Jacquinia berteroi Spreng.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Theophrastaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Jacquinia berteroi Spreng.

  • Type

    Type. Hispaniola ( S. Domingo ), C. G. Bertero s.n. (lectotype, M, designated by Stâhl, 1995, p. 496; isolectotypes, G-DC, H, MEL, MO, P, W).

  • Synonyms

    Jacquinia berteroi var. acutifolia Griseb., Jacquinia berteroi subsp. portoricensis (Urb.) Borhidi, Jacquinia berteroi var. retusa Urb., Jacquinia yunquensis Urb., Jacquinia obovata Urb., Jacquinia sphaeroidea Urb., Jacquinia berteroi var. angustior Urb., Jacquinia maisiana Borhidi & O.Muñiz, Jacquinia berteroi var. nana Correll

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or small tree to 5 m, sometimes taller; young shoots and branchlets reddish brown, densely lepidote, trichomes with rather long stalks of usually 2 cells and many-celled, irregularly conical to subglobose heads. Leaves vaguely pseudoverticillate, but usually distinctly so at branch tips, straight, brownish when dried; blade oblanceolate to obovate, 1-4.5 x 0.4-1.6 cm, coriaceous and often very tough, 0.45-0.75 mm thick, seemingly glabrous, base attenuate, apex rounded, retuse, obtuse, or acute, often with a rigid spine to 0.5(-l) mm long, sides often more or less recurved from midvein, margins usually somewhat revolute; midvein on both sides level with surfaces or prominulous, lateral veins inconspicuous or invisible, both surfaces coarsely striate; extraxylary sclerenchyma arranged in more or less distinct bundles 15-250 cells thick, adjacent to epidermis of both sides of blade, adaxial bundles generally larger than abaxial ones and sometimes very densely set, forming a pseudolayer, abaxial bundles sometimes separated from epidermis by a few mesophyllous cells; hypoderm lacking; crystals abundant in mesophyll, sparse or lacking in epidermis; petiole 1-4 mm long, glabrous or lepidote towards base. Racemes solitary or in groups of 2-4, with (2-)4-6(-8) flowers; rachis rather slender, 1-6(-9) mm long, 0.2-0.5 mm thick, glabrous or more or less lepidote in axils and at nodes; bracts 0.5-1 (-1.5) mm long, inserted at nodes or sometimes fused to lower part of pedicels for 1-2 mm; pedicels 2-9 mm long, mostly somewhat recurved. Calyx seemingly glabrous, lobes very broadly ovate or suborbicular, 1.2-1.8 x 1.2-2 mm, margins entire or vaguely erose, appressed to fruit. Corolla yellow, greenish yellow, or yellowish white, drying brownish black; tube 2.2-3 mm long, exceeding calyx by 1-1.7 mm; lobes broadly oblong to orbicular, 1.8-2.5 x 1.8-2 mm; staminodes broadly oblong or ovate, 1-1.2 x 1-2.5 mm, rounded or sometimes retuse at apex. Filaments glandular-punctate or glandular-puberulous, 1-1.5 mm long; anthers 1.5-1.8 mm long. Pistil 2.2-3 mm long; ovules 35-70 in 3-5 rows. Fruits orange or yellowish orange, nitid, broadly ellipsoid or sometimes subglobose, 6-8(-9.5) x 5-6 mm, pericarp 0.2-0.3 mm thick, surface smooth. Seeds 1 or sometimes 2, subglobose to ellipsoid, sometimes somewhat flattened, 4-5.5 x 2.5-3 mm, light to dark brown.

    Distribution and Ecology - Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Lesser Antilles (Fig. 59) mostly in dry, littoral forests and scrub but also dry, inland localities up to 450 m. Flowering Jun-Aug; fruiting throughout year.

  • Discussion

    Jacquinia berteroi is recognized by its oblanceolate to obovate leaves; rust-colored branchlets covered by a thick felt of capitate trichomes; short, few-flowered racemes; deflexed pedicels; and small flowers. In addition, specimens have a strong tendency to darken upon drying, the leaves turning brown or greenish brown and the flowers and fruits brown or almost black. Unlike most other species of Jacquinia, which have strongly fragrant flowers, the flowers of J. berteroi are often reported to have a foetid scent.

    The species epithet is believed to honor the Italian naturalist C. G. Bertero, and a collection by him was consequently selected as type of the name in one of my previous works (Stahl, 1995). The original spelling of the species epithet, berterii. based on Berterius (the latinized, noble form of Bertero), was retained in that work because it had been used by virtually all previous workers on the family. However, that spelling is no longer permissible under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (McNeill et al., 2006).

  • Common Names

    jaboncillo de costa, bois cassave, casabito, washing bark

  • Distribution

    Hato Mayor Dominican Republic South America| Independencia Dominican Republic South America| Acklins Bahamas South America| Cat Island Bahamas South America| Great Abaco Bahamas South America| Long Island Bahamas South America| San Salvador Bahamas South America| Guantánamo Cuba South America| Holguín Cuba South America| Santiago de Cuba Cuba South America| Nord Haiti South America| Azua Dominican Republic South America| Monte Cristi Dominican Republic South America| Pedernales Dominican Republic South America| Santiago Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Nord-Ouest Haiti South America| Anguilla South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Saint Martin South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| Water Island Virgin Islands South America| Guadeloupe South America|