Gustavia speciosa (Kunth) DC.
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Family
Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Gustavia speciosa (Kunth) DC.
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Primary Citation
Prodr. (DC.) 3: 289. 1828
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Basionym
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Description
Author: Scott A. Mori
Type: Type. Colombia. Tolima: Near Mariquita, alt. 450 ft., without date (fl), Humboldt & Bonpland 1881 (holotype, P; isotypes, F neg. no. 38306, GH).
Description: Understory trees to 4-20 x 40 cm diam., with densely-leaved ovate crown. Bark nearly smooth, gray to brownish-gray. Stems 3-8 mm diam., the leaves loosely grouped at their ends, the petiole scars to 10 mm apart. Leaves present at flowering; petioles 20-80 x 2-3 mm, subterete in cross section; blades narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, 13-44 x 6-10 cm, chartaceous, glabrous, with very few scattered punctations abaxially, the base obtuse with slightly rounded margins, the margins entire, the apex tapered (not rounded) to apex, then long acuminate; venation eucamptrodromous toward base, brochidodromous toward apex, festoons present between adjacent secondaries, the midrib prominent adaxially, salient abaxially, the secondary veins in 13-22 pairs, 15-20 mm apart in middle of blade, plane to prominulous adaxially, prominent abaxially, intersecondary veins absent, the tertiary veins percurrent, arched tertiaries present near midrib, the higher order venation reticulate. Inflorescences usually terminal, racemose, with 3-10 fls, the rachis 2-7 cm long, glabrous to white-rusty tomentose; pedicels 30-90 mm long, densely pubescent to glabrous, subtended by an early-caducous, oblong to oblanceolate, cucullate bract 30 x 12 mm, bearing 2 ovate to narrowly ovate bracteoles, 2-7 x 3-4 mm, inserted from middle to directly below ovary. Flowers with pleasant aroma, 10-14(-18) cm diam.; hypanthium buff to rusty tomentose, calyx entire, undulate rim, or with 4 triangular, rounded, or irregularly incised lobes; petals 6(8), narrowly oblong, narrowly obovate, or lanceolate, tawny-tomentose in bud, puberulous at anthesis, usually white, occasionally tinged with rose abaxially; androecium actinomorphic, the connate staminal tube 9-17 mm high, light yellow, the outermost filaments 12-20(25) mm long, yellow toward apex, the anthers 2-3.5(-4) mm long, yellow; ovary smooth, (4)6-locular, the summit pubescent, with white, reticulately oriented tichomes, the style 1.5-3(4) mm long, oboconical, the stigma with 4-6 lobes. Fruits globose, 40-60 x 50-80 mm, the operculum dome-shaped, umbonate, the calycine ring persisting as irregular rim without distinguishable lobes. Seeds 1-4 per fruit, trigonous in cross section, 30-35 x 20-25 mm, surrounded by a yellow-white to yellow-orange pulp; aril and funicle not well-developed.
Common names: Colombia: chupo (Humboldt & Bonpland 1881, Nee & Mori 4239, Romero-Castañeda 7603). The common name is derived from the Spanish word chupar which alludes to sucking the pulp from the fruit.
Distribution: This species is native to the interandean valleys of Colombia. Collections previously identified as this species from Ecuador mostly represent G. serrata. The collection cited from Peru (Ducke 1841) in Prance and Mori (1979) is based on a cultivated plant that was probably introduced from Colombia. A single, fruiting collection (Palacios & Tirado 11133) has been gathered in Ecuador but the presence of this species needs to be confirmed with additional collections. Gustavia speciosa is frequently cultivated in the Magdalena Valley of Colombia.
Ecology: An understory tree of primary montane and submontane forest from 400 to 1100 m alt. but persisting in pastures and secondary forests and also found at lower elevations as a cultivated tree in back yeard gardens.
Phenology: Flowers have been collected in Feb, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Dec and ripe or nearly ripe fruits have been gathered in Jul, Sep, and Nov. In Mariquita in the Magdalena Valley of Colombia, fruit vendors informed me that fruits of this species reach the market twice each year, once in January and again in July and August.
Pollination: No observations recorded but the other species of Gustavia have been reported to be pollinated by buzz-pollinating bees (Mori & Boeke, 1987).
Dispersal: No observations recorded but animals presumably disperse the seeds directly or indirectly in the act of eating the pulp around the seeds.
Predation: No observations recorded.
Field characters: This species is characterized by its relatively small size as an understory tree; ovate, densely-leaved crown; well-developed petioles; oblanceolate leaf blades; terminal inflorescences, usually 6 but sometimes 8, mostly white petals; filaments yellow toward apices, and globose fruits with yellow-orange pulp.
Taxonomic notes: Mori in Prance & Mori (1979) recognized subsp. speciosa and subsp. occidentalis as belonging to this species. We now recognize these entities as separate species (Mori & Cornejo, in preparation).
Conservation: This species is not listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It, however, grows in highly threatened areas in Colombia but some individuals are still maintained in cultivation.
Uses: Gustavia speciosa is cultivated for the yellowish pulp that surrounds the seed which is either eaten raw or cooked with meat and or rice. Several trees of G. speciosa were observed by Mike Nee and myself in the back yards of residents of Mariquita, Colombia. Under certain conditions the pulp of G. speciosa may be somewhat toxic. Humboldt and Bonpland (in Kunth, 1824) reported that the skin of young children becomes yellowish after consuming too much pulp but that the color disappears after 24-48 hours without medical attention. Cardona Naranjo et al. (2010) report that the wood is used for stakes and for firewood and the fruits are consumed by pacas, agoutis and other small rodents.
Etymology: The species epithet refers to the beauty of this species.
Source: Based on Mori in Prance & Mori (1979).
Acknowledgements: We thank Julie Denslow and Phillip Silverstone-Sopkin for allowing us to use their images.
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Floras and Monographs
Gustavia speciosa (Kunth) DC.: [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
