Lecythis chartacea O.Berg
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Family
Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Lecythis chartacea O.Berg
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Primary Citation
Linnaea 27: 450. 1854
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Description
Author: Scott A. Mori
Type: Guyana. Pomeroon River, Sep (fl), Rich. Schomburgk 1432 (lectotype, K, photo K neg. 16369 at NY, designated Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(II). 1990; isolectotypes, BM, BM-frag., P, U).
Description: Trees, to 35 m tall, with straight unbuttressed boles, often swollen at base. Bark brown, with vertical fissures, peeling in rectangular plates, the outer bark laminated, the slash reddish yellow, with maroon colored layer between outer and inner barks.Twigs inconspicuously puberulous. Leaves not deciduous just before flowering; petioles 6-12(-15) mm long, puberulous; blades narrowly to widely elliptic or narrowly to widely oblong, 6.5-11.5(-2) x 2-6(- 9) cm, glabrous, sometimes puberulous on abaxial surface of midrib, chartaceous, or less frequently coriaceous, the base obtuse to less frequently rounded, narrowly decurrent onto petiole, the margins entire to crenulatethe apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute or attenuate; secondary veins in 9-14(-16) pairs. Inflorescences racemose, terminal, or in axils of uppermost leaves, unbranched or once-branched, when branched the branches paniculately arranged, the rachises 2.5-9 cm long, with up to 20 flowers, usually pubescent; pedicels 3.5-4.5 mm long, subtended by an ovate caducous bract 2.2 x 1.5 mm and with two oblong cucullate bracteoles 3 x 2 mm inserted below middle. Flowers ca. 2.5 cm diam.; calyx with 6 ovate to widely ovate or widely to very widely oblong, green lobes, 3-6 x 2.5-4 mm, their longitudinally oriented veins often conspicuous, without ducts; petals 6, widely oblong to widely obovate, 11-16 x 7-10 mm, usually white, infrequently yellow; androecium: staminal ring with 63-125 stamens, the filaments 1.3-2.8 mm long, white or yellow, longer on ligular side of staminal ring, slender, not dilated at apices, the anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, yellow or orangish; appendage-free ligule 7-10.5 x 6-9 mm, abruptly tapered from distal to proximal end; hood 8-11 x 8-11 mm, white on outside, with antherless, swept inwards, yellow appendages; hypanthium puberulous to pubescent, cuneate at base; ovary 4(-5)-locular, with 2-11 ovules in each locule, the ovules inserted at base of septum, the summit truncate, the style 2-3.5 mm long. Fruits turbinate, light brown, 3-5.5 (excluding operculum) x 3-4.5 cm, the pericarp 4-7 mm thick, oozing a viscid orangish sap when immature fruits are cut. Seeds reddish-brown, elliptic, ± terete in cross section, 23-26 x 8-20 mm, the raphe splitting into five vascular bundles at chalazal end, these run length of seed and reunite at micropylar end, the bundles salient, with short horizontal extensions along length; aril basal, white, 15-17 x 6 mm.
Common names: Brazil: jarana-mirim, matamatá (a name applied to many species of Lecythidaceae). Colombia: carguero, carguero blanco, doidir (Puinave language), kumecke (Kubeo language), kurruna (Kurripaco language), onapuin (Puinave language), taa-vada (Kurripaco language), totaiduc-ke (Kubeo language), vela de muerto. French Guiana: canari macaque, kouatapatou (these names are usually applied to Lecythis zabucajo), mahot blanc, mahot jaune, mahot coatari (more correctly applied to species of Couratari), mahot pilon, meli (Paramaka language), weti lobi (Paramaka language). Guyana: haudin. Surinam: hiraroo kakaralli, ingipipa (more correctly applied to species of Couratari), oorbina (Arawak language). Venezuela: coco de mono, guacharaco amarillo, guacharaco blanco.
Distribution: Found mostly in the Guayana region of northern South America (Amazonian Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, and northern Amazonian Brazil). A few other collections have been gathered in other parts of Amazonia.
Ecology: A medium to large-sized tree found in riverine as well as non-flooded forests.
Phenology: Lecythis chartacea flowers from Sep to Mar throughout its range. Peak flowering in the Guianas and eastern Venezuela is from Oct to Dec.
Pollination: I have observed hundreds of individuals of a species of a bumblebee (Bombus sp.) entering the flowers of L. chartacea, presumably to collect nectar (Mori et al. 15766). The structurally similar, but larger, flowers of Bertholletia excelsa are also reported to be visited by Bombus (Müller et aI., 1980).
Dispersal: No observations recorded but the basal arils may be sought after by bats which in turn disperse the seeds.
Predation: Norconk and Veres (2011) report that a species of Chriopotes eats young seeds of this species (incorrectly reported as Eschwelera chartacea).
Field characters: Lecythis chartacea is easily distinguished in the field by its basally swollen trunk and vertically fissured bark which peels in rectangular plates. The slash reveals a distinct reddish layer between the inner and outer barks. The small, white-petaled flowers with a white, bordered with yellow androecial hood in combination with the relatively small, pipe-shaped fruits are also diagnostic.
Taxonomic notes: Lecythis chartacea is morphologically most similar to L. holcogyne from which it differs in a series of characters listed under the latter species. Cercophora anomala Miers is based on a single flower found by Miers entangled in the inflorescence of his Chytroma spruceana (=L. chartacea). The ovary, sepals, and style are those of L. chartacea but the androecium is completely unlike any other Lecythidaceae. It has never been re-collected and is probably an abnormality caused by a fungal or bacterial infection. Therefore, I am placing this name in synonymy with L. chartacea.
Conservation: IUCN Red List: Not on list.
Uses: Non recorded.
Etymology: The species epithet most likely refers to the chartaceous leaf blades of this species.
Source: This species page is based on Mori in Mori & Prance, 1990.
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Floras and Monographs
Lecythis chartacea O.Berg: [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.
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Narratives
