Jacquinia clarendonensis Stearn
-
Authority
Ståhl, Bertil. 2010. Theophrastaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 105: 1-160. (Published by NYBG Press)
-
Family
Theophrastaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Synonyms
Jacquinia macrantha var. clarendonensis Stearn
-
Description
Species Description - Shrub to 3 m tall; young shoots and branchlets light to dark brown, densely lepidote, trichomes with short stalks of 1 cell and usually flattened, few-celled heads. Leaves distinctly pseudoverticillate, straight, light green when dried; blade obovate or broadly ob-ovate, 1.8-5 x 1.2-2.7 cm, coriaceous, 0.5-0.55 mm thick, usually very tough, glabrous, base attenuate, apex rounded or obtuse, sometimes truncate, without or with a spine to 1 mm long, sides often somewhat recurved from midvein, margins revolute; midvein prominent beneath, somewhat impressed above, lateral veins inconspicuous or invisible; lower surface smooth or very vaguely striate, upper surface vaguely striate; extra-xylary sclerenchyma arranged in bundles 5-25 cells thick, abaxial bundles separated from epidermis by 2 or 3 mesophyll cells, adaxial bundles adjacent to a 1-layered hypoderm; crystals sparse throughout blade; petiole 1-2(-3) mm long, glabrous. Racemes solitary with 3 or 4 flowers; rachis to 1 mm long, glabrous; bracts ca. 0.5 mm long, fused to lower parts of pedicels for 1-3 rnm; pedicels 10-12 mm long. Calyx lobes ovate, 3-4.5 x 3-3.5 mm, margins ciliate. Corolla yellowish white, narrowly urceolate; tube 7 mm long, exceeding calyx by 3-3.5 mm; lobes oblong, 2.8-3.5 x 3-4 mm; staminodes very broadly ovate, 2.2 x 2 tom, rounded at apex. Pistil 5 mm long; ovules 40-30 in 3 or 4 rows. Stamens with filaments 1.8-2 mm long. glandular-punctate; anthers ca. 2.5 mm long. Fruits not seen.
Distribution and Ecology - Endemic to Jamaica (Fig. 55) and confined to limestone areas of the interior in low forests and scrub at 640-1050 m. Flowering Dec-Jan.
-
Discussion
Jacquinia clarendonensis was first described as a variety of J. macrantha (Adams, 1972). However, it is distinct enough to be recognized as a separate species that differs from J. macrantha by having shorter petioles, smaller flowers, shorter pedicels, longer ciliae on the calyx margins, and fewer ovules per ovary. Differences in leaf shape and venation, stressed by Steam (1992) as important diagnostic characters, are not reliable for separating these two species.
-
Distribution
Portland Jamaica South America| Saint Andrew Jamaica South America| Saint Ann Jamaica South America| Clarendon Jamaica South America|