Jacquinia arborea Vahl

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Theophrastaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Jacquinia arborea Vahl

  • Type

    Type. Montserrat. Without locality, s.d., D. Ryan s.n. (lectotype, C, designated by Stahl, 1992, p. 59; isolectotypes, BM, C, L, LE).

  • Synonyms

    Jacquinia armillaris var. arborea (Vahl) Griseb., Jacquinia berteroi Spreng., Jacquinia barbasco (Loefl.) Mez, Jacquinia armillaris Jacq., Jacquinia revoluta Jacq.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or small tree to 5 m, rarely taller; young shoots and branchlets greyish brown, densely lepidote, trichomes with short or very short stalks of 1 or 2 cells and usually few-celled, more or less flattened heads. Leaves pseudoverticillate, sometimes indistinctly so, straight, usually light green when dried; blade broadly obovate to obovate, 3-8(-12) x 1.5-4(-5) cm, coriaceous and mostly very tough, 0.5-0.7 mm thick, seemingly glabrous, base attenuate, apex rounded or retuse, sometimes obtuse, without or rarely with a rigid spine to 0.5 mm long, sides occasionally somewhat recurved, margins more or less revolute; midvein prominent beneath, somewhat impressed or level with surface above, lateral veins rather inconspicuous; lower surface striate, often vaguely so, or smooth, upper surface smooth or vaguely striate; extraxylary sclerenchyma arranged in distinct bundles 8-30 cells thick, abaxially separated from epidermis by ca. 3 mesophyllous cells, adaxially adjacent to a 1-layered hypoderm; crystals abundant throughout blade; petiole 2.5-7 mm long, sparsely to densely lepidote, sometimes subglabrous. Racemes solitary with 7-25(-40) flowers; rachis (1.5-) 3-6(-12) cm long, 1-1.6 mm thick, lepidote in axils and at nodes; bracts 1-1.5 mm long, inserted at nodes or fused to pedicels for 1-2 mm; pedicels 7-13 mm long. Calyx lobes very broadly ovate or suborbicular, 2.2-3.2 x 2.5-3.2 mm, margins appressed to fruit, entire or very vaguely erose. Corolla white or yellowish white, campanulate; tube 4-5 mm long, exceeding calyx by 1.2-3 mm; lobes broadly oblong, 2.8-4 x 2.5-3.5 mm; staminodes very broadly oblong to ovate, 1.8-3 x 2-3 mm, rounded or retuse at apex. Filaments 1-1.8 mm long, glandular-punctate; anthers 1.7-2 mm long. Pistil 3.2-3.8 mm long; ovules 70-90(-125) in 4-6 rows. Fruits reddish orange or red, nitid, subglobose, 7-11 mm diam., pericarp 0.2-0.3 mm thick, surface smooth or slightly rugose. Seeds 2-4(-6), often somewhat flattened, oblong to elliptic, 3-5 mm long, light brown or brown.

    Distribution and Ecology - Jamaica, S and E Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, Tobago, S Dutch Antilles, and islands off Caribbean coasts of Mexico (Isla Cozumel) and Honduras (Islas de la Bahía) (Fig. 53) in dry coastal formations rarely bove 100 m. Flowering Dec-Mar; fruiting Mar-Oct.

  • Discussion

    Material of Jacquinia arborea has often been cited under the name of J. armillaris. However, J. arborea is clearly distinguished by its longer and coarser, many-flowered racemes and entire calyx margins that remain appressed to the fruits (Stâhl, 1992).

    Considering its wide Caribbean distribution, J. arborea is expected to occur also in the Cayman Islands and along the southern coast of Cuba. A specimen from Grand Cayman referred to J. arborea by Proctor (1984) belongs to J. proctorii. A collection from Cuba (A. Jamain s.n.) was cited under J. barbasco by Mez (1903a). No material of this collection has been traced with certainty, but a specimen of J. berteroi in W may well be part of it.

  • Common Names

    bizcocho, boticambo, bois casse-cou, bois de falaises, torchwood, mata di piscá, palu huku, steenhout, stielgom

  • Distribution

    Quintana Roo Mexico North America| Islas de la Bahía Honduras Central America| Clarendon Jamaica South America| Manchester Jamaica South America| Portland Jamaica South America| Westmoreland Jamaica South America| La Altagracia Dominican Republic South America| El Seibo Dominican Republic South America| La Romana Dominican Republic South America| Pedernales Dominican Republic South America| Samaná Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Saint Ann Jamaica South America| Saint Catherine Jamaica South America| Saint Elizabeth Jamaica South America| Saint Mary Jamaica South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America| Santo Domingo Dominican Republic South America| Trelawny Jamaica South America| Anguilla South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Montserrat South America| Saba South America| Saint Barthélemy South America| Sint Eustatius South America| Saint Kitts Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Saint Martin South America| Aruba South America| Bonaire South America| Curaçao South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Dependencias Federales Venezuela South America| Dependencias Federales Venezuela South America| Barbados South America| Dominica South America| Grenada South America| Guadeloupe South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint George Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America|