Brunellia racemifera Tul.
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Authority
Cuatrecasas, José. 1970. Brunelliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 2: 1-189. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Brunelliaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. J. Goudot s n: Colombia, Cundinamarca: between Bogota and Fusagasuga, coll. 1844, (P, holotype, photo Killip 423).
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Description
Description - Tree 5-8 m high. Very young terminal shoots ochraceous strigose, losing the trichomes on maturing, the branchlets becoming glabrous or subglabrous, the terminal internodes 2-5 cm long, compressed, 6-costate-sulcate, sparsely lenticellate. Stipules geminate, triangular-subulate, scarcely pilose, caducous, 2-3 mm long. Leaves opposite, 4-7-jugate; axis 16-26 cm long, rather robust, striate, angulate, carinate beneath, narrowly sulcate above, shortly puberulous with minute, acute, patulous trichomes or glabrous, the interjuga 2-4 cm long, the petiole 4-8 cm long; stipels geminate, subulate-corniform, 1-2 mm long. Leaflets coriaceous, rather rigid; petiolules robust, 3-5 mm long, the terminal ones 10-30 mm long; blades 6-19 cm long, 2.7-7.0 cm wide, elliptic ovate or oblong ovate, asymmetrically rotundate or obtusely attenuate at the base, attenuate and shortly acuminate, acute or subacute and also obtuse at the apex, more or less deeply crenate-serrate, the indentation simple or double, with pointed callous, minute, deciduous mucros, 5-10 mm apart; green above, the costa deeply narrowly impressed and sparsely strigulose, the secondary nerves conspicuously impressed, rarely strigulose, the surface glabrous, somewhat rugose, with more or less marked tertiary and minor impressed veins; pale green and minutely puberulous beneath, with very minute, scattered striga more copious on the midrib, this strongly prominent, carinate and striolate, the secondary nerves 16-19 on each side very prominent, 6-10 mm apart, parallel, ascending with an angle of divergence 45°-55°, curving and sometimes dividing near the margin, the prominulous tertiary nerves irregularly transverse, the smaller reticulate discolor veins almost flat or very slightly prominulous but very conspicuous. Panicles axillary, 6-12 cm long, branched from the base or almost from the base, the peduncle 0-1.5 cm long, angulate, compressed, the branchlets compressed, angular, minutely puberulous with rather minute, subappressed, in part divergent hairs, division dichotomous or trichotomous with acute-angular ascending branchlets, the ultimate ones short, bearing several sessile or subsessile glomerate flowers. Bracts and bracteoles linear lanceolate, subglabrous, 1-2 mm long. Pedicels 0-1 mm long, in the fruiting stage to 2 mm long, substrigose. Floral buds globose, about 3 mm in diam, the flowers usually hexamerous with five or six carpels, also frequently pentamerous flowers, occasionally with only four carpels; calyx about 4 mm high, expanded 8.0-9.5 mm in diam, the lobes ovate triangular, acute, about 3 mm long, 1.7-3.0 mm wide, outside sparsely appressed or subappressed pilose, inside shortly and densely sericeous, except minutely tomentose near the margin and apex, a minute rounded sessile reddish gland at the sinuses outside; staminal filaments in male flowers 3.0-3.5 mm long, very thickened and slightly pilose near the base; anthers ovoid, cordate, minutely apiculate, 1.5 × 1.0 mm; staminodia in all flowers with filaments 0.6-1.2 mm long, minutely pilose, the anthers 0.7-0.8 mm long, oblong, acute, sterile; rudimentary carpels in male flowers, the ovary densely hirsute, 0.5 mm long, the style pilose below, glabrous above, curved, 0.8-1.0 mm long; disc tomentose-hirsute. Three to five follicles usually ripening from a flower, about 6 mm long and 4.0-4.5 mm broad, elliptic-oblong, curved-attenuate at the base, obliquely apiculate at the apex, the exocarp rather thin, densely papillose-pilose, shortly hirsute by acute, medium sized trichomes and, especially above, copiously or densely hispid with rigid bristles of about 1 mm long. Endocarp 4-5 mm long, 2.5-3.0 mm broad, ovoid, oblong, attenuate at the base, obliquely and acutely apiculate at the apex, rather smooth and of medium thickness, deep-shellshaped, pointed at the apex when dry and open. Seeds usually single in each fruit, oblong-ellipsoid when ripe, compressed, lustrous, reddish brown, 3.4 × 2.3 mm.
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Discussion
Brunellia racemifera is well characterized by the glabrous aspect of the branches and foliage, with scarce, very minute puberulence, by the lustrous, crenate leaves with strong main nerves, by the rather large flowers, the small follicles, and the scarce puberulence on the inflorescences. The type specimen has smaller and narrower leaflets than one finds in other specimens, but there is polymorphism in the species exhibited by the more frequent broadly ovate and elliptic leaflets and the narrower elliptical of Goudot’s and some of Killip’s specimens.
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Common Names
Chiraco
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Distribution
(Fig 54, p 128.) Andean forests of Cundinamarca in the eastern Cordillera of Colombia.
Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America|