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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
 

Flora Data (Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
Genus Clavija Ruiz & Pavon
PlaceOfPublication Fl. Peru. Chil. Prodr. 142, tab. 30. 1794.
Note SYNTYPES: C. macrocarpa Ruiz & Pavon, C. longifolia Ruiz & Pavon, C. spathulata Ruiz & Pavon and C. pendula Ruiz & Pavon.
Description Shrubs or trees, erect, mostly unbranched. Leaves simple, alternate, clus- tered at the tip of the stem, mostly elongate, entire or serrate, mostly coriaceous and glabrous, with numerous linear sclereids running beneath the epidermis. In- florescences dioecious, mostly cauliflorous racemes clustered amongst the leaves; peduncles slender in flower, stouter in fruit; pedicels subtended by minute bracts. Flowers 3-5 merous, the sepals small, rotate, persistent; petals united into a short tube, rotate, the lobes rotund, fleshy, bearing staminodes as thickened append- ages at the corolla mouth; staminate flower with the filaments united into a stipe- like tube, the anthers forming a peltate disc at the mouth of the corolla, dehiscing on the lower surface, the gynoecium rudimentary or wanting; in pistillate flowers, the stamens free, reduced and sterile; ovary glabrous, the stigma subsessile. Fruit a coriaceous berry, mostly globose, the pericarp becoming hard, brittle; seeds several, the embryo straight.
Habit Shrubs or trees
Note This genus includes several dozen species of humid forests of tropical Amer- ica. In the field, they may usually be recognized by their erect, unbranched habit, elongate coriaceous leaves and globose fruits. In the herbarium, the linear scler- eids just beneath the leaf epidermis is a near-diagnostic feature, occurring oth- erwise only in Correlliana D'Arcy, Myrsinaceae, which differs in inflorescence and flora characters. The taxonomy of this genus is extremely difficult to study, for most herbarium specimens have little in the way of floral material suitable for comparison. Leaves of different species often look quite similar, and it is not always possible to determine species on vegetative characters alone. Whether leaves are entire or have spines seems to be a variable character within species and cannot be relied upon for taxonomic separations. Perhaps field studies looking at the nature of plasticity under different growing conditions would be useful. Quite similar to Clavija in aspect are Gustavia, Lecythidaceae, Corelliana, Myrsinaceae, and a number of genera in other families, but only Clavija and Corelliana have the linear sclereids in the leaf lamina. For a review-- of these genera see D'Arcy (1973).
Key a. Leaves glabrous or with minute trichomes when viewed under high magnification. b. Leaves broadest near the middle; petioles slender ...... 1. C. biborrana bb. Leaves broadest well above the middle; pedicels mostly stout. c. Minor venation visibly reticulate and low elevated above; leaves mostly narrow, less than 8 cm wide ...... 4. C. spathulata cc. Minor venation mostly inconspicuous; leaves mostly more than 8 cm wide ...... 2. C. jelskii aa. Leaves evenly short pilose beneath with erect hairs ...... 3. C. pubens
 
 
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