Miconia paleacea Cogn.

  • Family

    Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Miconia paleacea Cogn.

  • Primary Citation

    Monogr. Phan. 7: 757. 1891

  • Description

    Description Author and Date: Frank Almeda, based on Almeda, F. (2009). Melastomataceae. In: G. Davidse, M. Sousa-Sânchez, S. Knapp, & F. Chiang (eds.), Flora Mesoamericana: Cucurbitaceae a Polemoniaceae. 4(1): 164-338.

    Type: Holotype: Costa Rica, Wendland s.n. (GOET).

    Description: Shrubs or small trees 1-4(-6) m tall, the distal branchlets, petioles, basal portions of elevated leaf veins beneath, and inflorescences moderately to densely beset with stiff reflexed basally flattened hairs (2-)4-10 mm long underlain with soft, matted wool-like hairs. Leaves 5-nerved, ovate to elliptic-ovate, (20-)25-40(-46) X (10-)16-30 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely and deciduously beset with matted wool-like hairs on the secondry and higher order veins but glabrous on the actual surface, apex acuminate, base rounded to obtuse, the margin crenulate-denticulate; petioles 3-5 cm long. Panicle 4-20 cm long, the sessile 5-merous flowers aggregated in congested glomerules terminating the branchlets, the persistent bracteoles narrowly lanceolate, 3-6 X 0.2-1.5 mm long. Hypanthia moderately and deciduously beset with stellulate and/or shaggy hairs when young; calyx tube 0.5 mm long, the depressed-semicircular to undulate lobes ca. 0.25 mm long, the exterior teeth bluntly tuberculate but concealed by the densely setose pubescence that extends externally to the toral zone. Petals oblong-obovate, papillose-granulose abaxially, glandular-ciliolate marginally towards the base, 2-3(-4) X 1.5-2 mm. Stamens unequal in size; anthers subulate, alternately 4.5-5 nd 3.5-4.5 mm long, the larger with a ventrally inclined pore, the smaller with a dorsally inclined pore; connective thickened dorsally, not prolonged, simple or obscurely bilobulate ventro-basally. Style glabrous, 4 mm long; stigma clavate and barely expanded; ovary 3-locular, 1/3 inferior, apex sparingly glandular puberulent; berry 4-6 X 4-6 mm, red-purple at maturity. Seeds ovoid, complexly costate-tuberculate, 0.5 mm long.

    Habitat and Distribution: Local and uncommon, rain forest. 0-1000 m. Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. BELIZE (Schipp 1253, NY); HONDURAS (Croat & Hannon 64593, CAS); NICARAGUA (Stevens & Moreno 19330, CAS); COSTA RICA (Almeda et al. 7015, CAS)

    Taxonomy and Systematics: The abaxial leaf surfaces of this species are often purple-red like those of M. calvescens. Gleason (1940) described the flowers of this species as 6-merous but the numerous flowers examined on specimens from throughout the range are all 5-merous.

    Notes: [Description based only on Mesoamerican specimens.]

  • Sorry, no descriptions available for this record.