Rochefortia spinosa (Jacq.) Urb.

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

Rochefortia spinosa (Jacq.) Urb.

Rochefortia spinosa Rochefortia spinosa Feddes Repert. 13: 472. 1915 Ehretia spinosa Enum. syst. pl.: 14. 1760Select. stirp. amer. hist.: 46, pl. CLXXX 18. 1763 Lutrostylis spinosa Gen. Hist. 4: 391. 1838pl. CLXXX 18 in Jacq., Select. stirp. amer. hist. 1763

Rochefortia spinosa Ehretia fasciculata Nov. gen. sp. 3: 66. 1818 Crematomia fasciculata Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4 3: 312-313. 1869 Morelosia fasciculata Revis. gen. Pl. 2: 439. 1891 Bourreria fasciculata Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4 (3a): 87. 1893A.J.A. Bonpland & F.W.H.A. von Humboldt 92P-670679

Rochefortia spinosa Rochefortia jacquinii Abh. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 7: 253. 1857J. Goudot s.n.GOET-395K

Rochefortia spinosa Rochefortia fasciculata Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4 (3a): 89. 1893J.J. Triana 3744COL-112389US-110770

Description

Trees up to 10.0 m tall or smaller shrubs 2.0-5.0 m tall, crown arching, galls absent; indument glabrescent, young twigs variously pilose through glabrescent; bark grey light to grey brown, longitudinally fissured, wood light; thorns 0.80-1.0 cm long, robust, somewhat acute, sometimes slightly curved at tips, simple, scattered, alternate, glabrous. Leaves fasciculate, occasionally stipulate (2 deciduous stipules, as stated by Lasser 758: US!), dark green, dark pale, sometimes red when older; petiole 0.2-1.5 cm long, slender, hirsute, rarely glabrous; blade 0.9-10.8 cm long, 0.3-4.5 cm wide, obovate, widely obovate, rarely elliptic, coriaceous, primary veins prominent, secondary veins 5-6, tertiary veins reticulate; base cuneate or sometimes rounded, rarely oblique; apex retuse, rounded, obcordate, emarginate, acute, occasionally mucronulate; adaxial surface glabrous or with scattered trichomes (especially on the midrib and at tips), rugose, with cystotliths, abaxial surface glabrous or with stiff trichomes on the midrib and tips. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, secondarily branched, branches slender, glabrescent, pedicels 0.30-0.40 long. Calyx 0.18-0.25 cm long, coriaceous, hirsute outside, glabrous inside, lobes 0.15-0.18 cm long, 0.10-0.20 cm wide, divided from the base, triangulate, apex slightly acute, margin strigose. Corolla 0.35-0.40 cm long, white, yellowish, orange, rarely green (Ferrari 706: F!), tube funnel-shaped, 0.18-0.20 cm long, lobes 0.20-0.25 cm long, ovate, glabrous on both sides, slightly ciliate at tips. Anthers of male flower 0.15-0.30 cm long, filaments 0.20-0.23 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for 0.10-0.12 cm, pollen present; anthers of female flower 0.08-0.10 cm long, filaments 0.06-0.10 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for 0.02-0.03 cm, pollen absent. Ovary of male flower subglobose, stylodia 2, branches 0.07-0.10 cm long, glabrous, with strigose, grey trichomes at tips; ovary of female flower globose, 0.12-0.14 cm long, stylodia 2, 0.18-0.22 cm long, slightly unequal, 2 well developed stigmas, cotyliform. Fruit 0.50-0.80 cm tall, 0.60-0.80 cm wide, globose, green when immature, yellowish reddish through red and dark purple during maturation; style accrescent, not persistent; pyrene 0.40-0.60 cm tall, 0.30-0.40 cm wide, 0.15-0.30 cm deep, with various ridges on the abaxial surface.

Distribution

Northern South America (symbol "□" in Fig. 3) in deciduous costal dry forests, in medium and high moist forests, on dry steep cliffs and limestone soils at altitudes between 0-1300 m.

Ecology

Flowering Jan, Mar–May, Jul, Sep, Nov; fruiting Feb–Dec.

Taxon discussion

Rochefortia spinosa is among the species with the largest leaf size after R. lundellii. Specimens across different geographical areas are relatively homogenous displaying a low variability of morphological traits (e.g., few collections have leave lengths shorter than 5.5 cm). The species is not sympatric with any other species but morphologically, it resembles R. lundellii . It can be distinguished from the latter by the presence of 2 stylodia and generally by the less extensive developed thorns on stems. In the past, R. spinosa was one of the most confusing Rochefortia species and was believed being distributed across multiple islands of the Caribbean. However, molecular data ( Irimia et al. 2015) indicate that the species is restricted to northern South America (primarily Colombia and Venezuela, but also Peru though with few collections available).

Notes

Representative specimens examined. - COLOMBIA. Bolívar: Cartagena, Tierra Bomba, 10°20'N, 75°32'W, 4 Sep 1989 (fr), Cuadros 4332 (MO!); San Juán de Nepomuceno, Santuario Nacional de los Colorados, 70 km SW of Cartagena, 9°58'N, 75°10'W, 13 Jan 1988 (fl), Gentry et al. 60688 (MO!); Cundinamarca: bw Viota and Girardot, elev 320-560 m, 4°26'N, 74°35'W, Aug 1964 (fr), Saravia Toledo 4652 (COL!); Huila: La Bodega, Cordillera Oriental, elev 650 m, 3°16'N, 74°54'W, 21 Nov 1944 (fr), Little 8954 (COL! US!); Carretera a San Antonio, El Silencio Quebrada San Roque, elev ± 900 m, 3°21'N, 74°47'W, 28 Sep 1990 (fr), Llanos H & Camacho 1824 (COL!); Villavieja, Desierto de la Tatacoa, 3°13'N, 75°10'W [retroactively inferred], 23 Apr 2003 (♂ fl), Figueroa et al. 246 (COL! COL!); Magdalena: Valle del Río Cesare (parte occidental), SW of Los Venados, elev 60 m, 10°N, 73°42'W [retroactively inferred], Feb 1961 (fr), Dugand 5590 (COL! US! US!). - PERU. San Martin: Valley of Río Huallaga, 29 km S of Tarapoto, near El Abra, 6°40'S, 76°20'W [herbarium label], 6 Feb 1984 (fr), Gentry & Smith 45027 (MO!); Juan Guerra, elev 720 m, 6°37'S, 76°27'W [retroactively inferred], Dec 1929 (fr), Williams 6874 (F!). - VENEZUELA. Anzoátegui: Alrededores de Píritu, 10°13'N, 65°31'W [retroactively inferred], 18 Aug 1965 (fr), Agostini 526 (US!); Aragua: Zamora, 4 km N of Villa de Cura, 10°33'N, 67°28'W [retroactively inferred], 23 Mar 1969 (♀ fl, fr), Ferrari & Bunting 713 (F!); Bolívar: Kavanayen, elev 1300 m, 5°36'N, 61°30'W [retroactively inferred], 27 May 1946 (♂ fl) Lasser 758 (US!); Carabobo: Valencia, elev 400 m, 10°45'N, 68°21'W [retroactively inferred], 14 Sep 1959 (fr), Williams 12198 (F!); Portuguesa: Guanare, junction bw rivers Tucupido and Guanare, 9°32'N, 69°49'W [retroactively inferred], 15 Apr 1982 (fr), Utrera & Stergios 152 (MO!), Utrera & Stergios 148 (MO!); Miranda, bordeando Laguna Grande, 10°33'N, 66°04'W [herbarium label], 27 May 1981 (fl), Berry 3736 (MO!); Monagas: Dos Caminos, via Maturin, 9°34'N, 63°84'W [retroactively inferred], Jul 1969 (♀ fl, fr), Aristeguieta et al. 7162 (F! US!), Aristeguieta et al. 7163 (F! US!); Sucre: Guarapoturo, via Chacopata, 10°36'N, 63°39'W [retroactively inferred], 13 Sep 1984 (fl), Cumaná Campos 2458 (MO!); Peninsula de Araya, ca 4 km west of Caimancito, elev 10 m, 10°37'N, 63°57'W, 20 May 1981 (fr), Liesner & González 12160 (MO!); Trujillo: Valera, Loma de Moron, 9°19'N, 70°34'W [retroactively inferred], 18 Nov 1922 (♂ fl), Pittier 10718 (US!); Vargas, Parroquia Catia la Mar, Escuela Naval, 10°36'N, 67°02'W, 20 Oct 1988 (fr), Ramírez 2576 (MO!); Yaracuy: Pena, Cambural, bw Yaritagua and Barquisimeto, elev 350-400 m, 10°07'N, 69°11'W, 8 Nov 2006 (♀ fl), Meier et al. 14018 (M!).

Common names

“macarao”, "pega paloma" and “tachuelo” in Venezuela and "cruceto macho" and "tatacun o revienta puerco" in Colombia.

Economic uses

In Venezuela, the species is occasionally cultivated and forms hedgerows together with guamacho (probably Pereskia guamacho F.A.C.Weber: Cactaceae , as noted on Ferrari & Bunting 713: F!).