|
(Last Modified On 9/30/2013)
|
|
|
|
(Last Modified On 9/30/2013)
|
|
Genus
|
ORMOSIA Jacks.
|
|
Contributor
|
Michael 0. Dillon
|
|
PlaceOfPublication
|
Trans. Linn. Soc. London 10: 360. 1811.
|
|
Note
|
Nomen cons. TYPE: 0. coccinea (Aubl.) Jacks. (=Robinia coccinea Aubl.).
|
|
Description
|
Trees to 60 m, or rarely shrubby; trunks sometimes buttressed, 'bark gray, rough. Leaves imparipinnate, 3-19 foliolate, occasionally unifoliolate; leaflets coriaceous or subcoriaceous, 1.5-35.0 cm long, 0.5-20.0 cm wide; rachis to 50
|
|
Habit
|
Trees
|
|
Description
|
cm long; stipules 0.5-15.0 mm long, deltoid to linear, caducous, possibly lacking in some species; stipels rare, minute, usually acicular. Inflorescence racemose, many flowered, terminal or pseudoterminal; bracts stipuliform, deltoid to lanceo- late, 0.5-10.0 mm long, 0.5-4.0 mm wide, pubescent, frequently caducous; brac- teoles paired, subtending the calyx, deltoid to filiform, 0.5-8.0 mm long, 0.5-1.0 mm wide. Flowers yellow, lilac, or dark purple; calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, upper 2 lobes subconnate; petals 5, free, the standard suborbicular, wings oblique, obovate to oblong, the keel similar to wings, incurved, free, often overlapping dorsally; stamens 10, free, alternately subequal; anthers versatile. Fruit 1-6 seed- ed, oblong or rarely elongate, compressed or turgid around seeds, dehiscent or rarely indehiscent, woody or fleshy, 2-valved, continuous or with septa between seeds; seeds ellipsoid, globose or lenticular, unicolored, red, yellow, or black, or bicolored, red and black or yellowish and red, the hilum terminal, elliptic or linear; chromosomes: n = 8.
|
|
Note
|
Ormosia is a genus of some 100 species, approximately half of which are American tropical rain forest elements and the remainder of the Old World. This Asian-American disjunct distribution is curious, with no single species common to both hemispheres. In Panama, six species are recognized, two of these endem- ic, 0. panamensis and 0. cruenta, with the other four distributed south to Brazil. While Ormosia isthmensis Standl., described originally from Oaxaca, has been reported from Panama (Rudd, 1965), all specimens annotated as such are referable to other taxa, usually 0. macrocalyx Ducke or 0. coccinea var. subsimplex (Spruce ex Benth.) Rudd. While lacking major economic importance, most species do yield wood of good quality. In Panama, various species are used locally for building and fur- niture construction. This genus finds greatest importance among native peoples for personal adornment and medicinal preparations. The bright red seeds are used in necklaces, hence the common name "necklace tree." Leaves, bark, and roots are used alone or in combination with other drug plants for a wide variety of ailments and maladies. In eastern Venezuela, Ormosia monosperma ("pionia montaniero") is utilized as follows: "the seed used by doctor; cook seed and drink for pains of the heart; also cooked seed placed in water, given to children to put around their necks for sore throat" (collectors notes, Steyermark 61330 [MO]). Seeds of several species have been tested as possible drug sources. The al- kaloids ormosine and ormosonine have been isolated, possibly from 0. avilensis or 0. venezolana, with the former reportedly having a physiological effect re- sembling morphine (Hess & Merck, 1919). Ormosia macrocalyx, originally iden- tified as 0. panamensis, has yielded the alkaloid panamine, which induced hy- potensive action in test dogs (Lloyd & Horning, 1958).
|
|
Reference
|
Hess, K. & F. Merck. 1919. Uber Ormosin und Ormosinin, zwei neue Alkaloide aus Ormosia dasycarpa. Ber. 52: 1976-1983. Lloyd, H. A. & E. C. Horning. 1958. Alkaloids of Ormosia panamensis Benth. and related species. Amer. Chem. J. 80: 1506-1510. Rudd, V. E. 1965. The American species of Ormosia (Leguminosae). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 32(5): 279-384.
|
|
Key
|
a. Mature leaflets glabrous beneath (inconspicuously pubescent in 0. panamensis), secondary veins not conspicuously raised; mature fruits essentially glabrous, seeds unicolored red. b. Leaflets 2-6(-8) cm long, 1.0-3.5 cm wide (Panama) ...... 3. 0. cruenta bb. Leaflets 6-15 cm long, 3-10 cm wide. c. Fruit submolliform, constricted between seeds, black or dark brown, shiny, glabrous, septa lacking between seeds (Mexico to Brazil) ...... 4. 0. macrocalyx cc. Fruit suborbicular, not constricted between seeds, yellow sericeous, glabrate, seeds separated by septa (Panama) ...... 5. 0. panamensis aa. Mature leaflets pubescent beneath, secondary veins conspicuously raised; mature fruits pubescent or glabrous, seeds bicolored red and black. d. Mature fruit densely puberulent, not shiny; leaflets reddish pubescent beneath (Pan- ama, Colombia, Venezuela) ...... 6. 0. tovarensis dd. Mature fruit glabrous; pubescence white (Panama, northern South America). e. Leaflets with lower surface sparsely pubescent with minute appressed trichomes (Panama, northern South America) ...... 2a. 0. coccinea var. subsimplex ee. Leaflets with lower surface finely and tightly crisped-pubescent (Panama, Am- azonian Basin) ...... 1. 0. amazonica
|
|
Tag
|
|
|
|
Project Name
|
|
Tag
|
|
|
|