Cheiloclinium diffusiflorum

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Cheiloclinium diffusiflorum

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Description

Liana; branchlets terete or faintly quadrangular. Petiole 5-12 mm long; blades chartaceous, shiny above, when dried brown to dark green above and yellowish or pale greenish below, elliptic-oblong, 6-15 x 3-7 cm, margins subentire, sometimes crenate-serrate, apex cuspidatewith acumen to 1.5 cm long, base acute or obtuse; primary vein prominulous to impressed above, prominent below, secondary veins 5-9 per side, flattened or impressed above, prominulous below, tertiary veins reticulate, slightly prominulous on both surfaces, or inconspicuous. Inflorescence dichotomously branched, compact, hemispherical, 2-4 cm long; peduncle 0.4-1.2 cm long; bracts ca. 1 mm long. Flowers subsessile, fragrant, ca. 2 mm diam.; sepals semiorbicular or deltoid, ca. 0.4 x 0.6 mm, entire or slightly erosulous; petals slightly fleshy, yellow, orbicular or oblong, 0.8-1.2 x 0.6-0.8 mm, entire or erosulous, thickened at base and along midvein; disk 0.2-0.4 mm high, consisting of 3 staminiferous pockets; filaments ca. 0.3 mm long, anthers ca. 0.1 x 1.8 mm; ovary ca. 0.6 mm diam., ovules 2 per locule, stigmas narrowly deltoid, obtuse, entire. Fruit globose, ca. 2 cm diam., pericarp smooth, orange-yellow.

Distribution

Guianas present present, Southern America: Brazil North (Acre present, Amazonas present); Peru (Peru present); Venezuela (Venezuela present)
Venezuela, the Guianas, Peru and Brazil (Amazonas and Acre); 10 collections studied, 5 from the Guianas (GU: 1; SU: 1; FG: 3).

Notes

Smith considered the studied material as belonging to 3 closely related species of his Serrata species-group. After examination of the available collections no clear distinction could be found. Of the two oldest names the type of C. parviflorum Sagot 1183 is in a poor state, whereas the type of C. diffusiflorum Spruce 3168 is characteristic for the taxon. We have, therefore, chosen Cheiloclinium diffusiflorum as the correct name. The taxon is characterized by slightly serrate leaves that are shiny above and often discolorous and by its subsphe- rical inflorescences.
The related C. serratum (Cambess.) A.C. Smith from SE Brazil differs by its sharply serrate leaves.