Frangula discolor (Donn. Sm.) Grubov var. discolor, Trudy Bot. Inst. Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R., Ser. 1, Fl. Sist. Vyssh. Rast.8: 274. 1949; Rhamnus capreifolia var. discolor Donn. Sm.; Rhamnus capreifolia subsp. discolor (Donn. Sm.) C. B. Wolf; Rhamnus sharpii M. C. Johnst. & L. A. Johnst., nom. nov.
Small to large tree or shrubs, 3--25 m, young branches dense (rarely sparse) tomentose (sometimes pilose), with golden or reddish golden trichomes, sometimes pale (rarely off-white), sometimes with additional spreading trichomes. Leaves with blades (2.2) 5.5—17 x (1.4-- ) 2—7.5 cm, elliptic, or less frequently, oblanceolate, membranaceous to subcoriaceous, usually bicolored with the abaxial surface drying light gray, 7--11 pairs of lateral veins, lateral veins at 45–75 degree angle to midrib, adaxial surface sparse to dense, tomentose or pilose with trichomes in tufts of 2—4 from one point or sometimes with trichomes solitary and appressed to ascending or spreading or stellate-sessile trichomes with arms tortulose, trichomes sometimes restricted to venation, abaxial surface usually totally coated with an under layer of sessile-stellate tightly appressed matted trichomes, the individual trichomes not discernable, or less frequently this type of trichome numerous to few and not matted or covering surface, rarely just restricted to leaf margins, venation often tomentose with small-tufted trichomes and/or with spreading long-tufted trichomes, or sometimes trichomes solitary, the long-tufted and solitary trichomes sometimes tortulose or sometimes more or less straight and extending laterally from sides of midrib and often lateral veins, and then sometimes macroscopically conspicuously concentrated along sides of midrib and/or in angles of lateral veins, base cuneate, obtuse, truncate or rounded, sometime inequilateral, margin usually recurved, sometimes flat, when recurved teeth difficult to observe, with 2--7 teeth/cm, often only apical gland apparent or serrulate (rarely serrate), apex acuminate, less frequently obtuse then cuspidate, or acute, tip often mucronate; stipules very early caducous, 1.5—4.5 mm; petiole 5--28 mm. Inflorescence a sessile fascicle, a pedunculate and umbelliform or divaricate cyme, or very rarely a pedunculate compound cyme with one arm of cyme umbelliform and the other arm continuing as a rachis which develops another umbelliform cluster, each umbelliform cluster or fascicle with (1--) 3--25 flowers, peduncle 0--17 mm, 1/5 to slightly longer than subtending petiole (similar in fruit). Flowers on pedicels 1.5--7 mm, 1/6--4/5th length of peduncle when present, 1/6 to equaling length of subtending petiole (2.5—14 mm long in fruit, 1/5th to 2 times length of peduncle, when present, 1/6 to equaling to rarely slightly longer than subtending petiole); flower (1.7--) 2—3 (--3.25) mm, hypanthium more or less tubular, 0.9—2 x 1.25—2.5 (3) mm, hypanthium width (rarely 2/3rds) ca. equal flower length, densely tomentose, circumscissile. Sepals, petals and stamens lost early with upper portion of hypanthium. Sepals 0.7—1.3 mm long and wide, slightly shorter than hypanthium in length, erect to slightly spreading. Petals 0.75—1.2 mm long and wide, broadly apically bi-lobed, abaxially pubescent on midrib, slightly exserted; stamens with filaments 0.5—0.9 mm, anthers 0.5—0.6 mm, infrequently visible free from petals. Ovary with dense long trichomes, style 0.6--0.75 (1.25) mm, stigma 3-lobed. Young fruits 1—5 (7) fascicled, with few to numerous trichomes, globose or obovoid, 3 lines not observable to more or less conspicuous; all sepals, petals and stamen filaments rapidly lost, hypanthium remnant 0.5—1 (1.5) x 2—3 (3.5) mm, not angled to weakly angled; stones 3, ca. 5--6 x 4--5 mm.
Rare, rocky cliffs, Jinotega, 1250—1520 m; immature fr may, ago; Rueda 11685, Stevens 30122; Mexico to Panama. This taxon was originally described as a variety of Rhamnus capreifolia Schltdl. The latter differs most markedly in the difference in the shape of the flowers: hypanthium campanulate and sepals spreading to recurved and in the lack of the appressed, sessile-stellate trichomes found on the abaxial leaf surfaces of F. discolor. The illustration, description (excluding floral) and specimens cited for Rhamnus capreifolia in the Flora of Panama pertain to F. discolor var. discolor. The floral description (apparently excluding the ovary) was based on Purpus 2061 (MO), from Mexico, and pertains to Frangula capreifolia var. capreifolia. This taxon was treated in the published vs. of the Flora de Nicaragua as Rhamnus sharpii.