Eschweilera collina Eyma
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Family
Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Eschweilera collina Eyma
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Primary Citation
Meded. Bot. Mus. Herb. Rijks Univ. Utrecht 4: 63. 1932
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Type Specimens
Specimen 1: Isotype -- W. C. van Emden 1340
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Description
Author: Scott A. Mori and Ghillean T. Prance
Type: Surinam. Brownsberg, 5 Oct 1931 (fl), van Emden s.n. tree 1340 (holotype, U, photo NY; isotypes, K-2 sheets, MO, NY, RB, U).
Description: Trees, to 30 m tall, usually unbuttressed, sometimes basally swollen. Bark brown, more or less smooth, with occasional vertical cracks and hoop marks, the outer bark thin, the inner bark thick, orangish. Leaves not known to flush just before flowering; petioles 7-12 mm long; blades widely elliptic to elliptic, 8-14 x 4-8 cm, glabrous, punctate abaxially, coriaceous, the base acute to obtuse, the margins entire, the apex usually short acuminate, sometimes long acuminate; secondary veins in 7-10 pairs, all orders of venation salient when leaves dry. Inflorescences usually terminal, sometimes in leaf axils, simple, racemose, the rachis glabrous, 2-16 cm long, sometimes dull yellow, the flowers widely scattered along its length; pedicels glabrous, (10-)15-25 mm long, the pedicel gradually tapering into hypanthium, glabrous. Flowers ca. 3 cm diam.; calyx with 6 lobes, the lobes very widely ovate, 2-4 x 3-5.5 mm, erect, separate or slightly imbricate, convex abaxially, slightly concave adaxially; petals 6, widely obovate, 17-27 x 11-14 mm, white or yellow; androecium with staminal ring with 70-120 stamens, the filaments not markedly clavate, 1-1.5 mm long, the anthers 0.3-0.7 mm long, the hood of 15-17 x 13-17 mm, yellow, forming double coil; ovary 2-locular, each locule with 3-8 ovules attached to floor of locule, the style 3 mm long, curved toward anterior end of flower. Fruits depressed turbinate, 3.5-6 x 3.5-6 cm, the calycine ring prominent, inserted above middle, the supracalycine zone erect, narrow, the infracalycine zone convex, the pericarp ca. 5 mm thick; operculum umbonate. Seeds ca. 2.2 x 1.5 cm, with a distinct lateral aril.
Common names: Brazil: ripeiro, ripeiro branco. French Guiana: baikaaki (Paramaka language), mahot noir (commercial name). Guyana: waruwaru. Surinam: berdji-manbarklak, teteihoedoe. Venezuela: cacao grande, majagüillo, majagüillo negro.
Distribution: Central Amazonia, the Guianas, and eastern Venezuela.
Ecology: A tree of non-flooded forest (terra firme).
Phenology: Blooms most profusely from Jun to Dec but also in Jan, Mar, and May.
Pollination: No observations recorded but most certainly pollinated by bees.
Dispersal: No observations recorded but it is likely that the lateral aril is eaten by animals.
Predation: No observations recorded.
Field characters: This species is characterized by a cylindirc trunk with no sign of buttresses; smooth bark with occasional hoop marks; thin outer bark and thick, orangish inner bark; and medium-sized keaves. The tertiary veins of the abaxial leaf surface are salient when the leaves are dried which, along with the dull surface, give the leaf a unique appearance. Flowering material is easy to recognize because of the unbranched, relatively short inflorescences, and with long pedicels which gradually taper into the hypanthium. Finally, the fruits of E. collina are thick and very broadly turbinate with a well-developed calycine ring. They are similar to those of E. pedicellata but much thicker and more depressed.
Taxonomic notes: Although widely distributed in NE South America, this species varies little in morphological characters throughout its range.
Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list (March 2014).
Uses: None recorded.
Etymology: The species epithet most likely refers to the perceived hill-like habitat of the species.
Source: This species page is based on Mori & Prance, 1990.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to C. Gracie for allowing us to use her images to illustrate the characters of this species.
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Floras and Monographs
Eschweilera collina Eyma: [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.
Eschweilera collina Eyma: [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
