Deherainia

Authority

Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family

Theophrastaceae

Scientific Name

Deherainia

Type

Type. Deherainia smaragdina (Planchón ex Linden) Decaisne.

Description

Genus Description - Shrubs or small trees, moderately to richly branched, stems unarmed. Leaves pseudoverticillate, mediumsized, short-petiolate, acute at apex but not spine-tipped, glabrous or glandular-pilose; margins entire; extraxylary sclerenchyma abundant, arranged in subepidermal bundles; crystals present in epidermis, druses in mesophyll. Racemes terminal, mostly few-flowered or flowers solitary, borne singly or in small groups; bracts narrowly lanceolate, inserted at junction of pedicel and rachis. Flowers 5-merous, bisexual. Calyx greenish, lobes suborbicular, margins erose. Corolla green, broadly campanulate, glandular-punctate, lobes broadly ovate to suborbicular, margins eventually somewhat deflexed. Stamens at beginning of anthesis coherent, eventually spreading, filaments glandular-punctate; anthers broadly oblong, truncate at apex. Staminodes inconspicuous, obtrullate, ± flattened, inserted at mouth of corolla tube. Ovary ovoid, style somewhat longer than ovary, stigma discoid; ovules many, densely set in several series. Fruits yellow, ovoid, tapering towards apex, glabrous, pericarp thin and brittle. Seeds irregularly obtuse-angled, pale brown, completely or almost completely embedded in placental pulp.

Discussion

This genus of two species was named in honor of the French botanist, chemist, and agronomist, Pierre Paul Déhérain (1830-1902), professor of plant physiology and, at one time, assistant at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

Distribution

E Mexico to Costa Rica, but not yet recorded from Nicaragua.

Mexico North America| Belize Central America| Guatemala Central America| Honduras Central America| El Salvador Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America|