Lecythis parvifructa S.A.Mori
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Description
Author: Scott A. Mori & Nathan P. Smith
Type: Brazil. Amazonas: Manaus-Itacoatiara Rd., CEPLAC, km 30, 29 Mar 1976 (fr), Ramos 380 (holotype, INPA; isotypes, K, NY, RB).
Description: Trees, canopy to emergents, to 40 m tall, not buttressed, sometimes slightly swollen at base (Mori 19776). Bark fissured, the outer bark ca. 1-2 mm thick, the ridges ca. 20 mm wide (Mori 19776), the inner bark ca. 10 mm thick, white or yellowish. Stems pubescent (when young), vertical lenticels sometimes present (when older). Leaves: petioles 5–12 mm long, canaliculate, puberulent; blades usually obovate, 4.5-8.5 x 3-5 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous except along midrib abaxially, abaxial surface whitish (caused by cuticular papillae), the base cuneate to obtuse, the margins entire, the apex rounded to truncate, abruptly acuminate, the acumen 3-5 mm long; venation eucamptodromous to weakly brochidodromous, the midrib prominent adaxially, salient, puberulent, sometimes square abaxially, the secondary veins in 8-12 pairs, intersecondary veins present, the tertiary veins reticulate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, spicate or racemose, usually unbranched or with 1 order of branching, the rachis 2–8 cm long, puberulous; pedicel/hypanthium ca. 1 mm long below articulation, ca. 2-3 mm long above articulation, the bract and bracteoles not known. Flowers when leaves present, diurnal, 2-3 cm diam., sometimes with conspicuous white deposits in the tissue (silica?); hypanthium tapered, often sulcate, puberulous, green, longitudinally oriented mucilage-bearing ducts absent (Freitas 726); calyx-lobes 6, ovate, imbricate, 4.5–6.5 x 4–6 mm, puberulous, green; petals 6, oval to ovate, 14–21 x 11–14 mm, white; androecium zygomorphic, a staminal lip present, the staminal ring with ca. 110–135 stamens, the filaments ca. 1.8 cm long, slightly clavate, longest on outside of ring on ligule side, the anthers 0.5 mm long, color not known, the hood curved, yellow, size and outer surface texture not known, with numerous vestigial stamens, the vestigial stamens swept inward, staminodes absent, anterior hood extension present, short; ovary (3-)4-locular, the ovary summit obconical (Oliveira 254), the ovules 4–8 per locule, inserted on basal septum, oblique, the style tapering to apex, oblique, 3–4 mm long, stylar collar absent. Fruits indehiscent, falling to ground with seeds inside, globose, 3–3.5 x 4–5 cm, the calyx-lobes sometimes persistent, erect, the infracalycine zone ca. 3–4.5 cm long, rounded to pedicel, the supracalycine zone 0.5–2 cm long, slanted inward, often with vertical striations, the pericarp 3–5 mm thick, smooth to rough, dark brown, the operculum umbonate, the umbo oblique. Seeds 1–3 per fruit, 3–4 x 2-3 cm (Freitas 726), hemispherical or wedge-shaped in cross section, the testa ca. 1 mm thick, reddish brown to dark brown, the primary veins nearly plane (Freitas 726) to salient (Oliveira 344), secondary veins absent (Freitas 726) to salient (Oliveira 344), light brown; aril absent.
Common names: Brazil: Jarana folha miúda.
Distribution: Known only from the vicinity of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Ecology: A canopy tree of nonflooded forest.
Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Jan, Apr, Sep, Nov, and Dec. Fruits have been collected in Feb, Mar, Apr, and Jul.
Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded but the diurnal flowers and flower color suggest bees as pollinators.
Dispersal: No reports of dispersal have been recorded. The fruits are indehiscent and fall to the ground with the seeds inside.
Predation: No observations recorded.
Field characters: Lecythis parvifructa can be identified by the combination of the following characters: fissured bark, the inner bark white to yellowish, without red streaks; pubescence on the petiole, midrib, inflorescence, hypanthium, and calyx lobes; relatively small leaves with blades that are papillate abaxially and have entire margins; the absence of mucilage ducts in the hypanthium; an androecial hood with swept in vestigial stamens that do not form a coil; and fruits that are small, indehiscent, and fall to the ground with the seeds inside. This species is sometimes confused with L. gracieana and other species of Lecythis, with similar flowers. Detailed discussions of the differences between L. parvifructa and L. gracieana, as well as other similar species, can be found in the field characters and taxonomic notes sections on the Lecythis gracieana species page.
Taxonomic notes: Similarities in the fruits (which are indehiscent) and leaves originally led Mori (Mori & Prance 1990) to believe that the closest relative of L. parvifructa was probably L. lurida. However, recent molecular data place L. parvifructain a subclade with L. gracieana and L. retusa that is within the larger Chartacea Clade (see Huang, 2010). For more information about these taxa, see the taxonomic notes section on the Lecythis gracieana species page.
Uses: No observations recorded.
Etymology: The name of this species is in reference to its fruit, which is one of the smallest in the genus.
Conservation: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable D2 ver 2.3 (Pires O'Brien, J. 1998. Lecythis parvifructa. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 17 February 2013.). Plantas Raras do Brasil: Rare.
Source: Mori in Mori & Prance (1990). Recent review (2012) of specimens at NY.
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Floras and Monographs
Lecythis parvifructa S.A.Mori: [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.
Lecythis parvifructa 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.
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Narratives
Inflorescence and flower morphology and anatomy of Lecythis parvifructa.
