Lecythis rorida O.Berg

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori & Nathan P. Smith

    Type: Brazil. Amazonas. Prope Barra [Manaus], Rio Negro, Sep 1851 (fl), R. Spruce 1757 (isotype, NY).

    Description: Trees, to 8 m tall, the trunk and buttresses not known. Bark fissured, the inner bark thick, red. Stems glabrous. Leaves: petioles 0.8–1.2 cm long, slightly canaliculate, glabrous; blades widely elliptic, ca. 8–13.5 x 4.5–8 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, papillate abaxially, the base cuneate to rounded, the margins entire, the apex mucronate; venation brochidodromous to weakly eucamptodromous, the midrib prominent adaxially, salient, glabrous, and usually square (in cross section, when dry) abaxially, the secondary veins in 10-13 pairs, intersecondary veins present, inconspicuous, the tertiary veins reticulate. Inflorescences terminal, racemose, with 1 order of branching, the rachis 7–8.5 cm long, angular, glabrous or puberulent (Mori 27278); pedicel/hypanthium ca. 1–2 mm long below articulation, 3–4 mm long above articulation, the bract and bracteoles not known. Flowers when leaves present, ca. 3.5 cm diam. (Mori 27276); hypanthium truncate, sulcate, finely rugose, glabrous, green, longitudinally oriented mucilage-bearing ducts absent; calyx-lobes 6, ovate, imbricate, glabrous, green; petals 6, glabrous, white; androecium zygomorphic, a staminal lip present, the staminal ring with numerous stamens, the filaments clavate, white, the anthers yellow, the hood curved, outer surface texture mostly smooth, white except for yellow near entrance (Mori 27276), with numerous vestigial stamens, the vestigial stamens proximal and distal, swept inward, yellow, staminodes sometimes present in proximal region of hood, hood extensions present, sometimes poorly developed (see Prance 15000); ovary 4-locular, the ovary summit truncate, the ovules 3-4 per locule (see Prance 15000), inserted on basal septum, oblique, the style tapering to apex, oblique, stylar collar absent. Fruits usually indehiscent, turbinate, 4–6.2 x 4–5 cm, the calyx-lobes persistent, woody, not reflexted, the infracalycine zone 3–4.5 cm long, truncate to rounded to pedicel, the supracalycine zone 1–1.8 cm long, slightly rounded to operculum, the pericarp ca. 4 mm thick, smooth, brown. Seeds 3 per fruit (Mori 20428), 2.5–3.2 x 1.6–2.1 cm, the testa ca. 1 mm thick, dark brown, the veins salient, very dark brown; aril absent or poorly developed.

    Common names:: Venezuela: Coco de mono (Stergios D. 15352).

    Distribution: Known only from flooded forest along the Rio Negro (northwest of Manaus, Amazonas) and Rio Branco (Roraima) in Brazil, and two collections from Venezuela.

    Ecology: A small tree of flooded forests.

    Phenology: Flowers of this species have been collected in Aug, Sep, Oct, and Nov. Fruits have been collected in Jan, Feb, Jun, and Jul.

    Pollination: No reports of pollination have been recorded but the yellow flower color at the entrance of the hood suggests bees are the pollinators.

    Dispersal: This species has indehiscent frutis that fall intact and are dispersed by water.

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: This species can be recognized based on the following: the habitat it occurs in (flooded forest) and its relatively small size (to 8 m); leaves that are coriaceous with papillae on the abaxial blade surface; flowers that lack mucilage ducts and have a hood with swept in vestigial stamens but no coil; fruits that are indehiscent with one or a few seeds; and seeds with salient veins.

    Taxonomic notes: Currently thi species is a synonym of L. chartacea.

    Conservation: Not on IUCN Red List. This species is known from relatively few collections. More fieldwork is needed to determine its distribution and how common it is in certain areas.

    Uses: No observations recorded.

    Etymology:

    Source: A recent reveiw of specimens at NY (2012).

  • Narratives

    Inflorescence and flower morphology and anatomy of Lecythis rorida.

    Leaf morphology and anatomy of Lecythis rorida.