Roupala montana

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Roupala montana

Description

Shrub or tree 1-8(-15) m tall; young branches light brown, short-appressed-pilose, rapidly glabrescent; bark usually light brown when young, dark grey, dark purple to red-grey or red-brown after peeling of outer layer; lenticels numerous, usually inconspicuous. Leaves simple in mature plants, rarely compound, blade chartaceous to very rigid-coriaceous, drying pale grey green, glaucous to mid brown, sparsely pilose, glabrescent, hairs often persistent along lower midvein and belowSimple leaf: petiole1-6 cm long x 1-2 mm broad at midlength, sometimes canaliculate, sparsely to densely ferrugineous-to grey-velutinous or appressed-tomentose to pilose, glabrescent; blade extremely variable, from narrowly ovate to widely ovate, elliptic to widely elliptic, oblong, and more rarely suborbiculate, 4-14 x 2-9 cm(length:breadth 1.2-3:1), base acute, obtuse, rounded, sharply decurrent, apex acute or obtuse and narrow-attenuate, or rounded, margin revolute or not, entire, undulate, or serrate with 3-22 pairs of teeth; venation obscure to conspicuous, slightly impressed, plane, or slightly raised above, usually conspicuous and prominent below, semicamptodromous, midvein reaching apex, secondary veins 4-9 pairs, marginal vein thick and prominent below, single or double fractiflexed. Compound leaves: 19.7-33 cm long (including 4.5-11.4 cm long petiole); leaflets 4-8 pairs; petiolules lateral leaflets 0-5 mm long, blade lateral leaflets 6.2-12.2 x 1.2-4.3 cm(length:breadth 1.9-6.5:1), base strongly to weakly asymmetrical, cuneate to angustate, acute to rounded, apex acute to attenuate, margin serrate with 3-20 teeth, rarely entire; secondary veins 3-6 pairs; petiolule terminal leaflet 2-2.3(-4) cm long, blade 7.6-11.1 x 2.7-7.6 cm(length:breadth 1.3-3.7:1), base symmetrical to asymmetrical, attenuate, sometimes rounded to almost truncate, apex acute to attenuate, margin serrate with 7-9 pairs of teeth, secondary veins ca. 3 pairsInflorescence axillary, occasionally terminal, unbranched, 5-20 cm x 1.7-2.8 mm, indument light brown, brown, short, sparsely; peduncle 0.5-3 cm x 0.8-2.5 mm; sterile bracts few to abundant towards base; common bracts 0.4-1.3 x 0.3-2.5 mm, margin fimbriate, to densely short tomentose outside, glabrous within; flower-pair axis absent; pedicels 1.5-4.5 x 0.3-1 mm. Flower buds 0.8-1.7 mm broad at apex, 0.5-1 mm broad at midlength, square to rounded in section. Flowers 7-9 mm long, glabrous, to very sparsely shortly-appressed-pilose, to densely pilose; filaments 0-0.8 mm long, attached to tepals 2-6.5 mm from base, anthers 1.5-3 x 0.4-0.8 mm; hypogynous glands 0.2-0.6 mm long, fleshy, lobes free; ovary symmetrical or asymmetrical, more curved on one side than on the other (like half a pair), hairs extending to 1-3 mm from base, covering entire ovary or lower on one side, short-sericeous, hairs light brown, orange, ferrugineous to rufous. Infructescence 5-19 cm long, glabrous to puberulent or sparsely tomentose; fruit pedicels 2-5 x 0.8-1.5 mm. Fruit 2-3.5 x 0.8-1.5 cm, both sutured and unsutured sides curved equally or sutured side curved more strongly, base constricted for 3-6 mm, apex not constricted or constricted to 4 mm, including persistent style base, straight or curved until perpendicular to unsutured side, marginal vein inconspicuous to conspicuous, venation sometimes conspicuous on suface, light brown to dark brown, apressed pilose, or densely velutinous when young, hairs light brown to orange-brown to rufous, glabrescent, glabrous at maturity; seeds 1.8-2.5 x 0.5-1 mm.

Distribution

Argentina present, C America present, Northern America, S America present, Southern America: Bolivia (Bolivia present); Paraguay (Paraguay present), Tobago present, Trinidad present, southern Brazil present
From Mexico, throughout C America, Trinidad and Tobago, and widespread in S America to southern Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay; (GU: 13; SU: 7; FG: 6).

Common Name

English (French Guiana): roupale

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting , with fruiting specimens also relatively abundant for

Notes

This species has 4 varieties (Prance et al. 2007: 132), only var. montana occurs in the Guianas.