Eschweilera squamata S.A.Mori

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Eschweilera squamata S.A.Mori

  • Primary Citation

    Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 44: 33. 1987

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Paratype -- S. A. Mori 8811

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori and Ghillean T. Prance

    Type: French Guiana. Saül, Antenne Nord de la Fumée, 30 Nov 1982 (fl), Mori & Boom 15288 (holotype, NY; isotypes, CAY, INPA, K, MG, P, U, US, VEN).

    Description: Canopy to emergent trees, to 40 m, with steep, high buttresses to 2.5 m high x 0.7 m wide x 0.2 m thick. Bark with distinct vertical fissures, peeling in thin, rectangular plates 10-15 cm long x 2 cm wide, the outer bark 5 mm thick, the inner bark 10 mm thick, the slash grayish-yellow. Leaves not known to flush just before anthesis; petioles 10-15 mm long; blades elliptic, 16-23 x 7-11 cm (leaves high in crown, especially those subtending inflorescences, smaller, 7-12 x 4.5-6.5 cm), glabrous, without conspicuous punctae, coriaceous, the base obtuse, the margins entire, the apex abruptly acuminate; secondary veins in 13-14 pairs. Inflorescences terminal or in axils of uppermost leaves, unbranched or once-branched, glabrous, the principle rachis 2-12 cm long, the flowers sessile. Flowers ca. 1.5 cm diam.; calyx with 6 lobes, the lobes very widely ovate, 1-1.3 x 2-2.7 mm, horizontally oriented, non-imbricate, convex abaxially, flat adaxially, the apex rounded; petals 6, widely obovate, 6-10 x 6-8 mm, white; androecium with staminal ring nearly symmetrical, only slightly wider on ligular side, with ca. 92 stamens, the filaments clavate, 0.8 mm long, white, the anthers 0.3 mm long, yellow, the hood 8 x 10 mm, with slightly developed double coil, yellow, the appendages darker, golden yellow; hypanthium truncate at base, glabrous; ovary 2-locular, with several ovules per locule attached to basal placenta, the summit umbonate, 1.5 mm high, the style not differentiated. Fruits depressed globose, 4-6.5 x 5-11 cm (excluding operculum), the calycine ring inserted near middle, the calyx-lobes often persistent as woody knobs, the pericarp ca. 5 mm thick, the operculum convex, smooth, maroon-colored, without distinctive umbo. Seeds 3-4 x 3-4 cm, the aril branched, covering lower part of major seed veins.

    Common names: None recorded.

    Distribution: This species is known only from French Guiana.

    Ecology: Eschweilera squamata is a canopy to emergent tree of non-flooded forests.

    Phenology: Eschweilera squamata flowers in the dry season from Aug to Dec and drops seed drop in Mar and Apr.

    Pollination: No observatiions recorded but most likely pollinated by bees.

    Dispersal: No observations recorded but the aril is probably eaten by animals. The immature fruits have been observed to be preyed upon my macaws (Mori & de Granville 8828).

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: This species is characterized by its bark with vertical fissures and rectangular plates which are shed conspicuously shed from the trunk; small flowers; relatively large, depressed globose fruits with enlarged, woody calyx-lobes; and seeds with a split aril. which covers the major veins proximally.

    Taxonomic notes: The bark of Eschweilera squamata distinguishes this from all other species of the genus for which bark is known. The deep vertical fissures and rectangular scales which are shed from the tree give rise to the specific epithet. The small flowers and relatively large, depressed globose fruits containing seeds with a split aril, which covers the major veins toward their base, also help to define this species. Leaf variation within the crown is considerable. As in most large trees, the leaves lower in the canopy are larger, possess more pairs of lateral veins, and have longer apices.

    Conservation: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable D2 ver 2.3 (World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Eschweilera squamata. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 14 March 2014.).

    Uses: None recorded.

    Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the bark which sheds in scale-like, narrow plates.

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

  • Floras and Monographs

    Eschweilera squamata 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.

    Eschweilera squamata S.A.Mori: [Article] Mori, S. A. 1987. The Lecythidaceae of a lowland Neotropical Forest: La Fumée mountain, French Guiana. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 44: 1-190.

  • Narratives

    Bark anatomy of Eschweilera squamata.