Mouriri cyphocarpa Standl.

Authority

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

Family

Melastomataceae

Scientific Name

Mouriri cyphocarpa Standl.

Type

Type. S. J. Record G 12 (holotype, US; isotype, MAD). Guatemala: Los Andes region of the lower Río Motagua valley. Fruit, 25 Feb 1926.

Synonyms

Mouriri brunneicalyx Standl.

Description

Description - Tree 6-8 m high, glabrous except for the inflorescence; young twigs terete or slightly quadrangular. Petioles 2.0-4.0 mm long; blades dark green above, much paler beneath, 9.4-18.5 cm long, 3.6-7.5 cm wide, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, abruptly short-acuminate at the apex, the base narrowly to broadly rounded to a small truncation or notch, the notch up to 1.0 mm deep; midrib flat above, prominent and rounded below or becoming 2-angled 1/4-1/2 of the way to the apex; lateral nerves distinct above, prominent below when dry, 9-15 on each side of midrib, opposite or sub-opposite, parallel, nearly straight near the midrib, arching toward the margin joining there with an arcuate submarginal nerve. Midrib xylem tubular; stomatal crypts none; upper epidermis varying from one to two cells thick in the same leaf, the doubled parts from occasional to frequent, mucilaginous walls occasional to common in the single cells and the inner of the doubled cells; hypodermis none; free stone cells present along the midrib in the first 1-2 cm; terminal sclereids stellate, often dominated by a large main columnar branch, the central body from triangular to rectangular or rarely roundish or elliptic, with several prominent sharp branches, the body sometimes branched itself. Inflorescences at leafless nodes of twigs 3.0-7.0 mm thick, 1 or 2 per side, each l-5-flowered 11.7-26.6 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 2 or 3 internodes in that length; bracts 1.5-2.0 mm long, ovate-triangular, mostly deciduous by anthesis; bracts and axes of inflorescence with a light red-brown pubescence. True pedicels 3.0-5.4(-7 ex original description) mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 10.6-14.5 mm long, obconic, constricted above, it and the pedicel with a dense red-brown pubescence; free hypanthium 4.3-5.5 mm long; calyx in bud appearing completely fused but the lobes actually free, overlapping to close the bud; lobes before anthesis rounded-triangular, acute, 1.6-2.6 mm long, 2.0-3.0 mm wide, 5.5-6.5 mm long when measured from top of stamen attachment, the calyx splitting between the lobes at anthesis a distance of 2.4-3.2 mm. Petals white slightly tinged in places with brown, orbicular, abruptly acute at apex, sessile, ca 10.0 mm long, 8.0-9.0 mm wide. Filaments unequal, ca 9-12 mm long; anthers 4.8-5.1 mm long, sporangia 4.7-5.0 mm long, dehiscing by apical pores; gland 0.8-0.9 mm long, 2.9-3.0 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda not apparent but the filament inset 0.8 mm into the base of the anther. Ovary 5-locular; ovules axile-basal, produced only outwardly from each placenta, ca 25 in all; style ca 16-18 mm long. Fruit subglobose, with a red-brown pubescence, crowned with the remains of the calyx, 11.5-14.0 mm high excluding calyx, ca 12.0-14.5 mm thick when dry, estimated ca 15.0-18.0 mm high and 15.5-19.0 mm thick when fresh, the calyx sometimes directly opposite the pedicel, other times the fruit asymmetric and the calyx as little as 90° from the pedicel. Seeds 1 or 2, dark brown and shiny, adherent to the locule wall, 8.7-12.7 mm high, 10.1-11.1 mm wide, 6.7-8.6 mm thick, irregularly globose when 1, flattened on the contact faces when 2, the roundish hilum next to the pedicel, 2.9-3.3 mm in diameter, the seed sometimes elongate toward the calyx when the fruit is asymmetric.

Discussion

The species is distinguished primarily by the red-brown pubescence of inflorescence, the conspicuous parallel lateral veins at least in the dry leaf, and the long calyx lobes as measured from the stamens. The red-brown color is approached in some specimens of M. grandiflora,, a closely related species, but in the latter the minute puberulence itself is much scantier and is not red.

Distribution

Panama, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and doubtless in between. Rain forests at elevations up to 130 m.

Nicaragua Central America| Panamá Panama Central America|