Mecranium multiflorum (Desr.) Triana

  • Family

    Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Mecranium multiflorum (Desr.) Triana

  • Primary Citation

    Trans. Linn. Soc. London 28(1): 139. 1871

  • Basionym

    Melastoma multiflora Desr.

  • Common Names

    bois pigeon, palito de vara, pega pollo, sangre de pollo

  • Description

    Description Author and Date: James D. Skean, Jr., January 2011, based on Skean, J. D., Jr. 1993. Monograph of Mecranium (Melastomataceae-Miconieae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 39: 1-116.

    Type: [HISPANIOLA] "SAINT DOMINGUE." Without specific locality [probably Haiti, Massif de la Selle], without date, [1789], fl, Martin s.n. (holotype P, photos: F! NY! US!; isotype: P!).

    Description: Shrub or small tree to ca 5 m tall. Twigs slightly to moderately 4-angled, 1.5-3 mm in diameter, smooth, essentially glabrous, but youngest buds and nodal ridges often with a few unbranched to irregularly branched and matted multicellular hairs; internodes 1-4 cm long. Leaf blade 4-8.9 (-11.9) cm long, 1.3-3.4 cm wide, ovate, less commonly elliptic or obovate; apex acuminate; base cuneate or slightly decurrent; margin plane or slightly revolute, often strongly so near base forming two basal pseudodomatia, serrate in distal ca 3/4; venation suprabasal, usually with 1 pair of conspicuous secondary veins joining midvein 1-7 mm above lamina base, and 1 pair of inconspicuous, intramarginal secondary veins; adaxial surface with midvein and largest pair of secondary veins flat or slightly impressed, the intramarginal secondary veins and tertiary veins flat or slightly impressed; abaxial surface with midvein and largest pair of secondary veins raised, the intramarginal secondary veins and tertiary veins flat or very slightly raised, the quaternary and higher order veins flat, the surface essentially glabrous, but with scattered minute, glandular hairs, and caducous unbranched to irregularly branched and matted multicellular hairs at axils of junction of midvein and conspicuous secondary veins. Petiole 5-17 mm long, essentially glabrous. Inflorescences borne in leaf axils and on leafless nodes below leaves, 1.6-4.4 cm long, 0.4-1.6 cm wide, 1-2 branched, the caducous bracts to ca 1.2 mm long; peduncle 3-10 (-18) mm long. Hypanthium 1.3-2.2 mm long, 1.6-1.8 mm wide, slightly obconical or subglobose, very sparsely pubescent with minute glandular hairs, the portion free from ovary 0.6-0.9 mm long; portion of calyx bearing external teeth 0.2-0.3 mm long. Calyx teeth ca 0.3 mm long, 0.3 mm wide. Calyptra present in bud, dome-like, with a caducous apiculum to ca 0.2 mm long. Petals 1.3-1.8 mm long, 0.9-1.6 mm wide, obovate, slightly cupped adaxially, white, spreading; apex rounded, emarginate. Stamens white; filament narrowly ovate, 1.3-1.7 mm long, ca 0.4 mm wide; anther narrowly obovate, 1.3-1.8 mm long, 0.4-0.7 mm wide, the anther sacs 0.8-1.2 mm long, opening by a single gaping foramen, septum torn. Ovary inferior, 0.9-1.3 mm long, 1-1.4 mm wide, the apical appendage 0.3-0.7 mm high; style 2.3-3.4 mm long, white, straight or slightly curved, 0.3-0.4 mm wide; stigma 0.3-0.7 mm wide. Berries ca 4.5 mm in diameter, purple-black, glabrous or with a few minute glandular hairs; seeds 0.7-0.8 mm long, 0.4-0.5 mm wide. Figs. 15B, 34.

    Habitat and Distribution: Hispaniola: broad-leaved cloud forests and disturbed areas in the Massif de la Selle and western Sierra de Baoruco. A single population is known from the extreme eastern Massif de la Hotte, near Miragoâne, Haiti; 920-1900 m. (Fig. 33).

    Phenology: Flowering primarily from April to June with fruits reaching maturity in August and September.

    Taxonomy and Systematics: Traditionally, M. multiflorum and morphologically similar taxa have been treated as a single, widespread, polymorphic species, M. amygdalinum, found on all four of the Greater Antillean islands. See discussion under M. amygdalinum for details of the long-perpetuated misapplication of this name. The diverse entities recognized erroneously under the name M. amygdalinum are treated here as five different species: M. axillare, endemic to Jamaica, M. integrifolium, of Cuba and northern Hispaniola, M. septentrionale, endemic to the Cordillera Septentrional of Hispaniola, M. latifolium, endemic to Puerto Rico, and M. multiflorum. The type material of M. multiflorum was collected by Joseph Martin in 1789 (Jiménez 1985), probably in the mountains near what is now Port-au-Prince, Haiti (see discussion under M. amygdalinum). I examined a Martin collection of Melastoma multiflora from P, which I am considering an isotype. Pubescence and leaf base characters indicate that it is definitely from the Massif de la Selle-Sierra de Baoruco. Examined also were photographs of the sheet that may be considered the holotype of Mecranium multiflorum, which was a Martin collection photographed overlain with the left half of the sheet that I examined and included labels from the isotype sheet. Mecranium multiflorum is distinct, even in vegetative condition, from the sympatric species, M. amygdalinum and M. birimosum. The leaves of the latter lack basal pseudodomatia formed from revolute leaf margins. These pouches on M. multiflorum may be inhabited by mites and/or small insects. In the Massif de la Selle, M. multiflorum is most similar to M. birimosum, a more robust species with larger flowers, markedly different anthers, and thicker leaves that lack pseudodomatia (see Figs. 20, 22). Of Hispaniolan species, M. multiflorum is most similar to M. integrifolium, and M. septentrionale (see Appendix 1). Plants of M. multiflorum from the extreme eastern Massif de la Hotte of Haiti generally have leaves that are somewhat narrower than those from populations in the Massif de la Selle-Sierra de Baoruco. According to Barker & Dardeau (1930) and Pierre-Noel (1971) the common name used by the Haitians for this species is "bois pigeon." During my travels in Haiti I have not heard any specific common name applied to this species, and on several occasions have found "bois pigeon" used for Comocladia pinnatifolia Linnaeus (Anacardiaceae). Liogier (1974) reported that "M. amygdalinum" (M. multiflorum, M. integrifolium, and M. septentrionale) were known variously by the common names "palito de vara," "pega pollo," and "sangre de pollo" in the Dominican Republic. A beautiful color engraving of M. multiflorum can be found in Richard (1812, plate 37).

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