Buchenavia tetraphylla (Aubl.) R.A.Howard

  • Authority

    Stace, C. A. & Alwan, A.-R A. 2010. Combretaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 107: 1-369. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Combretaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Buchenavia tetraphylla (Aubl.) R.A.Howard

  • Type

    Type. French Guiana. Leafy branch and fruits in Aubl.. Hist. PI- Guiane, t. 88. 1775 (lectotype, selected by Howard, 1983, p. 266; type material not traced).

  • Synonyms

    Cordia trachyphylla Mart., Bucida capitata Vahl, Buchenavia capitata (Vahl) Eichler, Terminalia capitata C.Wright, Hudsonia arborea Lunan, Terminalia obovata (Ruiz & Pav.) Eichler, Terminalia hilariana Steud., Bucida angustifolia DC., Pseudolmedia bucidifolia Bello, Buchenavia gracilis Glaz., Buchenavia macahensis Glaz., Buchenavia vaupesana Cuatrec., Buchenavia ptariensis Steyerm.

  • Description

    Species Description - Semi-evergreen (briefly deciduous) tree, 2-25(-50) m, with buttresses when large. Leaves 2-11 × 1-5 cm, coriaceous when mature but very thin at flowering, narrowly to broadly obovate, rounded to retuse (rarely obtuse) at apex, narrowly acute and usually decurrent at base, appressed-pubescent when very young, becoming glabrous except often sparsely pubescent on midvein when mature; domatia present in secondary vein axils. Venation brochidodromous; midvein moderate, slightly prominent; secondary veins (2-)3-8 pairs, moderately spaced, originating at moderately acute angles, curved to slightly so, slightly prominent; intersecondary veins occasionally present; tertiary veins randomly reticulate; higher order veins often distinct; areolation usually complete. Petiole 0.4-1.5(-2) cm, sparsely appressed-pubescent, eglandular. Inflorescences 0.8-3 cm, more or less capitate, with rather few to many densely grouped flowers; peduncle 0.6-2.6 cm, rufous pubescent in flower, becoming subglabrous and much thicker in fruit; rhachis 0.2-0.5(-l) cm. Flowers 2.5-5 mm; lower hypanthium 1.5-3 mm, abruptly narrowed to thin neck 0.8-1.2 mm, densely rufous-pubescent except sparsely so on neck; upper hypanthium l-2 × 2.5-3.5 mm, subglabrous. Fruits (1.2-) 1.5-3.5 × (0.7-) 1-2.2 cm, ovate to obovate in side view, more or less terete or with 5 low longitudinal ridges, acute to rounded and often apiculate at apex, rounded or rarely shortly pseudostipitate at base, glabrous or rarely very sparsely pubescent. Reproductive biology. Flowers green, white, red, maroon, brownish red. Flowering mostly March to September, fruiting mostly July to March, but both more or less throughout year. Flowers visited by bees and wasps in Bahia.

  • Discussion

    Uses. Locally used for timber. In Jamaica “wood is yellow and durable, with close smooth grain, which takes a good polish; frequently used to make bedsteads and other furniture” (Lunan, 1814).

    Illustrations. Figs. 2b (venation), 5b (domatium), 11a (epidermis), 15c (trichome), 89b (buttresses), 112a, aa (fr), 113a (1f), 114 (portrait). Aublet (1775), pl. 88 (as Cordia tetraphylla); Exell (1958), p. 158 (as B. capitata); Spichiger et al. (1983), p. 5, but not p. 6 (as B. capitata); Stace & Alwan (1998), p. 336.

    Buchenavia tetraphylla is easily recognized in fruit but can be difficult to distinguish from B. kleinii or B. ochroprumna when in flower or sterile. Plants from the West Indies mostly differ from those of the Rio Amazonas basin in having a larger number of smaller flowers in the inflorescence, and stouter peduncles; those from coastal areas of South America are often intermediate. The type of B. vaupesana represents a rather extreme example of the Amazonian variant. The type of B. ptariensis is sterile; the leaves are very small, as in B. parvifolia, but they are of a different shape and texture and have a different venation pattern from that species and it is probably an unusual variant of B. tetraphylla. In SE Brazil the precise distinction of B. tetraphylla from B. kleinii is no longer certain, since specimens of the latter with glabrous ovaries are known.

    Buchenavia macahensis and B. gracilis, both from Rio de Janeiro, are of uncertain identity because they lack mature inflorescences, but both probably represent B. tetraphylla, and are possibly cultivated.

    Distribution and Ecology: (Fig. 111). Evergreen, semi-deciduous or deciduous forests, primary or secondary, inundated or not, often by rivers; bushy or sparsely forested ravines, rocky hills, cerrado or savannas; on sandy or heavy soils; at 60 to 1850m. West Indies from Cuba (ca. 23° N) to Trinidad; Costa Rica and Panama (to 9°40' N); tropical South America from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia (to 17°06' S) and Rio de Janeiro (ca. 22.4° S), but absent from most of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and sparse in central Brazil. Specimens from Rio de Janeiro possibly represent cultivated trees, including the material (lacking mature inflorescences) on which two nomina nuda (B. gracilis, B. macahensis) were based; in that case the southern limit of native material would be Espírito Santo (ca. 19° S).

  • Common Names

    Katoelima, katurimja, komanti kwatii, parakusinja, toekoeli, toekadi, matakki, gember-hout, fukadi, gindya-udu, kanbii, cuyun-yek, cuyu-li-yek, comeyo, tanibuca, merindiba, tanimbuca, cuiarana, catinga de porco, Chapada, huapomocillo, verdolago, lagartillo de altura, mountain wild olive, Guaraguao, bois gli-gli, gri-gri, bois rada, bois arcoquois, olivier, arbre aux trésors, zolivier

  • Distribution

    Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Alagoas Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Piauí Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Puerto Rico South America| Guadeloupe South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Martinique South America| Dominica South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| Loreto Peru South America| Panamá Panama Central America| Veraguas Panama Central America| San José Costa Rica Central America| Beni Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Sucumbíos Ecuador South America| Cayenne French Guiana South America| Inini French Guiana South America| Essequibo Guyana South America| Marowijne Suriname South America| Paramaribo Suriname South America| Saramacca Suriname South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Barinas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Carabobo Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Táchira Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Darién Panamá Central America| French Guiana South America| La Habana Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Saint Mary Jamaica South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Barahona Dominican Republic South America| La Vega Dominican Republic South America| San Cristóbal Dominican Republic South America| Cienfuegos Cuba South America| Guantánamo Cuba South America| Santiago de Cuba Cuba South America| Villa Clara Cuba South America| Santiago Dominican Republic South America| Dajabón Dominican Republic South America| Clarendon Jamaica South America| San Juan Dominican Republic South America| Sancti Spíritus Cuba South America| La Altagracia Dominican Republic South America| Adjuntas Puerto Rico South America| Cabo Rojo Puerto Rico South America| Guaynabo Puerto Rico South America| Las Marías Puerto Rico South America| Maricao Puerto Rico South America| Ponce Puerto Rico South America| San Germán Puerto Rico South America| San Sebastián Puerto Rico South America| Trujillo Alto Puerto Rico South America| Yabucoa Puerto Rico South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Artibonite Haiti South America| Nord Haiti South America| Ouest Haiti South America| Santiago Rodríguez Dominican Republic South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Kingston Jamaica South America|