Pradosia ptychandra (Eyma) T.D.Penn.
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Authority
Pennington, Terence D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 52: 1-750. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Sapotaceae
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Scientific Name
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Synonyms
Pouteria ptychandra Eyma, Neopometia ptychandra (Eyma) Aubrév.
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Description
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Species Description - Tree; young shoots appressed puberulous, soon glabrous, pale grey, rough, lenticellate or not. Leaves clustered, spirally arranged, 12-21.5 × 4.8-8.2 cm, narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, apex narrowly attenuate, base narrowly cuneate or attenuate, chartaceous, glabrous; venation eucamptodromous, thin marginal vein present, midrib sunken on the upper surface, secondary veins 10-13 pairs, slightly convergent or parallel, slightly arcuate or straight, slightly impressed on the upper surface; intersecondaries absent; tertiaries numerous, oblique. Petiole 1.2-2 cm long, strongly channelled, appressed puberulous to glabrous, stipels absent. Fascicles many-flowered, borne on twigs and larger branches. Pedicel 0.9-1.2 cm long, finely appressed puberulous. Sepals five, ca. 2 mm long, broadly ovate to suborbicular, apex obtuse or rounded, finely appressed puberulous outside, glabrous inside, sometimes ciliate. Corolla ca. 5 mm long, tube 1.5-2 mm long, lobes five, 3-3.5 mm long, ovate or elliptic, apex obtuse, sparsely silvery appressed puberulous outside, glabrous inside. Stamens five, fixed at the top of the corolla tube or on base of lobes; filaments 4-5 mm long, glabrous; anthers ca. 2 mm long, lanceolate, glabrous. Ovary conical, five-locular, pubescent; style ca. 2 mm long after anthesis, glabrous; style-head simple. Fruit 3.3-4 cm long, globose or broadly ellipsoid, apex and base rounded, smooth, glabrous. Seed solitary, 2.5-2.6 cm long, oblong-ellipsoid, slightly laterally compressed, testa smooth or horizontally striate, shining, ca. 0.5 mm thick; scar adaxial, full-length 8-9 mm wide, rough; embryo with plano-convex, free cotyledons, radicle exserted ca. 3 mm; endosperm a thin sheath. Field characters. Tree to 25 m high and 55 cm diam., unbuttressed or with only poorly developed buttresses, trunk cylindrical, bark greyish-brown, smooth or with rather dense pock-like depressions, and often with vertical rows of lenticels; slash cream with orange streaks, exuding sticky white latex (slow to appear). The corolla is wine red, and the fruit matures bright orange-yellow. The outer part of the pericarp is yellow and fairly tough, but the inner 1-3 mm are a soft, transparent, sweet-tasting jelly; the well differentiated cartilaginous endocarp is closely applied to the seed and remains attached to it when the seed is removed. Flowering Jan-Apr, fruit May to Aug. The field data of Sabatier 823 indicates that the flowers of this species are sucked by the marsupial Caluromys philander.
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Discussion
The soft layer of pericarp surrounding the seed is delicious and relished by hungry field botanists.
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Common Names
Balata pommier, kimboto, kouatabobi, malobi-weti, zolive
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Objects
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Distribution
French Guiana and Surinam, in semi-evergreen seasonal forest 200-600 m altitude, over clay or sand.
Suriname South America| French Guiana South America|