Grias L.
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Family
Lecythidaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Grias L.
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Primary Citation
Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) 1075. 1759
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Description
Description: Understorey to canopy trees, pachycaul growth form. Leaves clustered at branch ends on stout twigs, large-sized (35-170 cm long), glabrous to very sparsely puberulous in G. multinervia; secondary venation reticulate. Inflorescences cauline or infrequently axillary (e.g., G. colombiana), fasciculate or racemose, growth of rachises determinate. Flowers present with leaves, actinomorphic, fleshy; sepals absent (then calyx entire or irregularly split) or 4 (only in G. neuberthii); petals 4, flat at apices; androecium a narrow, fleshy tube, the stamens on slanted margen of tube, curved inward, but not reflexed as in Allantoma, the anthers laterally dehiscent; 4-locular, ovules 2-4 per locule, pendent, attached to septum at apex of locule; style lacking or very short, without stylar collar. Fruit indehiscent, dropping to ground at maturity, fusiform or ovoid, the pericarp soft at maturity, thick. Seeds not winged, one per fruit, fusiform, not flattened, not embedded in pulp (i.e., seeds easily removed from pulp), the testa glabrous; funicle inconspicuous, straight and white, or expanded, yellow and contorted; cotyledons absent; embryo macropodial.
Distribution: From Belize into NW South America as far S as Ecuador, in western Amazonia, and in Jamaica.
Number of species: There are seven species of Grias.
Taxonomic notes: A monophyletic genus defined by its 4 petals, fleshy androecium, stamens arising from different levels of the slanted rim, and single-seeded fruits. The monophylly of Grias is supported by molecular data (Mori et al., 2007).
Etymology: The name is derived from the Greek and means "to eat or gnaw" and refers to the edible fruits of at least some species of the genus.
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Floras and Monographs
Grias L.: [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
