Talisia sylvatica

Primary tabs

Talisia sylvatica

Description

Slender tree or treelet, 2-8 m tall, unbranched or with few ascending, sympodial branches on distal portion; trunk to 8 cm in diam.; bark light brown, lenticellate. Stem terete, puberulent or tomentulose, dull, becoming lenticellate and glabrous with age. Leaves paripinnate or imparipinnate, spirally arranged on distal portion of stem; petioles 12-21(28) cm long, terete, minutely pubescent, lenticellate, greatly enlarged at base; rachis (14.5)19-32(48) cm long, minutely pubescent, terete or sometimes obtusely angled or canaliculate distally, lenticellate and striate proximally; petiolules pulvinate, minutely pubescent, conical, 5-10 mm long, sometimes extending into the blade; leaflets 5-14, alternate or opposite, chartaceous, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 7.4-26 (40) × (2.2) 3.5-9(-16) cm, the adaxial surface glabrous or sometimes with a few hairs along the slightly prominent midvein, the abaxial surface with puberulent, prominent primary and secondary veins, the apex acuminate, abruptly acuminate or apiculate, the base usually inequilateral, obtuse-acute to attenuate, the margins entire to slightly undulate; primary and secondary veins impressed, tertiary veins slightly prominent, reticulate, the secondaries forming a strong submarginal vein. Thyrses panicle-shaped, 15-30 cm long, axillary on distal portion of branches, or seldom cauliflorous; axes sulcate, pinkish tinged, minutely pilose; bracts and bracteoles subulate, 1-1.5 mm long; dichasia compound; peduncle 1-2 mm long, minutely and densely pilose; pedicels 1-1.7 mm long, articulate on upper half. Flower buds pentagonal-ovoid. Calyx cup-shaped, pinkish tinged, 1-1.5 (2.5) mm long, minutely pilose, the sepals 0.5-0.6 (1) mm long, ovate-deltate, strongly concave to carinate; petals cream or white, 3.5-4.5 mm long, oblong-elliptic, reflexed at anthesis, abaxially glabrous, adaxially papillate or sparsely papillate, obtuse at both ends, ciliate along proximal portion of margins; appendage elongated deltate, as long as the petal, adaxially hirsute on upper half, abaxially glabrous for most of its length; disc hispidulous to tomentose at apex, 5-lobed, 0.5 mm tall; stamens 5(6), the filaments pilose or densely so, of similar length, 2-3 mm long, the anthers oblong to ellipsoid, 1-1.2 mm long, apiculate at apex; ovary ovoid, sericeous, the stigma capitate, papillate. Fruit turning from green to yellow-orange, ellipsoid, apiculate, ca. 2 cm long, puberulent, the pericarp coriaceous, granulose, ca. 1 mm thick, the endocarp glabrous. Seed solitary, ellipsoid, with cream-yellowfleshy testa.

Distribution

French Guiana present, Southern America: Peru (Peru present), Suriname present
Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil and Peru (SU: 10; FG: 17).

Common Name

English (French Guiana): bois flambeau, gaulette indien, paicoussa, tepuime, touliatan, tëpu; English (Suriname): azobene, bosknippa