Croton cajucara Bentham (1854: 376)

Caruzo, Maria Beatriz Rossi & Cordeiro, Inês, 2013, Taxonomic revision of Croton section Cleodora (Euphorbiaceae), Phytotaxa 121 (1), pp. 1-41 : 4-6

1. Croton cajucara Bentham (1854: 376) ( Fig. 1E–H ). Type:— BRAZIL. Pará: On the Lago de Quiriquiry , near

Obidos, December 1849, R. Spruce s.n. (holotype K!, isotypes A, M, P!).

Croton seputubensis Hoehne (1914: 53) . Type:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso: Salto da Felicidade, Sepotuba , January 1914, F.C. Hoehne 5615 (lectotype R!, here designated); Salto da Felicidade , Sepotuba, January 1914, F.C. Hoehne 5616 (syntype R!); Salto da Felicidade , Sepotuba, January 1914, F.C. Hoehne 5617 (syntype R!); Salto da Felicidade , Sepotuba, January 1914, F.C. Hoehne 5618 (syntype R!); Salto da Felicidade , Sepotuba, January 1914, F.C. Hoehne 5619 (syntype R!).

Croton motilonorum Croizat (1950: 126) . Type:— VENEZUELA. Zulia: Colón: Orillas de bosques vírgenes a lo largo del ferrocarril de Los Encontrados a Casigua-El Cubo , unos 10–15 kilómetros al norte de Casigua-El Cubo , May 1949, L. Croizat s.n. (holotype CAR, isotype F! [F1426209]).

Trees 3–12 m tall; latex ferrugineous; trichomes stellate, appressed-stellate, multiradiate, and dendritic; branchlets cilyndrical, floccose, recovered by dendritic trichomes, slightly striated. Leaves distichous, slightly discolorous, with a pair of sessile saucer-shaped basilaminar glands; lamina 2–14 × 1–4.5 cm, ovate to ovatelanceolate, apex acuminate, base cuneate to obtuse; margin entire to minutely serrate, with glands on teeth, adaxial surface glabrate, multiradiate trichomes only on the middle vein, abaxial surface glabrescent, ferrugineous, appressed-stellate trichomes; venation pinnate, eucamptodromous; petiole 0.2–1 cm long, usually inconspicuous and maculate, greenish; stipules ca. 1 mm long, entire, linear-lanceolate, deciduous. Inflorescences 8–28 cm long, lax, pendant; axis terete, striate, pubescent, stellate trichomes; proximal cymules bisexual, ca. 2 staminate flowers and 1 pistillate flower, distal cymules with ca. 2 staminate flowers; bracts 1.5–2 mm long, entire, lanceolate, prophylls ca. 0.5 mm long, linear-lanceolate. Staminate flowers 3–6 mm long, subcampanulate; pedicels 1–4 mm long; calyx ca. 2 mm long, pubescent externally, whitish-green, stellate trichomes, glabrate internally; calyx lobes 5, united at the base, ca. 1.5 mm long, equal, entire, slightly imbricate, ovate, apex acute, margin villose; petals ca. 2.5 mm long, lanceolate to spathulate, apex acute to obtuse, villose externally, stellate trichomes, glabrate internally, margin villose; disk 5-segmented; stamens ca. 16; filament subulate, margin villose, anther arrow-headed; receptacle villose, with simple trichomes. Pistillate flowers ca. 5 mm long, ovoid, pedicels ca. 1.5 mm long; calyx ca. 4 mm long, pubescent externally, whitish-green, stellate trichomes, glabrescent internally, stellate trichomes; calyx lobes 5, ca. 4 mm long, slightly united at the base, equal, entire, quincuncial, fleshy, largely ovate to rhomboidal, apex acute, margin villose; petals absent; disk 5-segmented; ovary globose, villose; styles 3, 4-fid, united up to half of their length, forming a column covered by stellate trichomes, then branching into 12 terminal arms, exserted from calyx. Fruits 0.6–1 cm long, globose, smooth, stellate trichomes; calyx lobes persistent, accrescent; seeds ca. 4 mm long, globose-elliptic, slightly ribbed.

Common names: —sacaca, sacaca-vermelha, sacaca-branca, musacaca, maria-vuvuia, murasacacavermelha.

Distribution and habitat: — Croton cajucara is a common species from the Amazonian rain forest, occurring in “terra firme” forests of Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Suriname, from sea level to 850 m elevation.

Phenology:— Flowering in January, February, April–June, and October–December; fruiting in January– July and October–December.

Taxonomic notes: — Croton cajucara is here treated as a polymorphic species with respect to their vegetative characters. Despite this the species presents a characteristic floccose indument on its branchlets, and distichous leaves.

Croton seputubensis was described by Hoehne (1914) based on five samples collected in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The specimen that best fits the description of C. seputubensis, Hoehne 5615 (R), is here designated as its lectotype.

Selected specimens examined: — SURINAME. Lely Mts. , SW plateaus covered by ferrobauxite, in base line 2600, E of airstrip, high forest, 550–710 m, 22 September 1975, J.C. Lindeman et al. 172 (US, VEN) . VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Atures, 23 km NE of Puerto Ayacucho and 10 km E of the highway, hills and base of hills, near Cachama , 5°51’N, 67°24’W, 90 m, fl., 17 April 1978, G. Davidse & O. Huber 15334 (DAV, MO, US, VEN) . BRAZIL. Pará: Capanema, Rio Quatipuru , in vicinity of Mirasselvas , ca. 30 km by road west of Bragança , ca. 1º04’S, 46º59’W, 50 m, fr., 9 April 1980, G. Davidse et al. 18139 (INPA, MG, NY, SPF) . PERU. Madre de Dios: Tambopata Province Las Piedras, Cusco Amazónico , 200 m, 12°29’S, 69°03’W, 28 October 1991, M. Timaná & N. Jaramillo 2843 (MO, WIS) . BOLIVIA. Santa Cruz: Velasco, Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado , 14°33’28’’S, 60°55’51’’W, 230 m, fl., 12 December 1996, T. Killeen 8119 (DAV, MO, USZ) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–D. Croton billbergianus. A. Flowering branch, detail of foliar trichomes and extrafloral nectaries (Hernadez 100). B. Staminate flower (Hernadez 100). C. Fruit (Carballo 493). D. Seed (Carballo 493). E–H. Croton cajucara. E. Flowering branch, detail of foliar trichomes and extrafloral nectaries (Zarucchi et al. 2655). F. Pistillate flower (Rodriguez s.n.), G. Gynoecium (Rodriguez s.n.). H. Fruit (Caruzo & Riina 98).