Eschweilera gigantea (R.Knuth) J.F.Macbr.

Description

Author: Scott A. Mori

Type: Peru. Loreto: Mouth of Santiago River, Sep 1924 (fl), Tessmann 4064 (holotype, B, not found; lectotype, NY, designated by Mori & Prance, 1990). This is the type of the basionym Lecythis gigantea R. Knuth.

Description: Trees, to 20-50 m tall. Stems 10-14 mm diam., black with vertical striations of brown-colored lenticels, the older and larger stems entirely black. Petioles hemispherical in cross-section, slightly canaliculate, 20-33 mm long, glabrous, drying black; blades oblong, (14-) 20-59 x (6-)10-18 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, punctate and papillate abaxially, discolorous, the adaxial darker than abaxial surface, the base rounded to nearly truncate, the margins entire, the apex short acuminate; venation eucamptodromous for much of length, brochidromous toward apex, the midrib plane adaxially, salient abaxially, glabrous, the secondary veins in 18-29 pairs, decurrent, plane to prominulous adaxially, prominant abaxially, 18-25 mm apart in middle of blade, the intersecondary veins well-developed, one between each pair of secondaries, the tertiary and higher order venation reticulate, the areoles very small. Inflorescences usually terminal, less frequently axillary, spicate, unbranched, the rachis distinctly angled, 8-18 cm long, usually drying black, with distinct scars left by caducous bracts; pedicels very short below articulation, the bracts and braceoles caducous. Flowers 5-7 cm diam.; calyx-lobes 6, the lobes very widely ovate, 11-17 x 11-18 mm, oriented obliquely upward, convex to carinate abaxially, flat to concave adaxially, black when dried, the bases imbricate; petals 6, widely obovate to very widely obovate, 34-47 x 28-39 mm, white or yellow according to labels; androecium zygomorphic, the hood 27-30 x 25 mm, double-coiled, the second coil very short; staminal ring with stamens tightly congested, ca. 400-600, a staminal rim lip present, the filaments clavate, slightly curved, 4-5 mm long, the anthers 1 mm long; hypanthium glabrous, drying black, truncate at articulation; ovary 2-locular, each locule with 9-12 basally attached ovules, the style obconical, erect or oblique, 3-5 mm long, not well differentiated from summit of ovary. Fruits depressed globose, 3.5-5 (excluding operculum) x 7-15 cm, the infracalycine zone truncate to pedicel, the supracalycine zone erect to slightly flaring outward, the pericarp 3-5 mm thick when fruit dry, the operculum umbonate. Seeds 4-5 per fruit, globose or triangular in cross section, ca. 4.5 x 3 cm, the seed coat thin, ca. 1 mm thick; lateral aril scar present.

Common names: Peru: machimango (Vásquez & Jaramillo 9127, 9903, machimango negro (Vásquez & Jaramillo 8162), maquizapa huayo (Schunke V. 1534).

Distribution: Amazonian Ecuador and Peru and one collection from Amazonian Brazil.

Ecology: A canopy to emergent tree of old growth terra firme forest at low elevations.

Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Oct and Nov and fruits gathered in Jan, Feb, and May.

Pollination: No observations recorded but most likely pollinated by bees as are many other species of Eschweilera (Mori & Boeke, 1987).

Dispersal: No observations recorded. Fresh seeds have not been observed so it is not possible to conclude if the presumably lateral aril would be large enough to attract animals.

Predation: Macaws are said to eat the "fruits" according to Auca Indians (Oldeman & Arevalo 37).

Field characters: This species is characterized by very large leaves; stems thick and black with vertically oriented, brown lenticels; thick, black petioles; oblong, discolorous leaf blades with the abaxial surface lighter and smoother than the adaxial surface; inflorescences usually terminal, unbranched, the rachises very black with ligher colored bract scars; hypanthiuim truncate at base, glabrous, black; imbricate calyx-lobes that are often carinate abaxially; androecial hood double-coiled but with the second coil very short; and depressed globose fruits with the infracalycine zone truncate to the pedicel and the supracalycine zone erect or slightly flared outward.

Taxonomic notes: In many respects Eschweilera gigantea is a larger-leaved version of E. juruensis. Both species have a smooth adaxial and rougher abaxial leaf blades surfaces; glabrous, black, and angular inflorescence rachises; and the hypanthia of the two species are glabrous and black in herbarium specimens. In addition to the leaf size difference, the hypanthia of this species are truncate whereas thos of E. juruensis are more tapered. The two species have essentially the same geographic distribution.

Conservation status: This species does not appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species version 2011.2.

Uses: None recorded.

Etymology: The specie epithet presumably comes from the very large leaf size.

Source: Based on Mori & Prance (1990).

Floras and Monographs

Eschweilera gigantea (R.Knuth) J.F.Macbr.: [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.

Map Distribution

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