Paratecoma peroba (Record) Kuhlm.
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Authority
Gentry, Alwyn H. 1992. Bignoniaceae--part II (Tribe Tecomeae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25: 1-370. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Brazil. Espírito Santo: Colatina, Rio Doce, 30 m, 3 Jul 1918 (fr), Whitford & Silveira 59 (holotype, Y (now MAD?), n.v.; isotypes, K, MO, NY, P, US).
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Synonyms
Tecoma peroba Record, Paratecoma diandra Kuhlm.
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Description
Species Description - Emergent tree to 40 m or more tall and 150 cm dbh., the branchlets terete, finely striate, glabrate. Leaves 5-7-foliolate, the leaflets 2.5-14 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, oblanceolate-oblong to narrowly elliptic, acute to long-acuminate, the base rounded, margins serrate, lepidote, slightly sub-puberulous near base of midvein above, usually pubescent with simple trichomes in axils of lateral nerves below, otherwise glabrous, the midvein immersed above, raised below, the secondary veins and finer venation very slightly raised, macroscopically not accentuated, microscopically conspicuously tannish or orangish and almost cartilaginous-translucent, the leaf drying blackish or dark olive; petiolules 1-5 cm long, deeply sulcate, petiole 4.5-12 cm long, grooved above, subpuberulous in groove. Inflorescence a terminal panicle, the branches minutely and usually sparsely puberulous. Flowers white, the calyx broadly campanulate, 2-4 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, more or less truncate, minutely 5-denticulate, the teeth extended as ribs along side of calyx, puberulous; corolla salverform-tubular, 2-4.5 cm long, 0.4-1 cm wide at mouth of tube, the lobes ca. 5 mm long, puberulous outside, more or less glabrous inside; stamens two, inserted 1-2 cm above base of corolla tube, subexserted, the anther thecae 2.5 mm long, the filaments 1-2 cm long, the posterior staminode 1.5-2 mm long, the more anterior pair ca. 2 mm long, the staminodes inserted below stamens: pistil 2.5-4 cm long, the style puberulous except at top, the ovary oblong-tetragonal, 4-ridged, ca. 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, lepidote; disk pulvinate-cupular, 1 mm long, 1 mm wide. Fruit fusiform-linear, subterete, the valves very thick (ca. 3 mm), 14-32 cm long, 1.2-2.5 cm wide, tapering gradually to apex and very gradually to narrow base, inconspicuously lepidote, otherwise glabrous, drying black with extremely conspicuous large whitish lenticels; seeds bialate, ca. 1 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, the wings membranaceous.
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Discussion
Now almost extinct, this species was once the most important timber tree of the Rio de Janeiro area, where it was used for fine furniture and interior trim (Kuhlmann, 1931; Record & Hess, 1940). Paratecoma is the only South American Bignoniaceae with only two fertile stamens. It also differs from Tabebuia in the different flower shape and woodier fruit and from most Tabebuia species in the serrate mature leaflets.
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Common Names
ipe, peroba, peroba, peroba amarella, peroba tremida, peroba manchada
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Objects
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Distribution
Rio Doce area of coastal Brazil; below 50 m elevation.
Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America|