ZANTHOXYLUM L.

Por Duncan M. Porter

Arbustos o árboles, raramente escandentes, perennifolios o deciduos, troncos y ramas a menudo armados de acúleos, ramitas con acúleos pequeños o inermes, corteza y madera aromática; plantas dioicas. Hojas alternas, imparipinnadas o paripinnadas, rarely unifoliolate and appearing simple, folíolos opuestos a alternos, con margen entero a crenado, frecuentemente inequilátero, a veces con numerosas escamas peltadas diminutas; pecíolo y raquis a veces alados, inermes o aculeados. Inflorescencias axilares a subterminales o terminales, generalmente paniculadas, a veces corimbosas, racemosas o espiciformes, rara vez en brotes laterales cortos, flores pequeñas, actinomorfas, blancas o amarillo-verdosas o rojas; sépalos 3–5, libres o connados, usually persistent, or sepals and petals poorly differentiated and deciduous; pétalos 3–5, libres, imbricados o valvados; estambres 3–5, rudimentarios o ausentes en las flores pistiladas, filamentos libres y sin apéndices, anteras elípticas a ovadas; pistilos 1–5, sésiles o estipitados, libres o connados, rudimentarios o ausentes en las flores estaminadas. Frutos de 1–5 folículos, folículos libres o connados, 3–6 mm de diámetro, sésiles o estipitados, coriáceos, punteado-glandulares, cada uno con 1 semilla; semillas generalmente negras y lustrosas.

Género con más de 200 especies, principalmente pantropicales, pero unas pocas en las zonas templadas de Norte y Sudamérica y el este de Asia; probablemente 50 especies se encuentran en Centroamérica, 16 de ellas en Nicaragua. The account of this genus was modified by A. Pool in November 2009, taking into account the thesis work of Reynel (1995).

C. Reynel. Systematics of Neotropical Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae) with an Account on the Wood Anatomy of the Genus. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Missouri, St. Louis. 1995.

1. Folíolo 1, hojas aparentemente simples ... Z. schreberi  

1. Folíolos 2 o más

2. Sepals and petals poorly or not differentiated, 8-10, oblong, deciduous or retained only in part in fruit; apical bud, and short shoots if present, ferruginous-lanate

3. Leaves 18--35 cm de largo, mainly clustered at apices of elongated ramitas; lateral leaflets 3.5--9 cm de largo, apex acute to acuminate ... Z. mollissimum

3. Leaves 3--8 cm de largo, mainly from thickened to globose short-shoots; lateral leaflets 0.7--3.2 cm de largo, apex rounded to obtuse and emarginate ... Z. williamsii

2. Sepals and petals well differentiated; sepals 3, 4, or 5, suborbicular, ovate, lanceolate, or deltoid, persistent in fruit; apical bud various, but not ferruginous-lanate

4. Flowers 3-merous; leaves paripinnate, leaflets scattered lepidote to glabrous ... Z. acuminatum ssp. juniperinum

4. Flowers 4 or 5-merous; leaves imparipinnate or if paripinnate, leaflets with stellate hairs or appressed simple hairs (the hairs minute in Z. kellermanii)

5. Flowers 4-merous; leaf rachis margined or winged except in Z. tetramerum

6. Leaf rachis terete; lateral leaflets 5--11 cm long with apices acuminate-falcate ... Z. sp. 

6. Leaf rachis margined or winged; lateral leaflets 0.7--5 cm de largo with apices acute, rounded or obtuse, and usually emarginate

7. High lianas or forming mats; leaflets 17--43 (in Nicaragua); inflorescence panicule, 2-4 times branched, flowers pedicellate ... Z. foliolosum

7. Trees, treelets, or shrubs, erect or decumbent; leaflets 5--19; inflorescence spicate, simple or 1 or 2 times branched, flowers sessile

8. Leaves with 11--19 leaflets; leaflets 0.6--1.5 cm de largo y 0.4--0.6 cm de ancho ... Z. nicaraguense

8. Leaves with 5--9 leaflets; leaflets 1--5 cm de largo y 0.5--2.7 cm de ancho

9. Branchlets rarely with few straight or nearly straight spines, without pronounced zig-zag growth form; lateral leaflets elliptic (narrowly oblanceolate), usually with at least proximal basal tooth extending parallel to rachis; inflorescence 1 or 2 times branched, glabrous ...  Z. culantrilo 

9. Branchlets usually with numerous downward hooking spines, with pronounced zig-zag growth form; lateral leaflets obovate, usually with basal pair of glandualr teeth folded over abaxial surface; inflorescence simpe or 1 time branched, puberulent ...  Z. fagara

5. Flowers 5-merous; leaf rachis terete

10. Stellate hairs present on apical buds, branchlets, abaxial surface of leaflets, and inflorescence rachis

11. Lateral leaflets oblong, 7-15.5 cm de largo, margin serrulate to entire, abundantly to densely stellate-pubescent ... Z. ekmanii

11. Lateral leaflets narrowly elliptic, 2-9.5 cm de largo, margin crenate, often grossly so, sparsely stellate-pubescent ... Z. rhoifolium

10. Stellate hairs absent

12. Whole plant glabrous; leaflets with margin crenate, often grossly so; inflorescence and infructescence rachis more or less corky, cracking transversely, and exfoliating in scales ... Z. caribaeum

12. Hairs present at least on young branchlets; leaflets with margin serrulate to entire; inflorescence and infructescence not corky, not cracking transversely, not exfoliating in scales

13. Follicles ca 3.3 mm de largo; ramitas hollow in part, myrmecophilous, with alternating short swollen zones, 7--15 mm wide, and elongated non-swollen zones, 4.5--8 mm wide ... Z. setulosum

13. Follicles 4--7 mm de largo; ramitas solid, not myrmecophilous, without alternating swollen and non-swollen zones

14. Leaflets 3 or 5, coriaceous; petals 3.1--3.3 mm de largo; follicles with stipes 1--2 mm long .... Z. melanostictum

14. Leaflets 9--15, chartaceous; petals 1.5--2 mm de largo; follicles without stipes

15. Follicles 1--4, connate laterally; leaflets oblong; branchlets with appressed hairs ... Z. kellermanii

15. Follicles 1--3, free; leaflets wide elliptic (rarely oblanceolate, or elliptic); branchlets with spreading hairs ... Z. panamense