Crossopetalum rhacoma Crantz

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Celastraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Crossopetalum rhacoma Crantz

  • Description

    Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /home/emu/nybgweb/www-dev/htdocs/science-dev/wp-content/themes/nybgscience/lib/VHMonographsDetails.php on line 179

    Species Description - Shrub or rarely a small tree, 2-4 m tall, many-branched from base; bark gray and smooth; young branches 4-angled. Leaves opposite or rarely subopposite; blades 1.5-3.7 x 1.2-2.3 cm, chartaceous, ovate, elliptic, lanceolate, or rounded, glabrous, the venation reticulate and inconspicuous, the apex obtuse or rounded, less often retuse, the base rounded or obtuse, the margins revolute, crenate-serrate; petioles 1-2 mm long. Flowers on short, simple, dichasial cymes; pedicels 3-4 mm long, with a pair of bracteoles at base. Calyx cup-shaped, ca. 1 mm long, sepals rounded; petals oblong, ca. 1.5 mm long; stamens <1 mm long; ovary ovoid, the stigmas 4-lobed. Fruit asymmetrically obovoid, slightly angular, 3-5 mm long, turning from green to red. Stones with 2 or 3 ellipsoid, light brown seeds.

  • Distribution

    Common in dry forests. Fish Bay (A2372), Salt Pond (M17063). Also on Anegada, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; Mexico to northern South America, including the West Indies.

    Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| South America| México Mexico North America| Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Anegada Virgin Islands South America|