Cariniana pyriformis Miers

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Cariniana pyriformis Miers

  • Primary Citation

    Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 290. 1874

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori & Ghillean T. Prance

    Type: Colombia. Córdoba, Plato Río Sinu, Anthoine s.n. (holotype, K)

    Description: Trees, to 50 m tall. Bark lightly fissured. Stems sparsely puberulous when young, becoming glabrous with age. Leaves red when young: petioles 3-4 mm long, puberulous, canaliculate, not winged; blades lanceolate to oblong 4.5-7.5 x 2-3.2 cm, glabrous abaxially, with domatia at junction with midrib abaxially, the domatia with long trichomes along margin of entrance , the base broadly subcuneate, not decurrent, the margins crenate, the apex acuminate or cuspidate, the acumen 5-20 mm long, straight; secondary veins in 18-22 pairs, the midrib prominent on both surfaces, the higher order veins prominulous on both surfaces. Inflorescences terminal panicles 6-12 cm long, the rachis and branches tomentellous; pedicels 0.5-1.2 mm long, tomentellous. Flowers: calyx ca 3 mm long, the lobes triangular, tomentellous abaxially; petals oblong-lanceolate, 7-9 x 2-3 mm, rose to red; androecium ca 2 mm diam., white, the stamens ca. 50, erect, attached mainly to top of androecium, the anthers globose; style short. Fruits 7-8 x 4.5-5.5 cm, conical, the supracalycine zone 1.5-2 cm wide, the pericarp at least 1.2 cm thick, the operculum with triangular columella, 6-7 cm long. Seeds 8-24 per fruit (average = 15 fide Betancur & Raigosa, 1971), 1.3 x 0.7 cm, brown, with long unilateral wing.

    Common names: Colombia: abarco (Cardona Naranjo et al. [2010]), chibuga. Venezuela: bacú. English: Colombian mahagony.

    Distribution: Extreme northwestern South America in Colombia and the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela. In Colombia, this species occurs in the northern Chocó, the Cauca-Magdalena watershed, and in the region of Catatumbo (Calderón et al., 2002). It has been recently collected in Panama (Garibaldi Collections from other countries are most likely misidentifications or made from cultivated individuals.

    Ecology: Labels indicate that C. pyriformis is a species of lowland wet forest from near sea level to ca. 800 meters. Judging from label data, it prefers non-flooded forests.

    Phenology: Flowering specimens have been collected in May and Sep in Colombia and Dec and May in Colombia. A number of empty fruits have been collected from the ground but they are so rot resistent that it is not possible to say anything about when the seeds are dispersed based on the dates of their collection. Betancur and Raigosa (1973) state that the fruiting season of C. pyriformis in the Colombian Chocó is from Nov to Apr. Calderón et al. (2002) report that it flowers in Colombia in August and September and fruits between October and May.

    Pollination: There are no reports of pollination for this species

    Dispersal: The seeds are dispersed by the wind. Seed germination rates as high as 95% have been reported (Betancur & Raigosa, 1971).

    Predation: No observations recorded.

    Field characters: This species is characterized by crenate to serrate, undulate leaf blade margins; domatia in the axils of the secondary veins, these lined by trichomes; rose-colored petalsll; and narrowly turbinate, very thick-walled fruits. When the leaves are newly flushed they are red (Cardona Naranjo, 2010).

    Taxonomic notes: Cariniana pyriflormis is morphologically similar to C. domestica, C. micrantha, C. penduliflora, and Cariniana rubra of the Amazon Basin.

    Conservation: This species is classified as at Lower Risk/near threatened ver 2.3 in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2012.1). According to Cardona Naranjo et al. (2010), Çariniana pyriformis is threatened by over exploitation by local foresters because of its valuable timber and by the clear cutting of forests for agricultural fields and for cattle pastures.

    Uses: All species of Cariniana are valuable timber trees and C. pyriformis is no exception. Calderón et al. (2002) report that the timber is very resistent to decay and is in great demand but is not readily available because of the over harvest of natural populations. They add that the fibrous inner bark is used in rustic construction and in the fabrication of crafts. Betancur and Raigosa (1971) provide useful information about seed storage and germination rates of this species and Cardona Naranjo et al. (2010) state that the wood is used in house construction, for making tool handles, and for firewood. Because this species produces excellent timber, it is preferentially used in reforestation projects (Cardona Naranjo, 2010).

    Etymology: Although not stated in the protologue, the epithet pyriformis most likely alludes to the pear-shaped fruits.

    Source: Prance in Prance and Mori (1979) and Cardona Naranjo et al. (2010).

    Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Y.-Y. Huang for allowing us to use her image to illustrate the characters of this species.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Cariniana pyriformis Miers: [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.

  • Narratives

    SEM of a pollen grain of Carininiana pyriformis. Photo by J. Muler.