Eschweilera rankiniae S.A.Mori

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Eschweilera rankiniae S.A.Mori

  • Primary Citation

    Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 75: 39. 1995

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Isotype -- N. M. Lepsch da Cunha 436, verif. S. A. Mori, 1995

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori & Nathan P. Smith

    Type: Type. Brazil. Amazonas: Distrito Agropecuurio. Reserve 1501 (Km 41) of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, 27 Oct 1989 (fl), N. M. L. do Cunha 436 (holotype, INPA; isotypes, K, NY, US).

    Description: Canopy trees, to 35 m tall, usually unbuttressed, less frequently buttressed. Bark often rough, peeling in irregular plates, the outer bark ca. 1 mm thick, the inner bark 2-12 mm thick, red. Leaves: petioles 6-8 mm long, minutely puberulous; blades widely elliptic to widely obovate, 6.5-7 x 3.5-4.5 cm, chartaceous, glabrous to minutely puberulous only along midrib, the base usually acute to less frequently obtuse, the apex short acuminate, the secondary veins brochidodromous, in 7-9 pairs. Inflorescences terminal, simple racemes, the rachis puberulous; pedicels 3-6 mm long, pubescent. Flowers 1.5-2 cm diam.; calyx-lobes 6, widely ovate, slightly gibbous at base, 4-5.5 x 3-5 mm, imbricate for most of length; petals 6, widely obovate, 15-20 x 11-12 mm, white or yellow; androecium zygomorphic; staminal ring flat, with ca. 90 stamens, extending up ligule, the filaments ca. 1 mm long, the stamens 0.5 mm long; ligule well-developed, differentiated into appendage-free ligular area and hood, the hood with double coil, ca. 13 x 13 mm, yellow; ovary 2-locular, with ca. 6 basally attached ovules per locule, the style oblique, 1.5-2 mm long. Fruits turbinate, 2.5-3.5 x 2.5-3.5 cm, calycine ring inserted above middle.

    Common names: None reported.

    Distribution: Central Amazonian Brazil.

    Ecology: Found in non-flooded forest.

    Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Oct and Dec. Nearly mature fruits have been gathered in Apr.

    Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded.

    Dispersal: No reports of dispersal have been recorded.

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: This species is characterized by (I) red inner bark, (2) relatively small, often obovale leaves, (3) small flowers, and (4) turbinate fruits.

    Taxonomic notes: Eschweilera rankiniae has fruits similar in shape to but smaller than those of E. cyathiformis. Moreover, E. rankiniae does not possess the shiny adaxial leaf surface or the bracteate inflorescences of E. cyathiformis. The fruits of E. micrantha are larger and more rounded at the base than those of E. rankiniae.

    Conservation: IUCN Red List: not on list (IUCN, 2012).

    Uses: No uses recorded.

    Etymology: Eschweilera rankiniae is named after Dr. Judith Rankin de Merona, long-time director of the Botany Project of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project.

    Source: This species page is based on Mori & Lepsch-Cunha, 1995.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Eschweilera rankiniae S.A.Mori: [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.