Agonandra macrocarpa L.O.Williams

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Opiliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Agonandra macrocarpa L.O.Williams

  • Type

    Type. Honduras. Francisco Morazán: Río de La Orilla, SW of El Zamorano, base of Cerro Majicarán, 750-800 m, 12 Apr 1950 ([female] fl, fr), Standley 25878 (holotype: Fl374805; isotypes: F, MO, NY, U).

  • Synonyms

    Agonandra loranthoides L.O.Williams

  • Description

    Species Description - Small tree or shrub, 3-10(-15) m tall; bark gray-brown with deep fissures; young branches obscurely papillate-puberulent. Leaves coriaceous, often hard and wrinkled when dry, elliptic to narrowly ovate to rhombic, (2-)3-5.5(-7) × 1-3 cm, the apex obtuse, the base attenuate; midrib flat above, prominulous beneath; lateral veins 3-4 per side, steeply ascending, rather obscure on both sides; petiole glabrous, 4-7(-10) mm long. Racemes axillary, often on defoliated nodes, 1-4 per axil; [male] racemes 1-2.5 cm, the [female] racemes 0.5-1 cm long, the rachis minutely papillate or glabrous, 1 flower per bract; bracts crescent-shaped, 1.5 mm wide, ciliolate, without bracteoles. Pedicels minutely papillate like the rachis; flowers glabrous, cf flowers: pedicels 1.5-2 mm long; tepals oblong, acute, 2-2.5 mm long; stamens 3-4 mm long; anthers oval, 0.5 mm long; disk lobes thinly fleshy, ca. 1 mm long, the apex irregularly toothed; rudimentary pistil cylindric with capitate stigma, ca. 1 mm long. [female] flowers: pedicels 1.5-2 mm long in flower, 5-7 mm long and slightly thicker toward apex in fruit; tepals more or less triangular, ca. 1 mm long; disk annular, fleshy, the margin undulating, ca. 0.3 mm high; pistil ovoidal, ca. 1 mm long; stigma cushion-shaped. Drupe greenish, 1.8-2.1 (to 3 cm in fresh material) × 14-1.9 cm.

  • Discussion

    "The fruit of this tree is much sought for by the deer and many thousands of them are killed under these trees" {Gaumer 23609).

    Agonandra macrocarpa is characterized by its glabrous or finely papillate racemes forming consistently only one flower per bract. The drupes are much bigger than those of A. racemosa and the apex of the leaves is obtuse rather than acute or shortly acuminate as in A. racemosa.

  • Common Names

    pakalché, palo de melón

  • Distribution

    Mexico: Yucatan Peninsula; central Honduras, W Nicaragua, and NW Costa Rica; in seasonally very dry deciduous or semideciduous forest; 50-900 m. Flowering Dec-Apr; fruiting Feb-May.

    Mexico North America| Quintana Roo Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Honduras Central America| Comayagua Honduras Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Managua Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Alajuela Costa Rica Central America| Guanacaste Costa Rica Central America|