Senna multijuga var. verrucosa (Vogel) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Family

Caesalpiniaceae

Scientific Name

Senna multijuga var. verrucosa (Vogel) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Type

Holotypus, B (ex hb. Kunth,), not seen = F Neg. 1767! isotypi, FI, K (hb. Hook.) = NY, Neg. 1467 = IPA Neg. 990, P, W!

Synonyms

Cassia verrucosa Vogel, Cassia centijuga Wawra

Description

Variety Description - Trees 10-40 m, with trunk to 12-60 cm diam, the annotinous branchlets, ventral angles of lf-stalks and axes of inflorescence densely pilosulous-tomentulose with fine sordid spreading or flexuously incumbent hairs to 0.15-0.4 mm. Stipules herbaceous, obliquely dilated at base, semi-ovate or falcately lanceolate 3-8 X 0.7-1.6 mm. Lvs 7-16 cm; gland at proximal (and sometimes at second) pair 1-2.5 X 0.25-0.45 mm, smaller subulate glands (often obscured by vesture) at all following pairs; pulvinules 0.3-0.7 mm; lfts of major lvs 26-56 pairs, inserted along rachis at points 1.5-4 mm apart, the larger in outline linear, linear-lanceolate or -oblong, 8-14 X 1.6-3.2 mm, (3-)3.5-6 times as long as wide, the secondary camptodrome venation immersed on both faces or faintly raised on upper and visibly discolored on lower face. Long inner sepals 4-5.5 mm; petals glabrous, the adaxial ones 11-16 mm, the falcate abaxial one 14-21 mm; androecium glabrous; ovary puberulent along sutures or overall.--Collections: 17.

Distribution and Ecology - Humid forest of the coastal plain, locally inland along rivers, below 300 m, often preserved for shade in cocoa plantations, local in s.-e. Bahia and . Espirito Santo from the lower Contas valley to the vicinity of Linhares (±14°-19°30'S); Organ Mts. Rio de Janeiro.--Fl. VI-VII(-VIII).

Discussion

In its relatively narrow area of dispersal var. verrucosa is easily recognized by the high number and small size of the leaflets combined with basally dilated herbaceous stipules, a character noted by Vogel in the protologue but afterwards overlooked by Bentham. Around Ilheus and Itabuna and in the middle Pardo valley it has been collected close to var. lindleyana, here at its northern limit and possibly introduced from further south. The var. lindleyana has setiform stipules and leaflets at once fewer and larger than those of var. verrucosa, although not as large in this segment of its range as ordinarily in Rio de Janeiro or Minas Gerais. The more distantly related S. acuruensis, with similar (but narrower) pod and similar narrow seeds, has at the very most 20 pairs of leaflets and a viscidsetulose inflorescence; it is weakly arborescent shrub adapted to different habitats in the caatinga formation of the foothills and uplands. Bentham, treating Cassia verrucosa as a distinct species, suggested that it might prove to be only a variant of C. multijuga with many small leaflets, a view readily adopted herein. Bentham's concept of C. verrucosa was, however, somewhat more inclusive than our own, embracing elements of our subsp. lindleyana var. peregrinatrix, superficially similar in small size (though different in lower number) of leaflets and technically distinct in having the setiform stipules of subsp. lindleyana.

Common Names

angico branco

Distribution

Bahia Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America|