Corythophora rimosa W.A.Rodrigues subsp. rimosa

  • Family

    Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Corythophora rimosa W.A.Rodrigues subsp. rimosa

  • Description

    Author: Scott A. Mori & Ghillean T. Prance

    Type: Same as type of species.

    Description: Petals white, green, or yellow, inrolled at their margins.

    Common names: Brazil: castanha-rana, castanha jacaré.

    Distribution: This subspecies is endemic to central Amazonian Brazil.

    Ecology: A canopy tree of non-flooded forest.

    Phenology: This subspecies flowers most profusely from Apr to Aug (mid wet to early dry seasons) and drops its seeds from Aug to Dec (dry to early wet seasons (Prance and Mori, 1979). In the central Brazilian Amazon, C. rimosa subsp. rimosa flower and fruit at different times of the year. See Prance and Mori (1979) for further information on this phenological separation.

    Pollination: No information recorded but must likely pollinated by bees. The green petals at first made us believe that bats might be involved because the petals of the bat-pollinated Lecythis poiteaui are green. However, Mori has observed that the flowers of this subspecies open in the morning and fall in the late afternoon as do those of most bee-pollinated species of Lecythidaceae.

    Dispersal: No observations recorded but the basal aril is most likely sought after by bats for food and the seeds dispersed by them.

    Field characters: A canopy tree with a cylindric trunk; deep, vertically fissured bar, very thick outer bark, and red inner bark; reddish new stems; leaves with the secdondary veins impressed adaxially; green petals inrolled at their margins; campanulate, thickly woody fruits; and seeds with basal arils.

    Taxonomic notes: See notes for species

    Uses: None recorded

    Etymology: See entry for species.

    Acknowledgements: We are grateful to J. Dellome Filho for allowing us to use the line art to illustrate the characters of this species.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Corythophora rimosa W.A.Rodrigues subsp. rimosa: [Article] Mori, S. A. & Prance, Ghillean T. 1990. Lecythidaceae - Part II: The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Bertholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Lecythis). With a study of secondary xylem of Neotropical Lecythidaceae by Carl de Zeeuw. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21: 1-376.

  • Narratives

    Inflorescence and flower morphology and anatomy of Corythophora rimosa subsp. rimosa.

    Leaf morphology and anatomy of Corythophora rimosa subsp. rimosa.