Tropicos | Name - Hernandia stenura Standl.

Hernandia stenura Standl.

Flora Data (Last Modified On 11/12/2012)

Species	HERNANDIA STENURA Standl.
PlaceOfPublication	Field Mus. Publ. Bot. 18:1553. 1938.
Description	Trees 7-15 m. tall; branchlets conspicuously angulate, minutely canescent to glabrate; leaves long-petiolate, the blade very broadly ovate, subcaudate-acuminate, broadly cordate, 12-30 cm. long, 6-20 cm. broad, membranaceous, minutely canescent to glabrate beneath, the petioles 7-12 cm. long; inflorescences about half as long as the subtending leaves, bearing several reduced, shortly petiolate leaves above, the ultimate branches terminating in canescent, involucrate cymules bearing 2 staminate and 1 pistillate, sessile or subsessile flowers; staminate flowers about 1 cm. long, densely canescent, the elliptic-oblong outer perianth lobes about equalling the tube, the stamens 3, each subtended by paired sessile staminodia, 4 mm. long, the anthers somewhat longer than the filaments; pistillate flowers about 1.2 cm. long, the perianth lobes about equalling the tube, the cupule about one- third as long as the perianth tube, about 2 mm. long and 4 mm. broad, fleshy, the orifice margin strongly involute. Mature fruit unknown.
Habit	Trees
Distribution	Rain forest, northwestern Panama and adjacent Costa Rica.
Specimen	BOCAS DEL TORO: Water Valley, November, 1940, Wedel I684, 2I48.
Note	This species has been confused with the Antillean H. sonora L., which has smaller, obviously peltate leaves, and different floral structure. The wood of H. stenrura is said to be very soft.