Jacquinia comosa Urb. & Ekman
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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. Dominican Republic. [Pedernales], path between Cueve-en-haut and Trujín [Oviedo], 22 Sep 1926, E. L. Ekman H7026 (lectotype, S, designated by Ståhl, 1995, p. 498; isolectotypes, A, IJ, K, NY, US).
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Description
Species Description - Tree to ca. 8 m tall; trunk slender, unbranched except towards summit, crown narrow and dense; young shoots and branchlets yellowish brown, densely pu-berulous, trichomes with rather long stalks of 1 or 2 cells and many-celled, more or less elongated heads. Leaves vaguely pseudoverticillate, straight, brownish when dried; blade obovate or narrowly obovate, 1.5-5 x 0.8-2 cm, coriaceous and tough, 0.45-0.55 mm thick, sometimes puberulous towards base, other parts seemingly glabrous, base attenuate, apex acute, obtuse, or truncate, with a rigid spine 0.5-1.5 mm long, sides plane, margins slightly revolute; midvein on both sides level with surfaces or sometimes prominulous, lateral veins inconspicuous or invisible; extraxylary sclerenchyma arranged in distinct bundles, abaxial bundles 20-60 cells thick, adjacent to epidermis, adaxial bundles 10-25 cells thick, adjacent to a 1-layered hypoderm; crystals abundant in mesophyll and hypo-derm, lacking in epidermis; petiole 2-4(-8) mm long, sometimes puberulous. Racemes solitary with 4-7 flowers; rachis 4-6 mm long, 0.7-1.2 mm thick, densely puberulous, bracts 1 mm long, inserted at nodes; pedicels 6-10 mm long, often more or less recurved. Calyx lobes very broadly ovate, 3-3.2 x 3.5-4 mm; margins appressed to fruit, entire or subentire. Corolla pale greenish yellow, drying brownish black, campanulate; tube ca. 4.5 mm long, exceeding calyx by 1.5-1.7 mm; lobes broadly oblong, ca. 3.5 x 3 mm; staminodes broadly oblong, ca. 2.2 x 2 mm, slightly refuse at apex. Stamen filaments glandular-punctate, ca. 1.8 mm long; anthers 2.5 mm long. Fruits rather dull, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid, 8.5-9 x 6-6.5 mm, pericarp 0.6-1.2 mm thick, surface smooth or slightly rugose. Seeds 1 (-3), subglobose or often somewhat flattened, 3.5-4 x 2-3.5 mm, light brown.
Distribution and Ecology - Known only from S Hispaniola and Île de la Gonâve (Fig. 57) in dry, deciduous forests and scrub at 50-200 m. Flowering Feb; fruiting Aug and Sep.
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Discussion
Jacquinia comosa is similar and no doubt closely related to J. berteroi, from which it differs in having larger flowers; larger and thicker-walled fruits; and leaves with a single-layered, adaxial hypoderm. In addition, the vestiture of young shoots is yellowish brown rather than reddish brown, and the individual trichomes are distinctly narrower towards the apex. According to collectors, the habit is also somewhat unusual, inasmuch as the stem remains unbranched until tall aboveground, where it forms a dense, narrow crown over the surrounding vegetation. The local name (mira-mar) refers to this growth habit. Collections from Gonâve Island differ from material from the Barahona Peninsula in having a much sparser pubescence on young shoots and petioles. They are included in J. comosa because of their thick-walled fruits and evidently large flowers, as judged from the persisting calyces.
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Common Names
miramar
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Distribution
Haiti South America| Pedernales Dominican Republic South America|