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(Last Modified On 3/21/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/21/2013)
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Species
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Cynoctonum mitreola (L.) Britton
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PlaceOfPublication
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Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 5: 258, 1894.- Fig. 2.
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Synonym
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Ophiorrhiza mitreola L., Sp. PI. 150, 1753. Cynoctonum petiolatum Gmelin in L., Syst. Nat. ed. 13, 443, 1791. Mitreola petiolata (Gmelin) Torrey & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 2: 45, 1846.
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Description
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Herb or suffrutex to 1 m high; branches opposite, slender, distally compressed, often canaliculate, the younger branches green, the older brown or grayish-brown. Leaves with petioles 1.5-25 mm long; blades usually ovate-lanceolate or elliptic- lanceolate, apically acute or subacuminate, basally cuneate or occasionally sub- truncate, often decurrent along the petiole, 1.5-9.6 cm long, 0.7-4.3 cm broad, the margins ciliate with simple bulbous trichomes 0.05-0.2 mm long, the upper and lower surface glabrous or with a puberulence similar to that of the margins (often confined to the main veins), the midvein evident but usually not conspicuously raised on either surface (occasionally somewhat raised below), the 6-20 secondaries pinnate and arcuate-ascending.
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Habit
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Herb suffrutex
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Distribution
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Occurring sporadically from the southeastern United States to northern South America and the West Indies.
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Specimen
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CANAL ZONE: Cocoli rd, Burch et al. 1401 (MO); Rio Grande, nr Culebra, Pittier 2099 (US); Balboa, Standley 25253 (US), 25479 (US), 26434 (US); Gamboa, Standley 28519 (US); along the old Las Cruces Trail, betw Fort Clayton & Corozal, Standley 29150 (US); vie of Fort Sherman, Standley 30971 (US); vie of Miraflores Lake, White 273 (F, MO). HERRERA: 4 mi S of Los Pozos, Tyson 2671 (MO). PANAMA: hills betw Gapira & Potrero, Dodge & Hunter 8628 (MO); Sabanas nr Chepo, Hunter & Allen 59 (MO, US); Agricul- tural Experiment Station at Matias Hernandez, Pittier 6881 (US), 6891 (US); nr Punta Paitilla, Standley 26239 (US); along the Corozal Rd, nr Panama, Standley 26825 (US); Rio Tapia, Standley 28119 (US); nr Matias Hernandez, Standley 28932 (US); Rio Tocumen, Standley 29466 (US); betw Las Sabanas & Matias Hernandez, Standley 31900 (US). LOS SANTOS: ca 5 mi S of Las Tablas, Burch et al. 1275 (MO).
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Note
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The 2-lobed capsule of this species resembles a bishop's miter and accounts for the often used common name miterpod. The distinctive nature of the capsule permits ready identification of fruiting material in the field, as attested by the high percentage of collected specimens which are in fruiting condition. The three varieties proposed by Hochreutiner (Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 6: 284, 1910) based on the degree of curvature of the capsule-lobes are not recognized, as much of the variation assigned to these suggested segregates may be observed on a single specimen.
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