Gustavia johnclarkii S.A.Mori & Cornejo
-
Description
Author: Scott A. Mori & Xavier Cornejo
Type: Ecuador. Esmeraldas: Bilsa Biological Station, Mache Mountains, 35 km W of Quinindé, 5 km W of Santa Isabel, premontane wet forest, mature forest behind Manuel's house, 00°21'N, 79°44'W, 400-600 m alt., 27 Mar-11 Apr 1995, J. L. Clark &T. Troya 513 (holotype, QCNE; isolotypes, GB, NY).
Description: Understory to canopy trees, 15-35 m when flowering, to 70 cm diam. Bark nearly smooth, with inconspicuous vertical cracks, light brown. Stems thick, 10-15 mm diam., the leaves not in distinct whorls at stem ends, petiole and petiole scars usually touching; cataphylls not observed. Leaves present at anthesis; petioles appearing absent; blades broadly obovate, 50-100 x 20-45 cm, chartaceous, without punctations, glabrous, the blade decurrent to leaf attachment, the margins entire, the apices acuminate; venation brochidodromous, the midrib conspicuous on both surfaces, adaxially carinate, abaxially rounded, the secondary veins excurrent, adaxially prominulous, abaxially salient, in 27-45 pairs, intersecondary veins absent, the tertiary veins percurrent, the higher order veins reticulate. Inflorescences suprafoliar, racemes or occasionally with a solitary flower in leaf axils, the rachis 9-11 cm long x 12 mm diam, sparsely lenticellate, with up to 10 or more flowers; pedicels 5-7 cm long, squamose, light brown for entire length, the bract not seen, the bracteoles 2, opposite, inserted on hypanthium, ovate to very widely ovate, ca. 9 x 12 mm at anthesis, expanding in width as fruits develop. Flowers ca. 12-14 m diam.; hypanthium densely white pubescent, especially in bud, not costate; calyx-lobes 6, very widely ovate, scarcely discernable, fused at base to form calycine rim; petals 6, densely cinereous pubescent in bud, pinkish-white to rose or dark pink, fragrant; androecium with staminal tube ca. 12 mm high, the outermost filaments ca. 20 mm long, pink toward base, white toward apex, the innermost filaments white throughout, the anthers 2.5 mm long, yellow; ovary 6-locular, the summit truncate, pubescent, the trichomes white, the style obconical, 5 mm long. Fruits globose-oblate, truncate to convex at apex, 9-11 × 18-25 cm; calycine rim absent but calycine ring usually persisting as scar, inserted near to summit of fruit, the infracalycine zone rounded to base, the supracalycine zone absent, the fruit summit nearly as wide in diam. as fruit diam.; pulp orange at fruit maturity; pericarp rough, woody, ca. 5 mm thick, the exocarp light brown, sometimes tinged with purple, when fresh; pulp orange at fruit maturity. Seeds often flat on one side and rounded on the other, ca. 4 × 4 cm, the seed coat thin (<1 mm thick), with reticulate pattern caused by darker colored veins when fresh, dark brown when dried; aril yellow, annular, surrounding base of funicle.
Common names: Ecuador: Pacó (Little et al. 21139), pacora (Neill et al. 12914), poure gudu (Awá Indian language fide Tipaz et al. 1261).
Distribution: Northwestern Ecuador in the provinces of Carchi, Esmeraldas, and Pichincha.
Ecology: Understory to canopy trees found in non-flooded wet forests from 200 to 700 m alt. Some collections have been made in disturbed habitats.
Phenology: Flowering collections have been gathered in Feb, Mar, and Jun and nearly mature fruits in Sep and Nov
Pollination: No observations recorded but other species of Gustavia are known to be pollinated by bees (Mori & Boeke, 1987; Mori & Kallunki, 1976).
Dispersal: No observation but the soft pulp of the fruits of others species of Gustavia are known to be eaten by animals (see species page for Gustavia superba).
Predation: No observations recorded but the seeds of at least one other species of Gustavia are eaten by animals (see species page for Gustavia superba).
Field characters: This species can be recognized in the field by its large tree size compared to most species of Gustavia; trunk cylindric to ground; large, chartaceous, leaves appearing sessile because of decurrent leaf blades; suprafoliar, robust inflorescences; calyx with poorly developed lobes but with a conspicuous calycine rim; petals caducous, fleshy, pinkish-red, very fragrant; fruits globose to depressed globose, larger than any other species of the genus, usually with a conspicuous calycine rim and a truncate to convex apex; funicle straight, the aril tubular.
Taxonomic notes: The collections now identified as G. johnclarkii were previously included in the concept of G. dodsonii from which it differs in canopy (to 35 m tall) vs. understory (to 19 m tall) habit; chartaceous, wider vs. coriaceous, narrower leaf blades; wider bracteoles often inserted on the hypanthium vs. narrower bracteoles usually inserted below the hypanthium; calyx with a conspicuous, calycine rim vs. calyx without a conspicuous calycine rim; and very large fruits (18-25 cm diam. vs. 6.5 cm diam.) often with a persistent calycine rim vs. fruits without a calycine rim. We have not yet studied fresh flowers intact because the petals are early caducous and too large for standard vials used for field collections. Both G. johnclarkii and G. dodsonii differ from G. angustifolia by their sessile vs. petiolate leaves and glabrous versus pubescent abaxial leaf blade surfaces. Gustavia johnclarkii is much larger and more branched than G. angustifolia. In addition, G. johnclarkii and G. dodsonii are found in wet forests while G. angustifolia prefers dry forests.
Uses: Used for tying hunted meat to pack frames (Tipaz et al. 12161).
Etymology: The epithet of this species recognizes the contributions of John L. Clark as a plant collector in western Ecuador and for his contributions to the knowledge of the systematics, evolution, and conservation of neotropical Gesneriaceae. John was one of the first botanists to explore the Bilsa Biological station from where many of the collections of this species were gathered. He is dedicated to field work, a love that he attributes to summers spent in Maine exploring the back country with his father.
Conservation: A narrow endemic restricted to northwestern Ecuador where it is protected in the Estación Biológica de Bilsa, Reserva Florestal ENDESA, Territorio Indígena Awá, and the Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi Cayapas.
Source: Based on Mori & Cornejo (manuscript).
Last updated: By Scott A. Mori on 8 August 2012.
- Sorry, no descriptions available for this record.
