Persea steyermarkii C.K.Allen
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Authority
Kopp, Lucille E. 1966. A tasonomic revision of the genus Persea in the Western Hemisphere (Perseae-Lauraceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 14: 1-117.
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Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Tree to 10 m.; brandilets glabrous, terete, castaneous, soon becoming rough, corky, and gray, solid at the internodes, the bark not odoriferous: petioles 0.8-2.5 cm. long, slender, glabrous; leaf-blades 5.5-10 cm. long, 2.5-4.5 cm. wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, the tips acute to obtuse, the bases acute, the upper surface glabrous, dull, the lower surface glaucous and sparsely tomentellous, the costa slighdy impressed above, prominent beneath, the 7-10 pairs of primary nerves divergent at 45-70°, prominulous on bodi surfaces, the reticulation obscure on both surfaces. Inflorescences subterminal, eadi branch usualh reflexed; pedundes 2-3 cm. long, glabrous, slender, die radiises 1.5-3 cm. long; pedicels 5-8 mm. long, sparsely tomentellous: flowers 3.5-6 mm. long, "sweet-smelling" (Steyermark); outer periandi-segments 4-4.6 mm. long, 1.8-2.0 mm. wide, acute at the tips, elliptic, reflexed at andiesis. sparsely tomentose on both surfaces; inner perianth-segments 6 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide. acute at die tips, reflexed at andiesis, sparsely tomentose on both surfaces; stamens about 4.5 mm. long, the filaments 3 mm. long, the andiers 1.5 mm. long, the filaments of series I and II sparsely to moderately pubescent, the anthers oblong-ovate, quadrilocular, sparsely pubescent dorsally: filaments of stamens of series III pubescent, the glands sdpitate, subbasally adnate to die filament, the andiers quadrilocular, laterally or extrorsely dehiscent: staminodia of series IV broadly sagittate, lacking a terminal tuft of hairs; gynoecium sparsely to moderately tomentose, the ovary globose or subglobose; style 2.3 mm. long, slender; stigma triangular-peltate. Infructescence with few fruits; perianth-segmenis reflexed, deciduous; fruits globose (to 5 cm. in diameter fide Tucker), to broadly pyriform.
Distribution and Ecology - Disaibution. Mountain slopes of Guatemala and El Salvador 1300-4000 m. alt.
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Discussion
Vernacular name. Aguacate de montaña.
Type collection. J. A. Stexermark -7061, Dept. San Marcos: trail between Finca El Porvenir and San Sebasdan. Volcan Tajumulco, alt. 1300-4000 m., Mardi I, 1940: ". . . Leaves ascending, erect, coriaceous, pale or olive-green above, blue-silvery green beneath with depressions betAveen side veins, margins revolute. Petals yellow-greenisli. Pedicels pale green. Andiers deep yellow." (holotype, F. fragment at A).
The flower, fruit, and inflorescence form indicate a close relationship to P. americana, but the smaller inflorescence, the shorter pubescence, the more widely divergent primary nerves, and the development of cork on two-year-old branchlets are the most obvious distinguishing characteristics of P. steyermarkii.
Previous to the collection of the Venezuelan material cited below, this species was known only from Guatemala and El Salvador where it grows on mountain slopes. Though probably smaller than those of P. americana, the fruits of P. steyermarkii are in all liklihood also edible. Man therefore probably was the cause of this rather unusual distribution, carrying material to Venezuela where plants are found along a long travelled water route.