Trichilia tuberculata subsp. lanceolata (C.DC.) T.D. Penn., 2016

Pennington, Terence D., 2016, Systematic Treatment Of American Trichilia (Meliaceae), Phytotaxa 259 (1), pp. 18-162 : 115-116

57b. Trichilia tuberculata subsp. lanceolata (C.DC.) T.D. Penn. , comb. nov. Map 65

Trichilia lanceolata C.DC. in A & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 1: 698 (1878). Type:— PERU. Loreto, R. Huallaga, Yurimaguas, fl., fr., Spruce 4593 (holotype, G-DC, isotypes BR, G, GH, K, OXF, P, RB).

Trichilia maynasiana C.DC. subsp. lanceolata (C.DC.) T.D. Penn., Fl. Neotrop. 28: 145 (1981).

MAP 65. Distribution of Trichilia tuberculata (Tr. & Pl.) C.DC. subsp. lanceolata (C.DC.) T.D.Penn. Solid dots, distribution pre-1981, open dots new records 1981–2010.

Distribution & Ecology. Amazonian Peru and Colombia, where it is confined to rocks among cataracts.

Collections Examined. COLOMBIA. Amazonas: Rio Apaporis, Jirijirimo (NW0070), García-Barriga 13732 (NY); Rio Apaporis (SW0070), Schultes & Cabrera 14657 (COL).

PERU. Loreto: Rio Huallaga, Yurimaguas (SW0576), Spruce 4593 (BR, G, G-DC, GH, K, OXF, P, RB).

Circumscription of T. tuberculata . The South American T. maynasiana was regarded as a species distinct from T. tuberculata ( Panama and Costa Rica) in the Flora Neotropica (1981) treatment. The distinction was based on three characters.

1) Petals free in T. tuberculata versus partially united in T. maynasiana .

2) Stamens 8 in T. tuberculata versus 5–7 in T. maynasiana .

3) Fruit tuberculate in T. tuberculata versus smooth in T. maynasiana .

This distinction is no longer tenable in the light of the many new collections from Amazonian South America, which show that these characters are inconstant and uncorrelated. For instance, some Panamanian specimens have a corolla with partially united petals (e.g. Schmalzel 648, Garibaldi 20), some Ecuadorean specimens have 8 stamens and partially united petals (e.g. M. Aulestia 3644), while others have 8 stamens with free petals (e.g. Palacios 2307, Campbell et al. 12688 ( Brazil)), and although all Costa Rican and Panamanian specimens have a tuberculate capsule, in South America there is a complete range from smooth to tuberculate. Tuberculate fruit occur in both Peru and Brazil (e.g. Gentry 31323, Revilla 1922 ( Peru), Cid Ferreira et al. 9953 ( Brazil)).

A population from the Serra dos Carajas, Pará, Brazil is provisionally placed here. It differs from T. tuberculata only in the rather densely appressed puberulous capsule. It is also close to T. moschata ( Mexico and Central America) but the capsule is broader in that species. The collections seen are Sperling et al. 5791 (K, NY, US), 5975 (K), 6011 (K), 6103 (K), 6105 ( US), 6325 (K), 6336 (K, NY). Two collections from the Rio Xingu, Pará also resemble this plant (Balee 2404 (K, NY), 2455 (K, MO, NY)).