Gustavia gigantophylla Sandwith

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Gustavia gigantophylla Sandwith

  • Primary Citation

    Kew Bull. 1955: 471. 1955

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Isotype -- B. Maguire 22888

    Specimen 2: Isotype -- B. Maguire 22888

    Specimen 3: Isotype -- B. Maguire 22888

    Specimen 4: Paratype -- G. S. Jenman 2377

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori

    Type: Guyana. Essequibo River, Kamuni Creek, Groete Creek, 18 Apr 1944 (fl, fr), Fanshawe 4537 (=Maguire & Fanshawe 22888) (lectotype, K, designated Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(1). 1979).

    Description: Trees, unbranched or sparsely branched, to 10 m tall, the leaf-bearing branches 9-15 mm diam. Leaves tightly grouped at branch ends; petioles 4-26 x 5-7.5 mm, semi-circular in cross section; blades oblanceolate, 69-110 x 1825 cm, glabrous, chartaceous, narrowly tapered from middle to base, the base acute, the margins serrulate to serrate, the apex acuminate; secondary veins in 34-48 pairs. Inflorescences cauline, racemose, densely rusty pubescent, with 3-6 flowers, the rachis 40-130 mm long; pedicels 20-50 mm long, subtended by a caducous bract and bearing at or above middle 2 ovate to oblong bracteoles 6-12 x 4-12 mm. Flowers 13-14 cm diam.; calyx with 4 broadly triangular lobes, 3.5-5 x 8-14 mm, rusty-pubescent, the margins somewhat ciliate; petals 8, narrowly oblong, narrowly obovate, or oblanceolate, 50-90 x 15-33 mm, puberulous, white; connate androecial base 11-17 mm high, creamy-yellow, the outermost filaments 10-24 mm long, white, the anthers 2.5-3.5 mm; ovary 7-8-locular, without costae, rusty-pubescent, the summit white-tomentose with some glabrous spots, the style 2.5 mm long. Fruits globose, truncate at apex, 37-65 mm diam., without persistent calyx-lobes or costae, the operculum somewhat sunken below surface of fruit. Seeds angular in cross section, 22 x 22 mm; funicles not distinctive.

    Common names: Venezuela. Cacao cimarrón (Steyermark & Rabe 96235); cola pava (Steyermark & Gibson 97782).

    Distribution: This species is only known from Guyana and NW Venezuela.

    Ecology: Fanshawe, in Sandwith (1955) reports that "This is a very distinct localized species apparently confined to lateritic soils.

    Phenology: This species has been collected in flower and fruit in Guyana in Apr. It has been collected in flower in Apr and fruit in Aug in Venezuela.

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

    Dispersal: No observations recorded.

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: A small, usually unbranched tree with extremely large leaves; almost exclusively cauline inflorescences; four very broadly triangular calyx-lobes; and the opercular area somewhat sunken below the surface of the fruit.

    Taxonomic notes: Fanshawe (in Sandwith, 1955) states that G. gigantophylla has a very different habit from G. augusta in that it is rarely branched, has a crown of very large leaves, and the flowers are always cauliflorous.

    Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.

    Uses: None recorded.

    Etymology: The species epithet refers to the very large leaves of this species.

    Source: This species page is based on Mori in Prance & Mori, 1979.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Gustavia gigantophylla Sandwith: [Article] Prance, Ghillean T. & Mori, S. A. 1979. Lecythidaceae - Part I. The actinomorphic-flowered New World Lecythidaceae (Asteranthos, Gustavia, Grias, Allantoma & Cariniana). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-270.