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(Last Modified On 11/12/2012)
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(Last Modified On 11/12/2012)
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Species
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OCOTEA CERNUA (Nees) Mez
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PlaceOfPublication
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Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5:377. 1889.
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Description
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Tree or shrub 3.6-6 m. high; branchlets angled or striate, terete, early pubes- cent, quickly glabrous. Leaves alternate or subopposite; petioles slender, canalicu- late, glabrous, up to 12 mm. long; blades glabrous throughout, chartaceous, or subcoriaceous, oblong-elliptic, to 16 cm. long and 6.5 cm. broad, the base, generally speaking, roundish or obtuse, with the extreme portion abruptly cuneate, the apex abruptly or gradually acuminate, usually caudate-acuminate, penninerved, the costa conspicuous above, more prominently elevated beneath, the lateral nerves 4-6 pairs, delicate, obscure above, more prominent beneath, the lowermost pairs usually the longest, and diverging at an angle of about 450, the reticulation obscure above, less so beneath. Inflorescences numerous, axillary, slender, panicles 4-5 (-7.5) cm. long, branching racemosely, many-flowered, glabrous, the peduncle rarely more than 2 cm. long. Staminate flowers small, not more than 2 mm. long, the pedicels slender, filamentous, to 4 mm. long, the perianth-lobes ovate, obtusish or acute, glabrous, (1-) 1.25 (-1.7) mm. long; stamens of ser. I & II 0.8 mm. long, the anthers quadrate or ovate-triangular, obtuse, almost sessile; those of ser. III longer, the anthers more narrowly ovate, the filaments with two basal, com- pressed, often suborbicular, subsessile glands; gynaecium glabrous, aborted, linear, not more than 0.8 mm. long. Pistillate flowers similar to the staminate; stamens smaller, seemingly sterile; gynaecium glabrous, 1.5 mm. long, the ovary ellipsoid- subglobose, attenuate into an extremely short style, the stigma conspicuous, three-parted. Fruit black, ellipsoid, apiculate, to 14 X 9 mm., the lower third encased in a more or less snug-fitting hemispherical, somewhat woody cupule 6 mm. long, 11 mm. in diameter, and 3-4 mm. deep, the pedicel to 7 mm. long, expanded to 2 mm. in diameter at the apex.
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Habit
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Tree shrub
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Distribution
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Southern Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, and, according to Meissner, in South America.
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Common
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Sigua Sigma amarillo
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Specimen
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BOCAS DEL TORO: Changuinola Valley, Cooper d Slater io5 (Y i0286); Island Potrero, Dunlap 568; Water Valley, von Wedel 803. CHIRIQUf: without locality, Cooper d Slater 262 (Y r0615). CANAL ZONE: Hayes 397; Barro Colorado Island, Shannon Trail, Shattuck 535; Drayton Point, Shattuck 1140; shore of cove s. from lock site, Wood- worth & Vestal 471. DARIEN: along the Sambui River, above tide-limit, Pittier 5692.
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Note
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The only species of the genus in Panama with dioecious flowers. Most nearly related to Ocotea Bernoulliana, with perfect flowers, from Guatemala, Honduras, and British Honduras, and to 0. tenera from Costa Rica, also dioecious, but with fruits larger and subtended by a flat shallow cupule with an undulate margin.
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Tag
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Project Name
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