Homalium racemosum Jacq.

  • Authority

    Sleumer, Hermann O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 22: 1-499. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Flacourtiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Homalium racemosum Jacq.

  • Type

    Type. Jacquin sn, Martinique, mouth of the river Capot. Apparently no authentic specimen preserved.

  • Synonyms

    Homalium racemosum var. barbellatum S.F.Blake, Homalium obtusatum Turcz., Homalium pedicellatum Spruce ex Benth., Homalium hondurense Donn & Sm., Homalium integrifolium Britton, Homalium columbianum S.F.Blake, Homalium eleutherostylum S.F.Blake, Homalium eurypetalum S.F.Blake, Homalium hemistylum S.F.Blake, Homalium leiogynum S.F.Blake, Homalium nicaraguense S.F.Blake, Homalium pittieri S.F.Blake, Homalium pleiandrum S.F.Blake, Homalium stenosepalum S.F.Blake, Homalium trichocladum S.F.Blake, Homalium riparium Standl., Homalium schippii Standl., Homalium anzoateguiense Steyerm., Homalium mituense Cuatrec.

  • Description

    Description - Shrub or generally tree up to 10, rarely 30 m tall; trunk up to 90 cm diam; bark grayish. Branchlets short pubescent, glabrescent, or glabrous from the beginning at tips, older parts early fuscous-corticate and set with small pale elliptic lenticels. Leaves oblong to elliptic, often narrowly so, sometimes ovate-, or even obovate-elliptic, apex attenuate or subacuminate with a blunt tip, base (broadly) cuneate to rounded, pergamentaceous to chartaceous, rarely subcoriaceous, rather shining on both sides, glabrous on both faces, or not rarely laxly short-hairy on midrib and lateral nerves on both faces, or beneath only, sometimes even softly tomentulose initially, occasionally conspicuously to fugaciously barbellate in the axils of the lateral nerves with the midrib beneath, rather coarsely crenate or crenate-serrate (teeth blunt, 1-1 mm), (4-)8-15 cm long, (3.5-)4.0-6.0 cm broad, lateral nerves 6-10 pairs, rather obscurely looping, prominent beneath, reticulation of veins and veinlets rather dense, finely raised on both faces especially beneath; petiole glabrous or pubescent, 38 (rarely -13) mm long. Racemes solitary, subterminal and from the upper axils, simple or shortly few-branched below, loosely flowered; rhachis slender, often puberulous, rarely quite glabrous, as are the pedicels, (4-)6.5-10.0(-12.0) cm long incl the peduncle (2-4 cm); pedicels slender, (l-)2-4(-8) mm long. Flowers white to greenish, odoriferous, (5-)6-7-merous. Bracteoles narrow-triangular, up to 1.5 mm long, rather caducous. Calyx tube turbinate, contracted to a short pediform base, slightly 6-7-sulcate, densely grayish-tomen-tellous as are the sepals and petals on both faces. Sepals lanceolate to ovate-oblong, acutish, (2.5-)3.0-3.5 mm long in anthesis, accrescent to 5 mm in fruit, ca 1.5 mm broad. Petals ovate, bluntish, with a strong dorsal midrib, 3.5-5 mm at, up to 6 mm long after anthesis, 2.5-3.5 mm broad. Glands gray-tomentellous. Stamens (2-)3-4 (rarely 5 or 6 per fascicle); filaments glabrous, or hairy up to the middle. Free part of ovary conical, densely hairy or sparsely villous, rarely subglabrous; styles 3, connate to a short column below (which is sometimes hidden by the hairs), glabrous distally. Capsule 1- or 2-seeded.

  • Discussion

    Wood strong, heavy and very hard, yellowish, used for construction.

    Homalium racemosum can hardly be distinguished from H. guianense in early bud state.

  • Distribution

    Widespread in Central America from Guatemala south¬wards, in the West Indies, and in South America down to E Peru and Brazil; usually in humid, rarely in dry, maybe riverine lowland forest, sometimes on temporarily inundated soil, rarely up to 1400 m alt.

    Guatemala Central America| Petén Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Toledo Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| Copán Honduras Central America| Olancho Honduras Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Zelaya Nicaragua Central America| Chontales Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Oriente Ecuador South America| Isla de Piños Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Santander Colombia South America| Boyacá Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Falcón Venezuela South America| Carabobo Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Barinas Venezuela South America| Mérida Venezuela South America| Apure Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America|