Agonandra fluminensis Rizzini & Occhioni

  • Authority

    Hiepko, Paul H. 2000. Opiliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 82: i-iv + 1-53. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Opiliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Agonandra fluminensis Rizzini & Occhioni

  • Type

    Type. Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Magé, Valedas Pedrinhas, 15 Jul 1975 ([male] fl), Occhioni 7609 = R.F.A. 17171 (holotype: RFA).

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub, 3-5 m tall, glabrous. Leaves chartaceous, narrowly elliptic to oblong, 5-10 × 1.5-2.7 cm, the apex acuminate to acute, the base cuneate; midrib prominulous above, at least in the lower half of the lamina, prominent beneath; lateral veins 5-8 per side, curved-ascending, very slender and inconspicuous on both sides; tertiary venation not visible; petiole 2-5 mm long. Racemes axillary, 1-2 per axil, 1.5-2.5 cm long; rachis glabrous to partly minutely papillate, (2-)3 flowers per bract; bracts very broadly angular-ovate, 0.7 mm long, 1 mm broad, ciliolate at apex, with 2 minute bracteoles at the base of the pedicels of the lateral flowers. Pedicels and flowers glabrous, pedicels 1-1.5 mm long, cf flowers: tepals oblong, acute, ca. 1 mm long; stamens 1.5 mm long; anthers oval, ca. 0.5 mm long; disk lobes obtuse, 0.5 mm long, sometimes fused at the base; rudimentary pistil thinly cylindric with slightly capitate stigma, slightly longer than the disk lobes. ? flowers: not seen. Drupe not seen.

  • Discussion

    Agonandra fluminensis is characterized by a combination of several characters, some of which it shares with various other species of the genus. The inflorescences are composed of (2-)3 flowers per bract like those of A. brasiliensis subsp. brasiliensis but differ in the absence of pubescence of rachis and flowers typical for A. brasiliensis. The glabrous (or partly papillose) rachis of the inflorescence of A. fluminensis is a feature reminiscent of A. silvatica. The flowers of Agonandra fluminensis are rather similar to those of A. excelsa, but the obtuse disk lobes are mostly totally free as shown in the illustration of Occhioni (1975: fig. ID; see also Fig. 5B), and in A. excelsa we always find only one flower per bract. The leaves of A. excelsa are extremely variable in size and shape, but they are never acuminate like those of A. fluminensis. Furthermore, unlike that of A. fluminensis, the secondary and tertiary venation of the leaves of A. excelsa is usually clearly visible.

    Rizzini and Occhioni (in Occhioni, 1975) described and illustrated (fig. 1C) the flower buds as globose. There are indeed some globose buds besides the normal obovoidal flower buds, but this atypical structure is obviously caused by gall inducers.

  • Distribution

    Known only from the type, a shrub growing in somewhat disturbed primary forest. The flowering [male] specimen was gathered in July.

    Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Brazil South America|