Tococa subciliata (DC.) Triana
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Authority
Michelangeli, Fabián A. 2005.
(Melastomataceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 98: 1-114. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Melastomataceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Brazil. Amazonas: in margine sylvarum et campestribus prope Coari, Ega (now Tefé), Flumen Nigri, Martius s.n. (holotype M).
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Synonyms
Miconia subciliata DC., Tococa subnuda Benth., Tococa planifolia Benth., Tococa castrata Naudin, Tococa lasiostyla Cogn.
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Description
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Species Description - Shrub, to 3.5 m tall; stems densely stellate-puberulous, the trichomes deciduous, nodes glabrous. Leaves isophyllous, oblong ovate to broadly lanceolate, 10-27(-33) X (3-)5-11(-13) cm, apex acute to acuminate, base rounded to slightly cordate, the sinus up to 3 mm long, adaxial surface glabrous or sparsely strigose, abaxial surface glabrous or with a mix of setae up to 1 mm long and caducous stellate hairs, the nerves tomentose to sparsely setose, light green, (3-) 5-nervate, chartaceous, entire to ciliate-semilate; petioles 1.5-5.5 cm long, stellate-puberulous; domatia absent, but in some cases the base of the blade obscurely inflated and resembling a small domatium. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of 10-30 flowers, 7-18 cm long, the axis green, flattened, glabrous or sparsely stellate-puberulous. Flowers on pedicels 2-6 mm long, flared at the apex, sometimes articulate 1-2 mm below the hypanthium, subtended by caducous bracts, lanceolate, 1.0-1.5 X 0.2 mm; hypanthium conical, with an attenuate base, 5.0-7.0 mm long, pulverulent, and sparsely stellate-puberulous, the apex sometimes sparsely glandular-setose; outer calyx teeth reduced, stout, subulate, not or barely projecting 1 mm beyond the inner teeth, inner calyx teeth broadly deltoid, fused halfway to the apex, 1.0-1.7 mm long; the ring inside the torus glabrous; petals 5, obovate to oblong, 9-11 X 4-5 mm, base truncate to obtuse, retuse to slightly emarginate, granulóse, glabrous, pink; stamens all the same size; filaments 6.5-7.0 mm long, glabrous; anthers blue to lilac; the connective with a dorsal-basal blunt tooth; thecae 6-7 mm long, opening by a dorsally inclined or upright pore; ovary 3-locular, totally to 4/5 inferior, the superior portion (when present) conical, the apex minutely glandular, or with a corona of small setae and lepidote trichomes; style glabrous or sparsely lepidote-pubescent at the base, 12-17 mm long; stigma broadly funnel-form, the apex with small papillae. Fruits urceolate, 8-13 mm long, blue, glabrous; seeds not evident through the pericarp, narrowly ovate, 1.3-2.8 mm long, with capitate trichomes in the raphal area, without sculpturing, anticlinal walls straight, peri-clinal walls flat, boundaries between periclinal walls flat.
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Discussion
Tococa subciliata is a widespread species in the Amazon, Essequibo, and Orinoco basins. It is closely related to T. caudata and T. coronata, with which it shares a subulate outer calyx, pubescent style, blue anthers and fruits, and pubescent seeds. It can be distinguished from sympatric species of Tococa by the absence of domatia and reduced inner calyx. Gleason identified specimens with short calyces as T. subnuda or T. subciliata, regardless of the presence of ant domatia. I have chosen to adhere to the characters present in the type and to recognize T. subciliata as a nondomatia-bearing species with reduced calyces, whereas domatia-bearing specimens are all placed in T. coronata. The reasons for this are that a continuum of calyx sizes occurs in specimens with domatia, wheras all specimens without domatia have reduced calyces (see also discussion under T. coronata). This criterion is also consistent with the characters seen in the types of T. subnuda, T. subciliata, and T. coronata. Moreover, specimens without domatia are always found on the lower portions of river banks, where they remain covered by water for at least four months of the year. These populations flower during the dry season and are reproductively isolated in time from populations with domatia that inhabit the higher portions of the river banks and that bloom during the beginning of the rainy season.
Tococa lasiostyla is here considered a synonym of T. subciliata, given that the combination of characters used to differentiate them (completely inferior ovary and glabrous adaxial surfaces of the leaf blades) certainly falls within the range of intraspecific variation found in T. subciliata throughout its geographical range. The differences in calyx size, pubescence of the style, and shape of the stigma, mentioned by Cogniaux (1888) for T. lasiostyla, T. planifolia, and T. subciliata, were not observerd in the type specimens, and even if these do occur, they would certainly fall within the intraspecific variation observed in the field. Cogniaux (1888) refers to T. subnuda as a domatia-bearing species; however, none of the type specimens have domatia, and their floral morphology fits the concept adopted here for T. subciliata. Wurdack (1993) had already considered T. subnuda as a synonym of T. subciliata.Some individuals of T. subciliata have small swollen concavities at the base of the leaf blade, resembling the domatia of the remaining species of Tococa. However, these structures are much smaller, often are not connected to the exterior, and do not house ants, although coccids have been observed to inhabit them. These pseudodomatia may be relicts of structures that have been secondarily lost rather than representing the intermediate step from species that lack domatia to species with ant domatia. -
Common Names
bimitsexe, Boyuyo plano
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Distribution
S Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, NE Bolivia, and NE Peru, on the lower portions of river banks and in flooded forests. Flowering during the dry season; fruits ripe at the beginning or middle of the rainy season. Because T. subciliata is widely distributed north and south of the Equator, the actual months of blooming and fruiting vary across localities.
Amazonas Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Loreto Peru South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Beni Bolivia South America|