(Last Modified On 4/10/2013)
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(Last Modified On 4/10/2013)
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Genus
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Forsteronia G. Meyer
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PlaceOfPublication
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Prim. Fl. Essequeb. 133. 1818.
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Description
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Lianas, rarely becoming subshrubs, lacticiferous. Leaves opposite, rarely ternate or quadrate, frequently with an inconspicuous pit in the axils of the midrib and principal veins beneath, glandular at the base of the midrib or rarely non-glandular, pinnately-nerved; mostly petiolate and inconspicuously stipulate. Inflorescences thyrsiform, dichasial, or ? spicate, axillary and opposite, or ter- minal. Flowers small; bracteoles mostly present; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes essen- tially equal, bearing 1 to several squamellae within, or rarely the squamellae apparently absent; corolla rotate, subrotate, or ? campanulate, without ap- pendages, the limb 5-lobed, dextrorsely or rarely sinistrorsely convolute; stamens 5, included to wholly exserted, the filaments with or without appendages, free or agglutinated to the style, the anthers connivent and agglutinated to the stigma, the connective enlarged, characterized by a pedestal-like projection at the base; gynoecium 2-carpellate, apocarpous or rarely syncarpous, the ovary superior, the ovules numerous, the nectaries 5, distinct or concrescent, the style 1, the stigma fusiform to subcapitate. Fruit apocarpous or rarely somewhat agglutinated, of (1-)2 follicles, + slender; seeds numerous, dry, truncate, comose apically.
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Habit
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Lianas
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Distribution
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A large genus of about 50 species centering in northeastern South America, but found also in Mexico, Central America, parts of the West Indies, and south- ward to Argentina.
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Note
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Two species, Forsteronia spicata (Jacq.) G. Meyer and F. viridescens Blake, are found in Panama. Woodson (Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 153-224. 1935) reported three species: F. spicata, F. myriantha Donn. Sm., and F. chiriquensis Woodson. However, I have not seen specimens which correspond to the latter two species; the drawings and specimens which Woodson cited are not to be found at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
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Key
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a. Inflorescences spicate, sometimes weakly thyrsiform basally; leaves membrana- ceous, a tuft of hair in the axils of the veins beneath ................. 1. F. spicata aa. Inflorescences conspicuously thyrsiform; leaves subcoriaccous, glabrous ... 2. F. viridescens
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