Rochefortia acanthophora (DC.) Griseb.

Irimia, Ramona-Elena & Gottschling, Marc, 2016, Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales), Biodiversity Data Journal 4, pp. 7720-7720 : 7720

Rochefortia acanthophora (DC.) Griseb.

Rochefortia acanthophora Rochefortia acanthophora Fl. Brit. W. I.: 482. 1862 Ehretia acanthophora Prodr. 9: 510. 1845C.G.L. Bertero s.n. 1821G-DC18088MO-1886637fideC.G.L. Bertero s.n. 1819TO-4998

Description

Shrubs up to 4.0 m tall, rarely trees 4.0-7.0 m tall, galls absent; twig indument absent or sericeous, glabrescent at maturity, trichomes simple; bark grey whitish to grey dark or brown, sometimes peeling; thorns 0.5-0.8 cm long, slender, acute, simple, numerous, axillary, alternate, glabrous through variously sericeous. Leaves fasciculate; petiole 0.05-0.2 cm long, slender, hirsute; blade 0.5-1.5 cm long, 0.2-0.3 cm wide, elliptic to obovate, widely obovate or circular (particularly distal immature leaves), coriaceous, primary vein prominent, with scattered trichomes, secondary veins 3-6, tertiary veins arcuate or reticulate; base cuneate, rarely rounded; apex rounded or obcordate, occasionally retuse, emarginated or cleft; adaxial surface hirsute to pubescent, with simple trichomes and cystolith-like structures in subsidiary cells, abaxial surface bright, variously hirsute to glabrous. Inflorescence axillary, flowers in clusters of 2 or rarely 3 or solitary, pedicels up to 0.02-0.03 cm long. Calyx 0.40-0.50 cm long, 0.45-0.50 cm wide, coriaceous, glabrous or with few scattered trichomes outside, sometimes hirsute, glabrous inside with a tuft of trichomes at the distal part of lobes, lobes 0.35-0.40 cm long, 0.40-0.43 cm wide, ovate to broadly ovate, apex acute, margin strigose. Corolla 0.40-0.50 cm long, white, yellowish or pale yellow, rarely green (as in Leonard & Leonard 1579: GH!, Leonard & Leonard 2579: US!, Leonard & Leonard 12579: GH! US!), brownish when dry, membranaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, tube 0.20-0.25 cm long, funnel-shaped, lobes 0.35-0.40 cm long, ovate, rounded, margin slightly ciliate. Anthers of male flower 0.50-0.55 cm long, oblong, filaments 0.45-0.50 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for further 0.10-0.15 cm, pollen present (SEM), tricolporate; anthers of female flower 0.25-0.30 cm long, oblong, pollen absent, filaments very short, 0.05-0.07 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for further 0.10-0.12 cm. Ovary of male flower subglobose, 0.10-0.20 cm long, stylodia 2, 0.10-0.15 cm long, distally setose, with grey trichomes, ovules absent; ovary of female flower globose, style 0.35-0.40 cm long, divided, branch 0.30-0.35 cm long, stigmas very well developed, cotyliform. Fruit 0.30-0.45 cm tall, 0.40-0.50 cm wide, globose, green when immature, later orange brown or red to brightly red at maturity, brown when old, mesocarp fleshy; pyrene 0.30-0.40 cm tall, 0.30-0.35 cm wide, 0.35-0.40 cm deep, abaxial surface with reticulate ridges.

Distribution

Coastal habitats and scrublands across Caribbean islands between Haiti in the West and Guadeloupe in the East, with high abundance in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (symbol "⨀" in Fig. 3), at low altitudes (sea level up to 300 m), occasionally at higher altitudes of 1200 m ( Jiménez 4192: US!). Plant species with similarly restricted distributions on the eastern Greater Antilles are otherwise rare (4 taxa at the generic level listed in Borhidi 1991).

Ecology

Flowering throughout the year ( Jan–Dec); fruiting Oct–Mar, May–Aug, but probably contiguously.

Taxon discussion

Traditionally, R. acanthophora has been considered the most widely distributed species of Rochefortia in the Caribbean ( Lefor 1968), but the results from a molecular survey rather indicate a restricted geographic range ( Irimia et al. 2015). Particularly, R. acanthophora has its westernmost distribution in Haiti, but is absent from Cuba (firstly noted by Klotz 1982 because of leaf shape differences) and Jamaica, where it has been believed to occur in the past. Anyhow, the species is well represented on the islands where it occurs, and is the only small-leaved species documented for Haiti and Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, British as well as US Virgin Islands and Antigua.

Rochefortia acanthophora is sympatric with only a single other species, namely R. barloventensis , from which it differs in the frequently axillary (versus predominantly terminal) inflorescences comprising few (and not more than 5) flowers, a smaller leaf blade size (0.5-1.5 cm long versus 1.4-3.4 cm long) and a reduced leaf petiole length (0.05-0.2 cm long versus 0.4-1.5 cm long). Anyhow, sympatry between both species is restricted to Guadeloupe ( Howard 1989) and Puerto Rico ( Irimia et al. 2015).

Morphologically, R. acanthophora is a variable species, particularly with respect to leaf size and shape, and exhibits some overlap to R. cubensis from Cuba and Jamaica (it was occasionally hard to determine the species reliably if geographic origin was unknown). Among the remaining small-leaved species, it differs from R. bahamensis in the more predominantly obovate (versus circular) leaf shapes and from R. stellata in the absence (versus presence) of multi-branched trichomes. Some individuals of R. acanthophora (e.g., Liogier 20494: F!, Leonard & Leonard 12760: US!, Ekman 2154: A! F!) appear as substrate for plants assigned to Tillandsia sp. ( Bromeliaceae ).

Notes

Representative specimens examined. - HAITI. Port-de-Paix: Baie des Moustiques: trail W to main road, vicinity of Cabaret, 19°52'N, 73°03'W [retroactively inferred], 12 Jan 1929 (♀ fl, fr), Leonard & Leonard 11790 (GH! US!); Jean-Rabel: along Mole Road, 19°51'N, 73°11'W [retroactively inferred], 29 Jan 1929 (♀ fl, fr), Leonard & Leonard 12619 (US!); E of Bord-de-Mer, 19°53'N, 73°12'W [retroactively inferred], 1 Mar 1929 (♀ fl, fr), Leonard & Leonard 13619 (US!); Île de la Gonâve: Mahautiere, 18°50'N, 73°14'W [retroactively inferred], 11 Aug 1927 (fr), Ekman 8883 (G! GH!); Port-au-Prince: Plaine du Cul de Sac: bw Sources Matelas and Source Puantes, 18°41'N, 72°17'W (retroactively inferred), 15 Oct 1924 (♀ fl, fr), Ekman 2154 (A! F!). - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Azua: km 82 on road bw Baní and Azua, 18°24'N, 70°33'W [retroactively inferred], elev 50 m, 27 Oct 1973 (♀ fl, fr), Liogier 20494 (F!); Independencia: Hoya de Enriquillo: 4 km S of Boca de Cachón on road to Jimaní, 18°31'N, 71°45'W [retroactively inferred], elev at least 30 m, 28 May 1987 (♂ fl), Zanoni et al. 39522 (MO! US!); Pedernales : Cerca de Cabo Rojo, 17°54'N, 71°36'W [retroactively inferred], elev 100 m, Jun 1975 (fr), Liogier & Liogier 23240 (GH! NY!); Santo Domingo: Trejo, 18°27'N, 69°58'W [retroactively inferred], 1944 (♀ fl, fr), Schiffino 165 (GH!); Santiago: Las Lavas, about 25 miles NW of Santiago, 19°28'N, 71°14'W [retroactively inferred], elev 200 m, 6 May 1968 (fl), Liogier 11154 (P! US!). - PUERTO RICO. Cabo Rojo: on road bw Cabo Rojo and Pitahaya, 18°63'N, 67°94'W [retroactively inferred], 12 Jul 1963 (♀ fl, fr), Liogier 9912 (F! GH! US!); Coamo: vicinity of Coamo Springs, 18°21'N, 66°22'W [retroactively inferred], 10 Feb 1922 (fr), Britton et al. 5987 (F!); bw Serrilos and Salinas, 18°41'N, 66°21'W [retroactively inferred], 9 Dec 1885 (♀ fl, fr), Sintenis 2993 (K! G! GH! M! US!); Guánica: Guánica forest, along main road a few meters from entrance to forest, 17°58'N, 66°55'W [retroactively inferred], 7 Oct 1989 (fl), Acevedo-Rodriguez & Chinea 3002 (US!); Salinas: rte 712 at rte 706, 18°14'N, 66°13'W [retroactively inferred]), elev ca 200 m, 4 Nov 1989 (fr), Taylor 9592 (NY!); Lajas: S of Boquerón 18°25'N, 67°32'W (retroactively inferred), 18 Aug 1950 (♀ fl, fr), Little 13629 (GH!). - BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. Virgin Gorda: SE side of peak, 18°29'N, 64°24'W [retroactively inferred], elev ca 150 m, 22 Jun 1969 (♀ fl, fr), Little et al. 23824 (US!). - US VIRGIN ISLANDS. Buck Island: Buck Island Reef National Monument, NW end of island, 17°47'N, 64°37'W [retroactively inferred], elev ca 15 m, 8 Apr 1967 (♂ fl), Little 22034 (A! US!); Saint John: Reef Bay Quarter; W slope of hill, NE of Fish Bay, 18°19'N, 64°46'W [retroactively inferred], elev 30 m, 10 Jan 1991 (fl), Acevedo-Rodriguez & Siaca 3909 (US!); Saint Thomas: Flaghill, 18°19'N, 64°54'W [retroactively inferred], elev ca 180 m, 14 Jun 1876 (♀ fl, fr), Eggers s.n. (GH!). - ANTIGUA: E of Willock Village, 17°95'N, 61°49'W [retroactively inferred], 18 Jun 1937 (fr), Box 858 (GH! GH! US!); Crabhill, 17°15'N, 61°53'W [retroactively inferred], 1849 (fr), Wullschlaegel 384 (W! M!). - SAINT MARTIN. Dutch St. Martin, Red Rock, 18°65'N, 63°15'W [retroactively inferred], 9 Apr 2000 (fl), Sastre & Breuil-See 9982 (P!). - FRANCE. Guadeloupe: Saint Barthélemy, Gouverneur, 16°19'N, 61°05'W [retroactively inferred], 13 Apr 2000 (fr), Sastre & Breuil-See 10032 (P!).

Common names

"bois d’ébène”, “ébénier noir", “galle-galle”, “gratte-galle” in Haiti, “corazón de paloma" (Span., pigeon heart), “ébano” and “trejo” in Dominican Republic, “juso” in Puerto Rico and "greenheart ebony" in US Virgin Islands ( Moser et al. 2010).

Economic use

The trunk is employed to make posts for fences ( Jiménez 4593: US!), and the wood is reported to be very hard ("bastard lignum vitae", holly wood: Cook 54: GH!).