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(Last Modified On 3/8/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/8/2013)
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Genus
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SLOANEA
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 512. 1753.
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Description
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Trees (rarely shrubs), the trunk often buttressed. Leaves alternate or opposite; stipules present, at least in bud; petioles various, often incrassate at one or both ends, terete or canaliculate; leaf-blades pinnately veined, the margin entire to dentate (spinose-dentate in 1 species). Inflorescences axillary, rarely terminal, com- monly racemose or paniculate, occasionally corymbose, corymbo-racemose, or umbellate, oc-flowered, rarely 1-flowered. Flowers with a calyx of 4 to 11 sepals, usually free; petals none (1 species with 2 whorls of perianth-parts of 4 members each); stamens ca 50 to more than 100, various, but always with the connective continued above the anther-sacs into a knob or awn; pistil 3- to 6-loculed, the ovules 8-10 in 2 rows per locule, with axial placentation; style entire or parted at the apex into as many branches as there are locules in the ovary. Fruit a loculici- dally dehiscent capsule; valves 3-6, rigid, often woody; capsule unarmed, or armed with spines which may be firmly attached and flexible or rigid, straight or curved, or spines easily detached and irritant; seeds 1 or 2 per capsule (rarely 3) covered to the middle or almost completely covered by an aril growing from, and firmly attached to, the chalazal end (except 1 species without an aril), the raphe often prominent, the testa thin, the endosperm abundant, the embryo straight with thin, flat cotyledons.
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Habit
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Trees
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Distribution
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Throughout tropical America from Nayarit, Mexico, and the Greater Antilles to northern Bolivia and southeastern coastal Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul.
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Note
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None of the species of Sloaanea are apt to be met with in casual, roadside col- lecting because they are predominantly trees of mature rainforest with a very scat- tered occurrence among the hundreds of species making up such an association. While the wood of many of the species is reported to be useful for timber and sometimes furnishes one of the preferred varieties of lumber in a local area, it cannot be profitably cut for export marketing because of its scattered occurrence. The aril around the seed is often reported to be edible, but both the quantity and the quality make it unlikely that Sloanea species will ever be exploited for their fruit.
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Key
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a. Sepals 4-11, unequal in size and shape, not covering the essential organs in bud. b. Sepals never more than 5. c. Pistil 2-4 mm long, ovary ovoid; capsule to 1.4 cm long, ellipsoidal; spines to 4.5 mm long, sparsely hirsute . S. MEIANTHERA3 cc. Pistil 5-7 mm long, ovary obovoid; capsule to 2 cm long, ovoid; spines to 1 cm long, glabrous ... S. PICAPICA3 bb. Sepals 5-11, free, or the calyx a 4-6-lobed plate. d. Sepals free, 5-11; stamens separate. e. Flowers ca 4 mm in diam; capsule to 2.5 cm long; spines to 5 mm long, rigid ..............S. FAG.. . .................. ...... .. ..... S. FAGINEA3 ee. Flowers generally 10 mm in diam or more. f. Stamens 10-11 mm long; anthers ovoid, pubescent; fruit sub- globose with dense aculeate rufous setae (fide Pittier) ............................................................... .------------..-----------------------.1. S. MEGAPHYLLA ff. Stamens 4-5 mm long; anthers elliptical, short-puberulent; cap- sule to 4.5 cm long, subglobose; spines to 3.5 cm long, puberu- lent ................. 2. S. MEDUSULA dd. Calyx a 4-6-lobed plate; stamens forming a compact ball; capsule to 2.5 cm long, ellipsoidal; spines to 2.5 cm long, minutely puberulent ...................................................................................................................... 3. S. ZULIAENSIS aa. Sepals 4, equal in size and shape, covering the essential organs in bud. g. Inflorescences umbellately 1-3-flowered; capsule to 2.5 cm long with clavate, irritant spines to 2 mm long ................... 4. S. TERNIFLORA gg. Inflorescences corymbo-racemose, oc-flowered; capsule to 3.5 cm long, un- armed, granulose, puberulent ............................ S. LAURIFOLIA
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