Rinorea paniculata (Mart.) Kuntze

Authority

Hekking, W. H. A. 1988. violaceae Part l—Rinorea and Rinoreocarpus. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 46: i-ii, 1-208. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family

Violaceae

Scientific Name

Rinorea paniculata (Mart.) Kuntze

Type

Type. Brazil. Amazonas: Area of Tefé and Coari, s.d. (flowering Nov-Dec) (fl, fr), Martius s.n. (holotype, M (109) (illustrated in reverse in Martius, Nov. Gen. sp. pl. 1(2): t. 21. 1823-1824); isotypes, G(?), M (110, 111, 112, 113, these numbers written on small labels attached to the specimens)).

Synonyms

Alsodeia paniculata Mart.

Description

Species Description - Tree or treelet, 1.5-25 m tall. Branchlets yellowish to whitish pilosulous or puberulous. Leaves alternate; petioles 0.25-2.75 cm long, sparsely yellowish pilosulous when young, glabrescent when older; stipules deciduous, narrowly deltoid, subacute, (1-)9-11 x 1-1.75 mm, herbaceous, sparsely pilosulous along the costa to glabrescent, veined, sometimes sparsely ciliolate; lamina (narrowly) elliptic to (ob)ovate, acuminate, (4-)6.5-23 x (1.5-)2-10 cm, coriaceous, occasionally papery, glabrous on both sides; costa on both sides slightly pilosulous to glabrescent; lateral veins, (7-)8-10(-13) pairs (acumen excluded); tertiary venation ± scalariform; base rounded to cuneate; margin subentire to (sub)crenate or (sub)serrate, slightly thickened, mucronulate; acumen 0.5-3.5 mm long, apex obtuse to acute, mucronulate. Inflorescences axillary, lateral and subterminal, thyrsoid, solitary or often accompanied by one or two distinctly smaller lateral inflorescences, 5-20 x (1.5-)2.5-6 cm; central axis yellowish to whitish puberulous; cymules (1-)3-11(-15) flowered, often accompanied by 2-6 juvenile or undeveloped flowers; common peduncle 2-15(-35) mm long, yellowish puberulous; ‘pedicels’ 2.5-5 mm long, usually articulate below the middle, yellowish puberulous or strigillose; bracts and bractlets deltoid to ovate, herbaceous to carnose, sparsely strigillose along the costa, ciliolate, apex subacute, mucronulate; bracts (0.5-)0.75-1.75 mm long and wide; bractlets 0.5-1 mm long and wide. Flower buds ellipsoid to ovoid, obtuse. Flowers drooping, greenish- or yellowish-white, fragrant. Sepals subequal, ovate, 1.25-2.5 x 1-1.5 mm, herbaceous, carnose near the base, minutely yellowish-whitish strigillose, ciliolate, apex obtuse, occasionally mucronulate. Petals elliptic to ovate, (1.75-)2-3 x (1-)1.25-1.5 mm, herbaceous, sometimes sparsely yellowish pilosulous along the costa, sometimes ciliolate, apex rounded to obtuse. Stamens 1.5-2 mm long; filaments and dorsal glands fused to a tube; free parts of filaments 0-0.1 mm long; filamental tube sometimes strongly lobed, usually 0.2-0.3 mm high, glandular tissue of the tube on the dorsal side of the stamens up to 0.75(-1) mm high; anthers ellipsoid, 0.75 x 0.6 mm, apex rounded, appendaged by 1-2 cusps free or connate, ca. 0.2 mm x 0.1-0.2 mm; connective outside deltoid to ovate, subobtuse, 0.4-0.8 x 0.4-0.6 mm, glabrous. Connective scales lateral as well as apical, ovate to deltoid, 1.25-1.75 x ca. 0.75 mm, scarious, slightly orange-brown, margin erose, apex obtuse. Ovary ovoid-conical to trapezoid, 0.6-1 x 0.6-0.7 mm, pilose(ulous) along the ribs and near the apex; ovules one per placenta. Style filiform, sometimes subclavate near the apex, strongly sigmoid at the base to slightly curved, 1-1.25 mm long, ± equaling the thecae; stigma truncate to capitulate, often deflexed towards the anterior petal. Capsule asymmetric, slightly oblique, ellipsoid, acuminate, subtended by subpersistent floral parts, coriaceous to subligneous, smooth, olive-brown colored when fresh by a dense golden to brownish puberulous to strigillose indument; valves three, unequal; the larger one 9-11 x 4-6 mm; the two smaller ones 6-8 x 2-4 mm. Seeds one per valve, globose, ca. 3 mm in diam., olive-brown when fresh, glabrous, shining.

Discussion

Rinorea paniculata differs from R. guianensis and R. bahiensis by: (1) flower buds elliptic to obtuse-ovoid versus tolpoid in R. guianensis and tolpoid to conical in R. bahiensis (2) petals shorter than 3.5 mm; (3) anthers shorter than 1 mm; and (4) connective scales shorter than 2 mm, only 1.5-2 x as long as the anthers (in the two other species usually longer than 2 mm and 2-3 x as long as the anthers).

Distribution and Ecology: The main area of distribution is in the basins of Amazonas and the upper Orinoco. Rinorea paniculata occurs also disjunct in NW Colombia in the forest refuge of Choco and in adjacent Panama in the forest refuge of Darien. The species is wanting in SE Brazil. These disjunct populations probably became isolated from the main population in Amazonia by the Pliocene Cordilleran uplift (Brown, 1977, 1982; Putzer, 1968; Raven & Axelrod, 1974), which dissected a previous coherent area of tropical rain forests. From the isolated area in Chocó a successful migration to Central America followed, probably after the formation of the Panama land bridge, also during the Pliocene, ca. 5.7. my BP (Brown, 1977, 1982; Coney, 1982; Raven & Axelrod, 1974). Probably flowering throughout the year; fruiting specimens have been collected in January, February, May and December.

Common Names

Acariquarana

Distribution

Panama Central America| Coclé Panamá Central America| San Blás Panama Central America| Colón Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America|