Jacquinia macrantha Urb.
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Authority
Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Theophrastaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Jamaica, Trelawney: near Troy, 760 m, 7 Dec 1904. W. Harris 8817 (lectotype, NY. designated by Stahl, 1995, p. 499; isolectotype, F).
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Description
Species Description - Shrub to 3 m tall; young shoots and branchlets pale to dark brown, densely lepidote, trichomes with short, l(-2)-celled stalks and flattened, few- to many-celled heads. Leaves distinctly pseudoverticillate, straight, light green when dried; blade broadly elliptic to orbicular or obovate to broadly obovate, 2.5-9.5 x 1.8-5 cm, coriaceous, 0.5-0.6 mm thick, glabrous, base attenuate, apex rounded or obtuse, sometimes acute, without or with a rigid spine to 1 mm long, sides plane, margins entire, more or less revolute; midvein prominent beneath, slightly impressed above, lateral veins inconspicuous; both surfaces striate; extraxylary sclerenchyma arranged in distinct bundles, abaxial bundles 5-20 cells thick, separated from epidermis by 1 or 2 mesophyllous cells, adaxial bundles 10-30 cells thick, adjacent to a 1 -layered hypoderm; crystals abundant in epidermis and hypoderm, sparse in mesophyll; petiole 4-8 mm long, glabrous. Racemes solitary with 2-4 flowers; rachis to 1 mm long, glabrous; bracts 0.5-1 mm long, usually fused to lower part of pedicels for 3-5 mm; pedicels 18-25 mm long. Calyx lobes very broadly ovate, 5-6 x 6.5-7.5 mm, margins appressed to fruit, ciliate. Corolla yellowish white, narrowly urceolate; tube ca. 8 mm long, exceeding calyx by 2-3 mm; lobes oblong, 3.5-4 x 3.5-4 mm; staminodes ovate, 2.2-2.8 x 2.2-2.5 mm, rounded at apex. Pistil 6-7 mm long; ovules 100-120 in 5 or 6 rows. Filaments 2.2-3 mm long, glandular-punctate; anthers ca. 3 mm long. Fruits nitid, ellipsoid to suborbicular, 12-18 x 10-18 mm, pericarp 0.5 mm thick, surface more or less rugose. Seeds 2-4, slightly flattened, ellipsoid-oblong, 6.5-7.5 mm long, light brown.
Distribution and Ecology - Endemic to Jamaica (Fig. 55) on limestone in low forests and thickets at 375-800 m. Flowering Sep-Dec; fruiting May-Sep.
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Discussion
Jacquinia macrantha is easily recognized by its condensed racemes, large and long-pedicellate flowers, and proportionately longer corolla tube. Vegetatively, it is similar to J. armillaris, J. arborea, and J. clarendonensis, the last-mentioned species no doubt being its closest relative.
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Distribution
Manchester Jamaica South America| Trelawny Jamaica South America|