Nectandra citrifolia Mez & Rusby

  • Authority

    Rohwer, Jens G. 1993. Lauraceae: . Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 60: 1-332. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Nectandra citrifolia Mez & Rusby

  • Type

    Type. Bolivia. La Paz: Between Tipuani and Guanai, Dec 1892 (fl), Bang 1673 (holotype, NY; isotypes, B, BM, G, K, M, MO, WU).

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrubs or trees, (up to?) 10 m tall. Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 1.2-2.2 mm in diam., slightly irregularly angular and/or longitudinally ridged, the youngest part with a moderately dense to sparse cover of short and sometimes longer (up to 0.3 mm), appressed hairs, quickly becoming sparse or glabrescent; terminal buds ovoid to elongate, 3-6 mm long and 1-2.5 mm in diam., with a dense cover of ± short, appressed hairs. Petioles 4.5-12 mm long, 0.6-1.4 mm thick, often higher than wide, roundish, deeply canaliculate above, initially with short to moderately long (rarely up to 0.4 mm), appressed hairs below, quickly glabrescent Leaves alternate, ± elliptic, varying towards (ob)ovate or rarely (oblanceolate, widest ca. 2/5-2/3 from the base, 4.5-11.5 cm long, 1.7-5 cm wide, 1.8-2.7(-3.5) times longer than wide, tip short acuminate, obtuse to cuneate towards the base but the very base always attenuate, margin flat, midrib ± convex in a slight impression above, raised to prominent below, secondary veins level to very slightly impressed above, often scarcely visible, level to slightly raised below, 5-8 pairs, diverging at 40-60°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of 30-50° to the midrib, tertiary venation reticulate, without any distinct orientation if visible at all, level on both sides. Indument consisting of short and sometimes longer (up to 0.3 mm), appressed hairs, glabrous from the beginning above, initially sparse or only near the midrib and the margin below, soon glabrescent. Gland dots visible only in very young leaves. Inflorescences mostly in the axils of cataphylls on axillary brachyblasts or below the terminal bud, or— when the bud grows through—at the base of the young twig and in the axils of newly developed leaves, 0.4-0.6 mm in diam. at the base, 1.1-7.5 cm long, reaching ca. 1/6-2/3 the length of the closest foliage leaf; peduncle 0.7-4 cm long, i.e., ca. 1/2-2/3 the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches 0-4 below terminal cyme or cluster of cymes, unbranched or branched once (inflorescences rarely entirely botryoid), indument similar to that on young twigs but usually more erect closer to the flowers, on peduncle ± moderately sparse, slightly denser on receptacle. Pedicels 2-7 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm thick. Flowers ca. 4-7.5 mm in diam., tepals ± elliptic to spatulate, ca. 1.5-3 mm long and ca. 1-1.9 mm wide, distinctly papillose on the inside surface. Stamens ca. 0.6-0.8 mm long including the very short filament (up to 0.2 mm), with a short sterile tip (0.2-0.3 mm), anthers distinctly papillose at the tip, in all three whorls ± broadly pentagonal or in the first whorl sometimes transverse-elliptic, at the tip obtuse or rarely rounded. Staminodes reaching ca. 1/3 of the length to almost the length of the stamens, slightly clavate, papillose on abaxial side. Pistil ca. 1.1-1.3 mm long, ovary broadly ellipsoid, glabrous, style short, reaching ca. 1/4 the length of the ovary, glabrous or slightly papillose. Receptacle ± hemispherical, glabrous or with a few appressed hairs inside. Berry (immature?) ± elongate-elliptic, ca. 12-13 mm long and 5-6 mm in diam., cupule a thin-walled shallow bowl, ca. 5 mm in diam. and 2 mm deep, pedicel only very slightly thickened.

  • Discussion

    Nectandra citrifolia shows similarities to several different species, belonging to different groups. Judged by its flower structure, it has to be placed somewhere among N. brittonii, N. megapotamica, and N. psammophila. In the first species the anthers tend to have a larger sterile tip, whereas it is smaller in the other two. Nectandra brittonii and N. megapotamica differ also by narrower leaves, but smaller leaved specimens of N. citrifolia can be very similar to N. psammophila. In Rohwer (1986), I suggested that N. citrifolia might be a synonym of N. psammophila, but in addition to shorter anther tips the latter species differs by a shorter style, and by nearly always barbellate axils of the secondary veins on the lower leaf surface. A population that links these taxa is discussed on p. 296.

    At first glance, Croat 51100 appers quite different from the other two collections, because its leaves are more membraneous (and therefore show a distinct reticulation), and its inflorescences are mostly arranged in the axils of leaves. Most of the leaves, however, are very young, and the few mature leaves are almost exactly like those in the other collections. Apparently the inflorescence-bearing brachyblasts have developed into young twigs, with inflorescences both in the axils of cataphylls at their base and in the axils of young foliage leaves on the new growth.

  • Distribution

    Known from the type (from Bolivia), and from two collections from the department of San Martín in Peru. The flowering collections were made in November, December, and February.

    Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America|