Mouriri domingensis (Tussac) Spach

Authority

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

Family

Melastomataceae

Scientific Name

Mouriri domingensis (Tussac) Spach

Type

Type. P A. Poiteau s n (holotype, P; isotype, BR; probable isotypes, Fl, G). Haiti, De de la Tortue. Flower and fruit; 1796-1800.

Synonyms

Myrtus pomifera Aubl., Petaloma domingensis Tussac, Mouriri mexicana Sessé & Moc. ex DC., Aulacocarpus quadrangularis Griseb., Eugenia tetrasperma Bello

Description

Description - Shrub or small tree to 9.5 m high with a trunk to 15 cm in diameter, glabrous except for the inflorescence; young twigs narrowly 4-winged; bark of older trunk grayish, fissured. Petioles 2.0-5.0 mm long; blades shining above when fresh, 3.5-9.0 cm long, 1.9-4.1 cm wide, ovate to ovate-elliptic to ovate-elliptic-oblong to elliptic-oblong to oblong, acute to short-acuminate at the apex, rounded to acute with an included angle of 90° at base; midrib plane above, prominent below, rounded in the lower 1/6-1/3, becoming somewhat 2-angled above; lateral nerves obscurely visible to invisible above and below when dry. Midrib xylem tubular; stomatal crypts Type II, averaging in a leaf 20-28 µ in diam, 19-23 µ high, 85-120 per sq mm (extremes 15-35 µ diam, 15-25 µ high, 75-150 per sq mm); upper epidermis one cell thick; hypodermis present, its cells often aligned with those of the epidermis; mucilaginous walls sometimes present in the upper epidermal cells, usually present in the hypodermal cells; free stone cells present Only at base of midvein; terminal sclereids few, not over one for every four vein endings, usually many fewer, sometimes hard to find, stellate in form, the central body 1-2 times as long as wide, sometimes branched, with short arms, these sharp to blunt. Inflorescences axillary and at leafless nodes of twigs up to 3.5 mm thick, 1-4 per side, each 1-8-flowered, 1.3-5.0 mm long to base of farthest pedicel measured along the axes and with 2 or 3 internodes in that length; bracts 0.9-1.6 mm long, ovate-triangular, acute to broadly acute, perfoliate at base, usually most deciduous by anthesis, sometimes most persistent into deflorescence. Pedicels, upper inflorescence axes, and sometimes the very base of the ovary and lower parts of the inflorescence axes minutely puberulent True pedicels 2.2-6.0 mm long; calyx including inferior ovary 3.0-4.0 mm long, obconic to campanulate; free hypanthium 1.2-1.6 mm long; calyx lobes before anthesis 0.5-1.2 mm long, 1.4-2.5 mm wide, broadly triangular to rounded to nearly truncate, often minutely apiculate, 0.9-1.6 mm long from the stamen attachment, the calyx not splitting between the lobes at anthesis. Flowers fragrant. Petals white to pink, 3.6-5.0 mm long, 2.0-4.0 mm wide, ovate to nearly round, acute to abruptly acute at the apex, short-clawed at base, minutely erose on the margin. Filaments white, the antesepalous ones 3.0-4.0 mm long, the antepetalous ones ca 5.5-6.0 mm long; anthers yellow, 1.5-2.9 mm long; sporangia 1.0-1.7 mm long, dehiscing by elongate apical pores; gland 0.3-0.6 mm long, 0.91.5 mm from apex of anther when measured from center of gland; cauda 0.8-1.4 mm long. Ovary 4-5-locular; ovules axile-basal, produced only outwardly from each placenta, 12-15 in all; style white, 9.0-10.0 mm long, hooked at the end. Fruit edible, sweet to insipid, saffron yellow, orange, red, or black, subglobose or wider than long when more than 1-seeded, slightly lobed according to the number of seeds, crowned with the hypanthium and often with some or all of the calyx lobes, 8.5-12.5 mm high excluding calyx and 10.5-15.0 mm wide when dry, estimated 11-16 mm high and 13-19 mm wide when fresh. Seeds 1-4, medium to dark brown, smooth, 7.8-11.3 mm long, 5.5-8.7 mm wide, 4.7-7.5 mm thick, irregularly and broadly ellipsoid, flattened on the contact faces when more than one, with a rough roundish to half-round hilum at the base but angled upward so as to face one side, the hilum 1.1-1.7 mm high and 1.2-2.4 mm wide.

Discussion

This species is very similar to M. guianensis. The differences between the two are real but not large and it is conceivable that experimental studies will show them to be best regarded as subspecies. Mouriri domingensis differs primarily in its shorter inflorescences, shorter calyx and ovary, shorter anther sporangia (in real and proportionate lengths), and smaller hilum on the seed. Lesser differences are the occasional oblong tendency in the leaves, the relatively unvarying petiole length (the blade is 13-26 times as long as the petiole, whereas it is 15-46 times as long in Af. guianensis), the less frequent stomatal crypts, the shorter petals, the longer anther cauda, the larger fruits and seeds and the frequent occurrence of 4-seeded fruits. The fact that the fruits and seeds are larger and that proportions in some organs have changed in comparison to M. guianensis indicates that there is more to the differentiation than mere size reduction.

Distribution and Ecology: Haiti, off the northwest coast on Ile de la Tortue; Dominican Republic, in the north, the southwest corner, and the Samaná Peninsula; Puerto Rico; St. Croix; Antigua; and Guadeloupe. Reported on Martinique beside a small river near the fortress of Regia by Plumier in his original text at Paris but never verified, its presence on the island denied by R. P. Duss (1897), Plumier's site surmised by Urban (1920, p 86) probably to have been Haiti. In woods, often low and shaded but sometimes in dry places, usually at low elevations, occurring as high as 760 m in Puerto Rico. See Fig 50.

Common Names

cormier, Piragua, guayaba cimarrona, caimitillo, guasavara, murta

Distribution

Puerto Plata Dominican Republic South America| Barahona Dominican Republic South America| Samaná Dominican Republic South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Guadeloupe South America| Nord-Ouest Haiti South America|