Persea anomala Britton & P.Wilson
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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 or shrub to 10 m.; branchlets solid at internodes, castaneous, sparsely tawny-strigulose, the bark pale gray, roughened by prominent leaf-scars; petioles 8-15 mm. long, canaliculate, sparsely tawny-strigulose; leaf-blades 3-14 cm. long, 1.8-5.5 cm. wide, subcoriaceous, elliptic to ovate, the tips acute to obtuse to rounded, the bases acute to obtuse to rounded, the upper surface glabrescent, the lower surface sparsely tawny-strigulose, frequently glaucous, the costa slightly impressed above, prominent beneath, the 6-8 pairs of primary nerves divergent at 55-70°, prominent beneath, the reticulation prominulous on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary, paniculate, usually longer than their subtending leaves; peduncles 3-6.5 cm. long, slender, tawny-strigulose; rachises 1.5-4 cm. long; pedicels 1.5-2.5 (-4) mm. long, tawny-strigulose; flowers 3 (-4.5) mm. long; outer perianth-segments 1 (-2) mm. long, 1 (-2) mm. wide, broadly ovate, strigulose without, glabrous within; inner perianth-segments 1.5 (-3.5) mm. long, 1.5 (-2.2) mm. wide, ovate, tawny-strigulose without, sparsely pubescent within; stamens 1 (-2) mm. long, the anthers about 0.5(-1) mm., the filaments about 0.5 (-1) mm., the filaments of series I and II sparsely strigose, the anthers ovate, quadrilocular, occasionally with the two upper cells very much reduced, or bilocular; filaments of series III sparsely strigulose, the glands subsessile, adnate to the basal 1/3 of the filament, the anthers oblong, laterally or extrorsely dehiscent, bilocular or quadrilocular- staminodia of series IV sagittate, sparsely strigose, with a weak terminal tuft of hairs; gynoecium glabrous, the ovary ovoid; style 0.5 (-1.5) mm. Infructescence paucifructate, perianth-segments deciduous from their bases; fruits 1 cm. long, globose, glaucous.
Distribution and Ecology - Distribution. Southern Cuba and on limestone debris in Haiti, 700-1800 m. alt.
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Discussion
Persea ekmanii O. C. Schmidt, Rep. Spec. Nov. 27: 153. 1929.
Type collection. Bro. Leon 10707, Sierra Maestra, southern Oriente and Pico Turquino (holotype NY, isotypes B, though cited as 11707, the remaining label data is the same as on the type, and it is considered here to be a fragment of it,), P.
The relationship of P. anomala is definitely with P hypoleuca which is also a Cuban species. They are found in the same areas and have very similar flowers and pubescence. P. anomala can usually be easily distinguished by the more prominent reticulation, and broader elliptic to ovate leaves. T h e anthers of P. anomala are 2-4-celled, and those of P. hypoleuca 4-celled. T h e fruits of the former lose their perianth-segments, whereas those of the latter show a persistent perianth.
O. C. Schmidt based P. ekmanii on a Haitian collection. The specimen differs only in flower size, therefore it was synonymized with P. anomala. The floral measurements have been separated by parentheses from those of the Cuban collections because they are considerably larger and no intermediates have been found.