Panopsis

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Panopsis

Description

Shrubs or trees to 25(-40) m tall. Leaves entire, simple, sessile to petiolate, arranged in verticels of 4, offset verticels, decussate, subopposite-decussate or spiral; blades at base sometimes descending petiole on either side, margin not markedly revolute, indument usually present when young, glabrescent, persistent for longer beneath, and above along midvein, less frequently remaining densely pubescent beneath; venation conspicuous to obscure, plane to slightly raised above, more conspicuous and prominent beneath, fractiflexed brochidodromous, frequently eucamptodromous at base, marginal vein weak, derived from ascending lateral veins, midvein raised, plane or more frequently sunken above, prominent and longitudinally ridged beneath, higher order venation reticulate. Inflorescences usually terminal, sometimes lateral or subterminal, unbranched and raceme-like, or branched and panicle-like, bearing lateral inflorescences subtended by leaves which are reduced in size to ligulate and bract-like structures on uppermost inflorescences; lateral inflorescences at times further branched; common bracts subtending flower pairs, caducous, small, ligulate, pubescent on outside, glabrous within; inflorescences subtended by mature leaves or by leaves considerably smaller in size; flowers paired, clustered at short intervals along rhachis (sometimes distinctly whorled) or randomly spread along racemes and branches; pedicels pubescent to pilose. Flower buds elongate or elongate-pyriform, opening apically by elongation of the style. Flowers essentially actinomorphic to slightly zygomorphic, tepals strongly recurved, pubescent to pilose outside, glabrous within; free parts of filaments ribbon-like, adnate to tepals below half-way, or completely free, anthers oblong to elliptic to widely ovate, connective apiculate; hypogynous gland tubular, thin, membranous, 4-lobed, lobes acute to apiculate, eventually shrinking and fragmenting; ovary stipitate, yellow-orange to orangevillous outside, glabrous within, style straight-sided to clavate, longitudinally ridged, stigma absent, a specialised stigmatic surface developing at times, ovules 2, collateral, orthotropous, pendulous. Fruit 1-seeded, either globose with rounded to varyingly mucronate apex, surface smooth or scaly, semi-shiny to dull, glabrescent, or fusiform, strongly sutured, corrugate, with indument; pericarp usually with fleshy, granular outer mesocarp, woody, vascularized mid mesocarp, and thin, fleshy inner mesocarp; seed coat thin, often fused to pericarp; seed large, fleshy, rounded, not winged (laterally compressed in P. rubescens).

Distribution

Amazonia present, Guianas present, New World present, SE Brazil present, Southern America: Costa Rica (Costa Rica present); Panamá (Panamá present), along the entire Andean chain as far south as Bolivia present
Widespread genus of the New World, from Costa Rica and Panama, along the entire Andean chain as far south as Bolivia, and throughout Amazonia, with 1 isolated species in SE Brazil; 2 of the 24 species occur in the Guianas.

Etymology

The name Panopsis is derived from the Greek signifying the way in which the petals are "recurved in every way".

Wood

Growth rings indistinct or absent.
Vessels diffuse, solitary, paired or in groups of 3-4, rarely more, which can be either radially or tangentially arranged and occasionally appear as tangential bands in P. rubescens; 2-13 (6) per mm2, circular 35-325 (143) μm wide. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate and bordered. Vessel-ray pits alternate and bordered.
Rays uniseriate and multseriate (4-20 cells wide), 1-3 per mm. Uniseriate rays composed of upright or square to upright cells and 2-20 cells in height. Multiseriate rays composed of predominantly procumbent body cells and 1-4(-6) rows of square to upright marginal cells. Multiseriate rays 62-788 (427) μm, sometimes >1 mm, wide and 29 μm to >1 mm in height, sometimes appearing as an aggregate, dissected by axial elements. Amorphous (non crystalline) deposits can be present in the multiseriate rays along with occasional silica bodies.
Axial parenchyma present in narrow tangential bands 1-2(3) cells wide and 3-5 per mm; with 2 to many cells per strand. Ground tissue of non septate fibres with thin to thick walls and rare simple to minutely bordered pits on the radial walls.
Vessel diameter is recorded as being up to 800 μm in the InsideWood database and narrower by Détienne & Jacquet (1983). Panopsis is described as having bordered pits on the fibres (Détienne & Jacquet 1983). Fibre pits are also noted on tangential walls equal in abundance to those on the radial walls (Mennega 1966).