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Family: Rhamnaceae
Glandular Nakedwood, more... (es: carbonero, pichipán)
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Description: A medium-sized tree with a straight trunk, usually cylindrically but sometimes somewhat fluted. Juveniles have long, thin branches. Leaves are opposite, dark green above and light green below, with veins yellow and very prominent below. There is a pair of small, green, rounded glands where the leaf meets the petiole. Reproduction: Flowers are yellowish-white, produced in December and January in clusters at the leaf bases. The fruit is a small, dry, three-lobed capsule produced in February and March. Seeds are ballistically dispersed, when the capsule pops open. Distribution: Very rare in forest, where we have only seen a few individuals at Barro Colorado, Soberania, and Cocoli. More common outside the forest in farmland or small woodlots, especially around Las Pavas just south of Barro Colorado. Similar Species: The opposite leaves and prominent secondary veins suggest LK antitr Antirhea trichantha LK2 of the Rubiaceae, but the bulbous glands and lack of a stipule between the leaf pairs distinguish Colubrina from any Rubiaceae. There is a liana with leaves very similar to those of Colubrina, Omphalea diandra in the Euphorbiaceae, but it should only be confused in the juvenile state. Uses: Its heavy wood is much used in rural communities near Barro Colorado, where the tree is common. Since it grows rapidly in farmland, it appears to be an excellent candidate for plantation forestry. Descripción: Árbol de 10 a 25 m de alto. Tronco recto y cilíndrico, a veces un poco irregular. Corteza exterior marrón o gris, fisurada. Plantas juveniles con ramas muy largas y delgadas. Hojas simples, opuestas o subopuestas, de 5-20 x 3-10 cm, ovadas o elípticas, con ápice acuminado o redondeado, bordes enteros y base cordada. Las hojas presentan un par de glándulas en la base. Las plantas juveniles presentan hojas de mayor tamaño en comparación con los adultos. Pecíolo de 1-4 cm de largo y ligeramente acanalado en la parte superior. Flores verde pálidas o amarillentas. Frutos en cápsulas triloculares, de 0.6-0.8 cm de largo, verdes, tornándose marrón oscuro y dehiscentes al madurar. Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas y medianas elevaciones, en bosques húmedos o muy húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Darién, Los Santos, Panamá y Veraguas. Deja caer sus hojas durante la estación seca, pero las repone a inicios de la estación lluviosa. Florece y fructifica de diciembre a mayo. Las flores son visitadas por insectos. Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK omphdi Omphalea diandra LK2 , pero O. diandra es una liana con hojas alternas y savia roja. También se puede confundir con LK colusp Colubrina spinosa LK2 , pero C. spinosa tiene hojas alternas. Usos: La madera es empleada para postes, y en la fabricación de puentes y viviendas. Es una especie de crecimiento rápido, la cual debiera investigarse más a fondo en programas de reforestación con especies nativas. C. rufa (Vell.) Reiss. var. glandulosa (Perk.) M. C. Johnston Spanish elm Tree, (3) 6-20 (40) m tall, to ca 50 cm dbh, +/- glabrous but with ferruginous, +/- antrorse puberulence on younger parts including peduncles, pedicels, and cupules; bark moderately coarse in age. Leaves opposite or nearly so; stipules subulate, 3-10 mm long, caducous; petioles 0.5-18 cm long; blades +/- ovate-elliptic, acute to short-acuminate at apex, rounded to very shallowly cordate at base, 7-15 (25) cm long, 2.5-10 cm wide, the lower surface dull, often inconspicuously pubescent on veins and with some moderately large submarginal glands, the upper surface shiny, the margin weakly revolute, markedly so near petiole. Thyrses axillary, 1-5 cm long; peduncles 1-7 mm long; pedicels 1-4 mm long, 3-12 mm long in fruit; flowers 10-50, 5-parted; petals, sepals, and stamens borne on apex of floral cup, the cup 2.5-3 mm wide; sepals yellowish, +/- triangular, ca 1 mm long, with a prominent medial ridge inside; petals +/- oblong, ca 1 mm long; stamens opposite and slightly longer than petals; anthers less than 0.5 mm long; disk prominent, filling floral cup at anthesis and hiding the 3-celled ovary; style much shorter than stamens, tripartite one-fourth to two-thirds its length. Capsules explosively dehiscent, +/- globose, 6-8 mm long, dark brown or black, glabrous, enveloped only slightly at base by the cup and disk at maturity; endocarp hard, separating into 3 dry endocarpids; seeds 1-3, +/- obovate, 4-5 mm long, dark brown, shiny. Croat 7349, Wetmore & Abbe 165. Apparently rare, collected only along the shore but no doubt growing in the forest as well. Flowers in the earliest part of the dry season, from December to January. The fruits mature from February to April. |