Myrcianthes fragrans (Sw.) McVaugh

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Myrtaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Myrcianthes fragrans (Sw.) McVaugh

  • 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 - Tree 5-20 m tall; bark reddish brown, smooth; twigs flattened and appressed-pubescent when young, becoming glabrous and cylindric. Leaves opposite; blades 2.5-7 x 1.4-3.2 cm, obovate, spatulate, or elliptic, coriaceous, with a strong lemony odor, puberulent, gland-dotted, midvein impressed on upper surface, the apex obtuse or rounded, seldom notched or mucronate, the base acute, the margins strongly revolute; petioles 2-10 mm long, puberulent. Flowers many, in short axillary panicles, the terminal flowers sessile, the lateral pedicellate; axis 2-5 cm long appressed- canescent; pedicels slender, 2-7 mm long; bracts and bracteoles subulate. Hypanthium funnel-shaped, 2 5-3 mm long appressed-canescent, the sepals ovate, 2-2.2 mm long glanddotted, ciliate, canescent within; petals, white, rounded, concave canescent within, reflexed, ca. 3 nam long; disk ca. 3 mm wide, canescent; stamens numerous, the filaments ca. 3 mm long, glabrous. Berry globose to ellipsoid, 8-10 mm diam., glandularroughened, green.

  • Distribution

    A common tree of moist forests. Camelberg Peak (A4249). Also on St. Croix and Tortola; throughout the West Indies and Mexico to northern South America.

    South America| México Mexico North America| West Indies| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|