Jacquinia dichotoma 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. Haiti, Presqu ile du Nord-Ouest, Baie de Henne, W of the village, 10 Jul 1925, E. L. Ekman H4528 (lectotype, S, designated by Stâhl, 1995, p. 502; isolectotypes, A, F, G, IJ, K, NY, US).
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Description
Species Description - Shrub to 3 m tall; young shoots and branchlets reddish brown, densely puberulous-lepidote, trichomes irregular in shape, with short stalks of 1 cell and few-celled, more or less flattened or subconical heads. Leaves distinctly pseudoverticillate but often with only 2 at each node, straight, light green when dried; blade narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 1-2.2 x 0.2-0.4 cm, coriaceous and tough, 0.8-0.9 mm thick, glabrous, base attenuate, apex acute with a rigid spine 1-1.5 mm long, sides plane, margins thickened; midvein level with surfaces on both sides, lateral veins inconspicuous or invisible, lower surface striate, upper surface furrowed, both surfaces minutely papillose; extraxylary sclerenchyma adjacent to epidermis on both sides of blade, abaxially arranged in distinct bundles 30-70 cells thick, adaxially in bundles 70-120 cells thick; hypoderm lacking; crystals abundant in mesophyll, lacking in epidermis; petiole 0.5-1 mm long, papillose. Racemes solitary with 2-5 flowers; rachis to 4 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm thick, glabrous; bracts 0.5-1 mm long, inserted at nodes; pedicels 2-4 mm long. Calyx lobes very broadly ovate, 1.2 x 1.5-1.8 mm, margins subentire. Corolla yellowish, campanulate; tube 3 mm long, exceeding calyx by ca. 1.8 mm; lobes suborbicular, 2 x 1.8 mm; staminodes broadly ovate, I x 1.2 mm, truncate at apex. Stamen filaments ca. 0.8 mm long, glandular-punctate; anthers 1.2 mm long. Pistil ca. 2 mm long; ovules 30-40 in 3 or 4 rows. Fruits not seen.
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Discussion
Jacquinia dichotoma is similar to J. acunana in the kind of indumentum of young shoots, to J. aculeata in corolla color, and to Bonellia stenophylla in leaf shape. Like the other two Jacquinia species, the leaves of J. dichotoma are distinctly pseudoverticillate, although often only two leaves are present at each node. In addition, the leaf cuticle is papillose, a feature unknown in any other species of the genus, and the adaxial, foliar sclerenchyma is arranged in distinct bundles (vs. a continuous layer in the other three species).
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Distribution
NW Hispaniola (Fig. 57) in dry scrub on coastal, limestone cliffs. Known only from the type collection and may well be extinct.
Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America|