Mouriri acutiflora Naudin

Authority

Morley, Thomas. 1976. Melastomataceae tribe Memecyleae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 15: 1-295. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family

Melastomataceae

Scientific Name

Mouriri acutiflora Naudin

Type

Type. F. W. Hostmann 598a (holotype, P; isotypes, Fl, G, KIEL, MO, S, U, W). Surinam. In flower and fruit, no date.

Synonyms

Mouriri acutiflora var. amblyodon Naudin, Mouriri pendulifolia Cogn.

Description

Description - Glabrous tree 4-30 m high with a trunk to 50 cm or rarely 1 m in diam; young twigs terete to 4-angled; bark soft, gray to brown, cracked; wood white, very hard. Petioles 1.0-7.0 mm long; blades 6.0-13.0 cm long, 2.5-5.6 cm wide, elliptic to ovate-elliptic or rarely ovate, acute to acuminate at the apex, rounded to acute and often attenuate at base; midrib grooved above, rounded below; lateral nerves not visible. Stomatal crypts none; hypodermis present, one cell thick; mucilage walls none; free stone cells present along the midrib to the leaf tip; terminal sclereids stellate, usually with 3-8 relatively long sharp branching arms, the vertical ones often well-developed, the central body none to large, sometimes narrow and elongate, the sclereids sometimes semi-columnar. Inflorescences l-2(-3) in the axils or at each side of leafless nodes of twigs up to 5.5 mm thick, each 3-31-flowered, 4.5-16.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 2-5 internodes in that length; internode at pedicel base (0.5-)0.7-4.0 mm long; axis of inflorescence drying yellow-green to dark brown; bracts 0.8-1.2 mm long, triangular to ovate, acute or rarely broadly acute, deciduous by anthesis. Flowers fragrant. True pedicels 2.0-7.3 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.4-6.8 mm long, cup-shaped; calyx yellow; calyx and ovary drying black to brownish or yellowish; free hypanthium 1.6-2.2 mm long; calyx lobes before anthesis truncate to low-rounded and apiculate, (0.2-)0.3-0.5(-1.0) mm long, 0.8-2.0 mm wide, 1.3-1.9 mm long when measured from stamen attachment, the calyx splitting between the lobes at anthesis for a distance of 0.9-1.6 mm. Petals yellow to orange, narrowly ovate, acuminate, sometimes ciliolate, 6.0-9.0 mm long, 2.0-3.2 mm wide, drying yellow or yellow-brown, falling from dried flowers. Filaments yellow, the antesepalous ones 4.0-6.0 mm long, the antepetalous ones 4.5-7.5 mm long; anthers yellow to rufous brown, 2.0-3.3 mm long; sporangia 1.6-2.4 mm long, dehiscing by slits widest at apex; gland 0.7-1.4 mm long, 1.0-1.6 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda ca 0.5 mm long. Ovary (l-)2-locular; ovules free-central or axile, all at the same level, 6-10 in all; style 9.0-15.0 mm long. Fruit yellowish, globose, crowned with the remains of the calyx, 16.0-22.0 mm high excluding calyx and 15.8-22.5 mm thick when dry, estimated ca 18-27 mm high and 18-28 mm thick when fresh. Seed 1, 11.0-12.5 mm high, 13.0-16.0 mm wide, 10.0-12.0 mm thick, the polished outer face as wide as the seed or narrowed to as little as 1/8 the width with a broader crossbar at the base.

Discussion

Uses: French Guiana: fruits reported edible (BAFOG 7852).

Common Names

bo-kai, lansa-kaspi, Wewefanashitu, mamouriballi, Spijkerhout, spikri-hoedoe, spikri-oedoe , Topi, Socoro

Distribution

Colombia east of the Andes; Venezuela in Amazonas and Bolivar; the three Guianas; and Brazil in Amazonas, Roraima, Acre, north Rondonia, Pará, east central to northeast Mato Grosso (two collections only), Maranhão, and Amapá. Moist primary and secondary forests above or below flood levels, mostly below 200 m altitude, the Mato Grosso collections from ca. 400-450 m.

Amazonas Colombia South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America|