Hedyosmum arborescens Sw.

  • Authority

    Todzia, Carol A. 1988. Chloranthaceae: Hedyosmum. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 48: 1-138. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Chloranthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Hedyosmum arborescens Sw.

  • Type

    Type. Jamaica. Without locality, Swartz s.n. [lectotype (designated by Todzia & Wood (1988)), C; C neg. 21627]. Other sheets of H. arborescens annotated by Swartz are at BM and LD, but because they are without label data, no lectotypes were designated.

  • Synonyms

    Hedyosmum elegans C.Cordem., Tafallaea arborescens (Sw.) Kuntze

  • Description

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    Species Description - Dioecious, aromatic, glabrous shrubs or small trees, 2.5-10 m tall, 2-10 cm dbh, with prop roots; wood weak, brittle; young stems quadrate; older stems terete, with leaf bases disintegrating and leaving encircling scars; internodes 1-6.8 cm long; nodes slightly swollen. Leaves elliptic, (3.2-)4.5-12(-17.5) x (1.7-)2.1-5.5 cm, with acuminate tips 6-12 mm long, cuneate to obliquely cuneate at base, margins serrate with teeth 4-8 mm distant, succulent to coriaceous, smooth, green above, light green beneath when fresh, drying stiffly chartaceous, slate gray to light gray-brown above, light reddish brown beneath; midveins impressed above, raised and glabrous beneath; larger lateral veins 12-16, 3-9 mm distant, slightly arcuate, raised above and beneath, with smaller intersecondary veins extending halfway to margin, these prominent above and beneath, forming a nearly straight submarginal vein 1-2 mm from margin; free portion of petioles 0.5-1.3 cm long; petiolar sheaths 1-1.3 x 0.30.6 cm, slightly flared at apex, disintegrating with age, each distal margin entire, with two narrowly triangular to linear, entire or bifid stipular appendages 1-2 mm long, extending 0.5-1 mm beyond free portion of petioles. Staminate inflorescences of solitary or cymose spikes borne along a central axis, 1-9 cm long; mature spikes 1.4-3.1(-3.9) x 0.6-0.7 cm, subsessile or on short peduncles 2-3 mm long, subtended by an entire, sometimes dentate, cymbiform bracts 3-9 mm long; stamens ca. 150, congested on axis; anthers green, (1.2-)2-3 x ca. 0.5 mm; connective flattened distally, ca. 0.2 mm long, with a minute, acute, white tip. Pistillate inflorescences axillary or terminal basally branched racemes, (2-)4-8 cm long, with (4-)6-24 cymules; cymules with (l-)2-3(-5) clustered flowers, 3-5 x 3-4 mm, oppositely arranged on inflorescence axis, 5-20 mm distant, sessile; subtending floral bracts free or connate to adjacent bracts at base, 1.5-3.5 mm long, acuminate at apex, enclosing lower one-half of flower. Pistillate flowers green, trigonous, 2.5-3.5 x 1.5-2 mm, with a pore on each face; perianth lobes ca. 0.3 mm long, rounded at apex, free to base; stigmas white, linear to clavate in outline, (1.5-)2-3 mm long, papillose, elaborated distally, caducous. Fruiting cymules white, translucent, irregularly globose, 6-7 mm in diam. Seeds 2-3 mm long, brown, smooth, trigonous.

  • Discussion

    This species is the only West Indian one which has fleshy floral bracts and many-flowered cymules. It is most closely related to H. costaricense which has very similar inflorescence and leaf morphology but is easily distinguished by the higher density of teeth on the leaf margins, and a prominent costal vein 1-2 mm inside the leaf margin. Hedyosmum gentryi is vegetatively very similar to H. arborescens; the latter is recognized by its solitary flowers with purple floral bracts.

    The disjunct population of Hedyosmum arborescens in Jamaica shows two consistent characteristics at variance from those found in continuous populations in Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles. These include teeth with rounded sinuses 3-5 mm deep and male inflorescences of solitary spikes.

  • Common Names

    headache bush, cigar bush, azafran, bois fragile, bois de l’eau, bois senti

  • Distribution

    Elfin woodland and wet montane forests in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles at elevations of 200-1600 m. Flowering and fruiting occurs throughout the year but is heaviest from January through July.

    Jamaica South America| Portland Jamaica South America| Saint Andrew Jamaica South America| Portland Jamaica South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America| Puerto Rico South America| Montserrat South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Dominica South America| Guadeloupe South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America|