Rochefortia lundellii Camp

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

Rochefortia lundellii Camp

Rochefortia lundellii Rochefortia lundellii Contr. Univ. Michigan Herb. 7: 47-48. 1942C.L. Lundell 6167NY-335693GH-97203GH-97336LL-372669LL-372670MICH-1111531S-04-2384US-1688323

Description

Lianas or shrubs up to 4.5 m tall or trees up to 10.0 m tall, branches arching, galls absent; indument almost glabrescent at maturity, hirsute when young, trichomes simple; bark whitish grey, grey brown or brown dark, with superficial crevices; thorns 0.6-1.5 cm long, robust, acute and slightly curved at tips, simple, scattered (also on older branches), alternate, axillary, hirsute. Leaves fasciculate; petiole 0.3-2.3 cm long, glabrescent; blade (2.0 –)5.0–10.5(– 13.0) cm long, 1.5 –4.5(– 6.0) cm wide, obovate, rarely elliptic, coriaceous, primary and secondary veins prominent, secondary veins 6-9, tertiary veins arching; base cuneate; apex acute, retuse, obcordate, sometimes round or cuspidate; adaxial surface bright, with cystolit-like structures in epidermal cells, glabrous, sometimes with scattered, bent trichomes, abaxial surface shiny, papillate, glabrous, sometime barbellate or rarely with trichomes apically. Inflorescence axillary and terminal, branching sympodial, branches slender, hirsute to glabrous, pedicel 0.20-0.50 cm long. Calyx 0.40-0.45 cm long, 0.45-0.49 cm wide, coriaceous, hirsute outside, glabrous inside, lobes 5 or occasionally 4, 0.35-0.40 cm long, 0.35-0.43 cm wide, very widely ovate, apex obtuse, margin strigose. Corolla 0.35-0.60 cm long, yellow, white, dull white or sometimes greenish ( Martínez Salas & Álvarez M. 30817: MO!), fragrant or odourless, membranaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, tube 0.10-0.20 cm long, funnel-shaped, lobes 0.30-0.40 cm long, widely ovate, slightly ciliate at tips. Anthers of male flower 0.25-0.38 cm long, filaments 0.10-0.20 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for further 0.05-0.06 cm, pollen present (SEM); anthers of female flower 0.12-0.19 cm, filaments 0.08-0.10 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for further 0.04-0.05 cm, pollen absent. Ovary of male flower subglobose, 0.10-0.12 cm long, stylodia 2, 0.05-0.08 cm long, distally strigose, ovules absent; ovary of female flower globose, 0.20-0.25 cm long, style 0.30-0.45 cm long, united in the proximal part for 0.04-0.12 cm, branches 2, 0.20-0.30 cm long, slightly unequal, glabrous, stigmas 2, cotyliform. Fruit 0.50-1.00 cm tall, 0.40-0.90 cm wide, globose, brightly or blackish red at maturity, later becoming orange, widely ovoid or globose; style accrescent; pyrene 0.60-0.80 cm tall, 0.47-0.50 cm wide, 0.30-0.40 cm deep, abaxial surface reticulate, with 2-3 distinct longitudinal ridges.

Distribution

Abundant in Mexico, but also present in adjacent and other countries in Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua), as well as western Cuba (symbol "⬡" in Fig. 3), in perennial and deciduous forests on acidic and calcareous soils from low altitudes up to 1400 m. Borhidi (1991) considers the species (as R. spinosa ) characteristic for the Bombacopsi cubensi - Thrinacetalia morrisii plant community at the order level occurring in western Cuba.

Ecology

Flowering Jan, Apr–Aug; fruiting Feb–Mar, May–Dec.

Taxon discussion

The species has a lianescent habit, which is unusual for Rochefortia and for Ehretiaceae as well, and larger stems may bear truly thick and extensive thorns. However, herbarium specimens of R. lundellii are morphologically difficult to distinguish from South American R. spinosa when growth form is not recorded on the label. Consequently, determination has been more or less arbitrary across both species in the past. Molecular data confirm the distinctiveness between both species ( Irimia et al. 2015), but acquisition of sequence data for morphological somewhat divergent (e.g., Costa Rican) population remains a future research task.

Rochefortia lundellii is a variable species across its different geographical occurrences, particularly regarding size of leaves and thorns, shape of leaf blades and the apex, but also fruit diameter. Specifically, the Mexican population exhibits the largest mature leaves 6.4 –11.0(– 13.0) cm long, followed shortly by the Costa Rican population 6.2 –10.0(– 12.5) cm and the Cuban population 4.8 –9.0(– 11.0) cm. Other slight differences are observed in thorn size, ranging from 0.7-1.5 cm long in Mexican plants over 0.5-1.0 cm long in Costa Rican plants to 0.3-0.7 cm long in Cuban plants. Some Costa Rican specimens consistently have robust thorns that are slightly curved at tips (the trait is shared with some individuals from Mexico, but also from Venezuela assigned to R. spinosa ). Leaf apex is usually rounded or emarginated in R. lundellii , but some specimens from Costa Rica and Mexico display a cuspidate apex. Fruit diameter ranges within the general Rochefortia average values except for Costa Rican specimens having the biggest fruits (1.00-1.20 cm diameter) of all species.

Still in the 60ies of the past century, Lefor (1968) considered R. lundellii a rarely collected species with a very restricted geographic range. The species name was even ignored by Sauget y Barbis [ Léon] and Liogier de Sereys Allut [Alain] (1957) and Klotz (1982), and they filed Cuban specimens under R. spinosa with reference to South America. It is impressive to see how collection efforts by herbaria such as MEXU and MO have the potential to completely revise our view on plant species and their distributions. Today, R. lundellii is one of the best known species of Rochefortia and well documented over a wide geographic range in multiple herbaria.

Notes

Representative specimens examined: - CUBA. Pinar del Río: Peninsula de Guanahacabibes, bw Piñatas and Yagales , 21°53'N, 84°22'W [retroactively inferred], 18 Mar 1924 (fr), Ekman 18784 (G! K! US!). - COSTA RICA. Guanacaste: Parque Nacional Guanacaste Estación Maritza, 10°57'N, 85°29'W [herbarium label], 1 Jul 1989 (fr), INBiol 107 (MO!); Liberia, P.N. Rincón de la Vieja, Cordillera de Guanacaste, Estación Las Pailas, 10°45'N, 85°20'W [herbarium label], 4 Nov 1993 (fr), Espinoza 629 (B! MO!); Tilarán, P.N. Volcán Tenorio, Cuenca del San Carlos, Sector Rancho Capú, elev 700 m, 10°34'N, 85°34'W [retroactively inferred], 11 Apr 2000 (♀ fl), Chaves 404 (G! MO!). - GUATEMALA. Petén: Parque Nacional de Tikal, near El Remate, km 58, lado saliente, 17°10'N 89°38'W [herbarium label], 28 Aug 1970 (fr), Ortíz 1251 (F! MO! NY! US!); Flores, Dos Lagunas, Ixcan río, on Aguas Turbios road, 7 km E, 17°44'N, 89°18'W [retroactively inferred], 10 May 1969 (♂ fl), Contreras 8514 (MO! MO!). - MEXICO. Campeche: Calakmul, km 1 entrada a la reserva, 24 May 2001 (fr), Pena-Chocarro et al. 1133 (BM!); Calakmul, 8 km N of Calakmul, 18°08'N, 89°47'W [herbarium label], 13 Jul 1997 (fr), Martínez Salas et al. 27703 (MO!); Chiapas: Terán, km 6 carretera Tuxtla Gutiérrez-Chicoasén, elev 640 m, 16°43'N, 93°03'W [herbarium label], 13 Aug 1985 (fr), Palacios 2630 (MO!); Berriozábal, 16°48'N, 93°15'W [retroactively inferred], 24 Sep 1950 (fr), Miranda 6669 (US!); Hidalgo: Zimapán, La Majada, 20-25 km NE of Zimapan, 20°50'N, 99°29'W [retroactively inferred], Sep 1981 (sterile), Hernández Magaña & Hernández M. 6535 (MO!); Quintana Roo: Othón P. Blanco, 8 km NE of Estero Franco, on road bw Chetumal and La Union, 17°58'N, 88°51'W [herbarium label], 4 Jul 1984 (fr), Cabrera Cano & Cabrera 6650 (MO!); Camino ejido caobitas hacia el campamento X-la' Ha', 18°15'N, 88°00'W [herbarium label], 17 May 1984 (♂ fl), Ucán Ek et al. 3384 (F!); Nayarit: San Blas, Islas Marias, parte E de la Isla María Magdalena, caminano hacia el S por la costa, 21°26'N, 106°22'W [herbarium label], 25 Nov 1986 (fr), Chiang Cabrera & Flores Franco 1047 (MO!); Veracruz: Apazapan, along road from Baños de Carrizal to Emiliano Zapata, 2-6 km SE of Emiliano Zapata, elev 250-400 m, 19°20'N, 96°38'W [herbarium label], 27 Jun 1980 (♀ fl), Hansen & Nee 7487 (F), 27 Jun 1980 (♂ fl), Hansen & Nee 7488 (F! MO!); Catemaco, vicinity of Hotel Playa Escondida, 10 km N of Sontecomapan, elev 50-100 m, 18°35'N, 95°03'W [herbarium label], 30 Jun 1982 (♀ fl, fr), Nee 22548b (F! G! MO! P! US!); San Andrés Tuxtla, Río Máquina, 200 m from Montepio, 18°38'N, 95°61'W [retroactively inferred], 24 Jul 1984 (fr), Cedillo Trigos 2783 (MEXU, MO!), Minatitlán, 2 km N of Uxpanapa (Pob.12) near Pob. 13; 17°14'N, 94°13'W [herbarium label], 18 Oct 1983 (fr), Wendt et al. 4207 (MO!), Hidalgotitlan, Río Solosúchil, bw Cedillo and Escudra, elev 150 m, 17°16'N, 94°37'W [herbarium label], 8 Nov 1974 (fr), Vázquez Torres 1318 (F!). - NICARAGUA. El Castillo: Río El Manú, 200 m N, 11°07'N, 84°21'W [herbarium label], 1 Jun 2005 (fl), Guido 4527 (HULE! MO!).

Common names

"palo dulce" in Mexico and "carey de costa" in Cuba.