Eschweilera jacquelyniae S.A.Mori

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Eschweilera jacquelyniae S.A.Mori

  • Primary Citation

    Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(2): 192. 1990

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Holotype -- S. A. Mori 3440

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori & G. T. Prance

    Type: PANAMA. Panamá. Gorgas Memorial Labs. Yellow Fever Research Camp, Campamento Cuatro, 5-10 km NE of Altos de Pacora on ridge top, 600 m alt., 21-24 Nov 1974(fl), Mori & Kallunki 3440 (HOLOTYPE: NY; ISOTYPES: COL, K, MO, PMA, US).

    Description: Understory trees, to 10 m tall. Bark unknown. Leaves: petioles 8-15 mm long; blades 17-40 x 9-17 cm, oblong, coriaceous, glabrous, the base obtuse to rounded, the margins entire, the apex acuminate to long acuminate; secondary veins in 14-20 pairs. Inflorescences cauline or ramiflorous, often arising from woody outgrowths (sometimes very close to ground), unbranched, the rachis 1-11 cm long, glabrous; pedicel/hypanthium 7-10 mm long above articulation, not sulcate, glabrous, usually not markedly lenticellate. Flowers 4-5 cm diam.; calyx with 6 lobes, the lobes widely ovate, 3-5 x 4-7 mm, horizontally oriented at anthesis, not markedly thickened, convex abaxially, the bases not imbricate; petals purple or maroon; androecial hood triple-coiled but the last coil weakly developed, purple or maroon. Fruits 2.5-5.5 cm diam., globose to turbinate, the calycine ring conspicuous with calyx-lobes slightly expanded and woody, the supracalycine zone erect, the infracalycine zone rounded to pedicel, the pericarp 4 mm thick, woody, rough, lenticellate, the operculum umbonate (especially when fruits immature). Seeds with white surface; aril, lateral, thick, at least sometimes covering two surfaces of seed, pale yellow, indurate when dry.

    Common names: None recorded.

    Distribution: Endemic to central Panama.

    Ecology: A small tree of cloud forests at ca. 600-1000 m alt.

    Phenology: This species flowers from Sep to May and mature fruits have been collected from Apr to Jul.

    Pollination: The coiled androecium most likely produces nectar and the flowers are probably pollinated by bees. This species would be relatively easy to study because the population at Cerro Jefé is close to Panama City and the flowers are often on the trunk very near to the ground. No observations are available of a purple or maroon-flowered species of Eschweilera.

    Dispersal: This species possesses a very large aril that is probably eaten by animals. The fruits are produced on the trunk low to the ground as well as on the branches and thus, terrestrial, volant, and arboreal animals are potential dispersal agents.

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: This species can be identified by its small geographic range in central Panama (it is especially common in the vicinity of Cerro Jefé); small, few-branched tree habit; large leaves; cauline or ramiflorous inflorescences which are sometimes found near to or even touching the ground; purple or maroon petals and androecium; small, triangular, non-imbricate, calyx-lobes; weakly triple-coiled androecial hood; umbonate operculum (at least when the fruits are young), and seeds with a discrete, lateral, but unusually thick aril.

    Taxonomic notes: This species belongs to a group of species that usually possess purple or marron petals and androecial hood; triple-coiled ligules, and unusual arils (Huang, 2010). The arils of this group usually surround the entire seed (=spreading arils) when mature but in this and a few other species the aril is thick and lateral, but differs from other species of the genus with lateral arils in that they either conspicuously overlap one or both ends of the seeds (I-beam arils). Another species with this aril type is Eschweilera antioquensis. The molecular studies of Huang (2010) recovered this group, including both spreading and I-beam arils, in a single clade.

    Conservation: This species is classified as Endangered C1+2a in ver 2.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

    Uses: None recorded.

    Etymology: Eschweilera jacquelyniae is named after Dr. Jacquelyn Kalllunki who assisted me in the collection of this and many other species of Panamanian plants. Dr. Kallunki is a specialist in Neotropical Rutaceae and has been an important part of the management of the Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden since 1975.

    Source: Based on Mori & Prance (1990).

    Acknowledgements: We are grateful to F. Hernandez for most of the images displayed on this species page and to A. de Sedas for the image of the tree.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Eschweilera jacquelyniae S.A.Mori: [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.