Cuervea kappleriana
Description
Lianas. Branches greyish to purplish brown, smooth, young twigs greenish. Petiole 4-10(-15) mm long; blades chartaceous, light greyish or yellowish green, narrowly elliptic to ovate, (7.5-)9-15(-23) x (3-)5-8(-11) cm, margins entire or slightly crenulate, apex glandular, obtuse or acuminate(acumen 2-12 mm long), base rounded or attenuate, decurrent into the petiole, often somewhat falcate; primary vein prominent above, conspicuously so beneath, secondary veins 5-7 per side, arcuately ascending, prominulous below, tertiary veins reticulate, prominulous on both sides. Inflorescence 5-8(-12) cm long, with up to 7 cm long peduncle, or branched from the base, branches subopposite or alternate; bracts papyraceous, orbicular, 1-1.5 mm long, erosulous; pedicels slender, 2-6 mm long, articulate 1-3 mm below the flower; buds globular. Flowers fragrant, 10-18 mm diam. at anthesis; sepals green, membranous, broadly ovate to deltoid, 1.3-2.5 x 1.7-3.5 mm, entire or erosulous, flabellate-veined; petals white, cream or yellow, membranous, concave, obovate-elliptic, 5-9 x 3.5-8 mm, entire or erosulous; disk green, thin, 0.5 mm high, ca. 3 mm diam., margin undulate; filaments 1 mm long, 1 mm wide at base, becoming reflexed, anthers 0.4-0.6 x 0.8 mm; ovary 0.8-1.6 mm diam., yellowish green, ovules 4(-6) per locule, style stout, 0.5-0.7 mm long, stigmas oblong, 0.4 mm long, obtuse, erect or spreading. Fruiting pedicel to 4 mm diam.Mericarps rounded or broadly obovoid, 5-9.5 x 6-9.5 cm, abruptly stipitate (stipe 1-4 mm), pericarp coriaceous to woody, glaucous green with shallow crimson cracks, less than 1 mm thick; seeds often abortive, embryoniferous part 2-4 x 1.5-2 cm, wing to 5-10(-25) x 5 mm.
Distribution
Guianas present, Northern America, Southern America: Paraguay (Paraguay present); Peru (Peru present); Venezuela (Venezuela present)
Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and Paraguay; more than 25 collections studied, 22 from the Guianas (GU: 8; SU: 7; FG: 7).