose to red; androecium 3.5-5 cm long when opened up, the staminal ring 10-13 mm diam., the exterior of hood pustulate-rugulose, glabrous, the stamens 35-50, inserted in more than one row around staminal ring, extending slightly up interior of ligule in several rows. Fruits campanulate, 2.9-4.5 (excluding stipe) x 2.2-3 cm, with thin stipe 1.6-2.5 cm long, longitudinally striate on exterior, smooth, not crustaceous, ca. 0.5-1 mm thick, the calycine ring 4-6 mm below apex, plane, not ridged; operculum convex or concave, radially grooved, the columella markedly triangular.

    Common names: Guyana: kakaralli (Arawak), wadara.

    Distribution: Restricted to Guyana.

    Ecology: It grows on river margins in low flooded areas.

    Phenology: Collected in flower from Dec to Jul.

    Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded.

    Dispersal: It is presumed that the seeds are wind dispersed as found in other species of the genus.

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters:

    Taxonomic notes: For a discussion of the relationships of this species, see under the Couratari multiflora superspecies in Prance in Mori & Prance (1990).

    Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.

    Uses: The inner bark is used in making ropes and headstraps in Guyana.

    Etymology: The name "riparia" means of riverbanks and refers to the habitat where this species grows.

    Source: This species page is based on Prance in Mori & Prance, 1990.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Couratari riparia Sandwith: [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.