Agonandra obtusifolia Standl.
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Authority
Hiepko, Paul H. 2000. Opiliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 82: i-iv + 1-53. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Opiliaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Mexico. Tamaulipas: Vic. Victoria, 320 m, 1 May-13 Jun 1907 (fr), Palmer 421 (holotype: US572649; isotypes: K, MO, NY).
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or small tree, 1-5(-8) m tall, often compact with many lateral branches and stiff, thornlike branchlets; bark dark gray, fissured; young branches pubescent or finely puberulous. Leaves coriaceous, often hard and wrinkled when dry, elliptic to narrowly oblong, ovate or obovate, (2-)3-4(-6) × (0.7-)l-2 cm, the apex obtuse or slightly mucronulate, the base attenuate; midrib prominulous on both sides; lateral veins 2-3(-4) per side, steeply ascending, prominulous above or rather obscure on both sides; petiole pubescent (sometimes also lower part of midrib beneath pubescent) or puberulous to more or less glabrous, 2-4 mm long. Racemes axillary, sometimes on defoliated nodes, l-2(-3) per axil; cf racemes 0.5-1.5 cm; [female] racemes 0.4-0.7 cm long, rachis finely puberulous to minutely papillate; flower 1 per bract; bracts broadly ovate, 1-1.5 mm wide, ciliolate, without bracteoles. Pedicels minutely papillate to finely puberulous like the rachis or glabrous; flowers glabrous, cf flowers: pedicels 1-1.5 mm long; tepals oblong, acute, 2 mm long; stamens 2.5-3(-4) mm long; anthers oval, 0.5-1 mm long; disk lobes thinly fleshy, ca. 1 mm long, the apex irregularly toothed; rudimentary pistil cylindric with capitate stigma, ca. 1 mm long. 9 flowers: pedicels 1-1.5 mm long in flower, 3-4.5 (-6) mm long in fruit, cylindrical or slightly thicker toward apex; tepals narrowly triangular, ca. 1 mm long; disk annular, fleshy, the margin slightly undulating, ca. 0.3 mm high; pistil ovoidal, ca. 1 mm long; stigma cushion-shaped. Drupe dark yellow, 8-18 × 5-12 mm.
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Discussion
Agonandra obtusifolia is usually much smaller than A. racemosa, and often grows as a compact shrub with stiff, thornlike branches. The racemes are very short and the rachis is usually finely puberulous, whereas the flowers are glabrous. When Standley (1920) described this species, he described A. conzattii in the same paper, stating that it "is related to A. obtusifolia more closely than to A. racemosa. It differs chiefly in the size of the fruit." Whereas A. obtusifolia is widely distributed in Mexico, A. conzattii occurs only in the southern part of this range, usually at higher elevations. Since both taxa intergrade in the contact zone, I prefer to treat them as subspecies of a single species.
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Distribution
Mexico, from Tamaulipas and Guanajuato to Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Chiapas; on sand dunes and in seasonally dry deciduous forest or thorny thickets, often in hedgerows; 0-1900 m. Flowering Oct-Jun; fruiting Mar-Jul.
Tamaulipas Mexico North America| Mexico North America| Guanajuato Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Puebla Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America|