|
|
Family: Meliaceae
Broomstick, more... (es: piocha cimarrona, garbancillo, pimientillo, Conejo colorado, souca)
[Trichilia schiedeana C. DC.] |
Descripción: Árbol de 10 a 20 m de alto. Tronco recto y cilíndrico, a veces irregular. Corteza exterior marrón o rojiza. Ramitas terminales ligeramente lenticeladas. Hojas imparipinnadas y alternas, con 13-21 folíolos, opuestos o subopuestos en el raquis. Folíolos de 3-10 x 2-4 cm, elípticos o lanceolados, con ápice acuminado, bordes enteros y base decurrente o redondeada, glabros en el haz y ligeramente cubiertos de pelos por el envés. Pecíolo de 5-10 cm de largo y pulvinado en la base. La especie es dioica o polígama. Flores blancas o verde amarillentas. Frutos en cápsulas globosas, de 0.7-1.8 cm de largo, verdes, tornándose rojizos y dehiscentes en tres valvas al madurar. Semillas con sarcotesta roja o anaranjada. Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas elevaciones, en lugares secos o húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Chiriquí, Darién, Herrera, 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 julio a febrero. Las flores son visitadas por abejas y otros insectos. Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK tri2to Trichilia martiana LK2 , pero en T. martiana las hojas son de mayor tamaño. También se puede confundir con LK sponmo Spondias mombin LK2 , LK sponpu Spondias purpurea LK2 y LK ast2gr Astronium graveolens LK2 , pero estas especies no tienen frutos capsulares y semillas con sarcotesta roja. Usos: La madera es empleada para obras externas, tornos, postes de cercas y trabajos de carpintería. Tree, to 10 m tall; young stems, petioles, rachises, veins of blades below, and inflorescence branches sparsely hirsute. Leaves pinnate, imparipinnate or paripinnate, to 30 (45) cm long; petioles 3-5 (9) cm long, pulvinate at base, the pulvinus +/- flat above; leaflets (9)13-21, opposite or subopposite near apex, sometimes becoming alternate toward base, +/- elliptic, long-acuminate, acute to rounded and slightly inequilateral at base, 5-9 (14) cm long, 1.5-3 (4.4) cm wide, sparsely ciliate. Panicles 3-15 (18) cm long, solitary or paired (when paired, 1 usually very short) in upper axils; lateral branches short; peduncles and basal part of axis often +/- flattened; pedicels to 1 mm long, with minute narrowly acute bracts at base; flowers 5-parted, 2-3 mm long; calyx saucer-shaped, the lobes short, acute; petals oblong, acute at apex, white, densely papillate (especially on margins); stamens 10, free except near base, to 2.3 mm long, included; filaments flattened, contiguous, forming a loose staminal tube, stiff-villous on margins and within above middle, the lateral margins weakly prolonged at apex; anthers ca 0.7 mm long, narrowly ovoid, introrsely dehiscent, sparsely villous all over; ovary orange, depressed, ca 1.2 mm wide, about half as high, glabrous to densely pubescent; style thick, ca 2.3 mm long, swollen slightly below apex, villous, especially near base; stigma simple, depressed; nectar stored within stamens at base of ovary. Capsules subglobose, obtuse and apiculate at apex, ca 1 cm long, brown to violet-purple at maturity, densely and minutely papillate-puberulent and sparsely hirtellous at least when young, 3-valved, the open capsule bowl-shaped with a prominent narrow midrib inside; seeds (2) 3 (4), ovoid, ca 6 mm long, covered with a fleshy orange aril. Croat 15099. Apparently rare; collected on the west edge of Bat Cove. Flowers mostly from May to July. The fruits mature during the dry season of the following year, at least in some cases while the trees are bare. Smith (1965) in the Flora of Panama stated that the inflorescences are racemose. He uses this character in the key to separate this species from T. tomentosa H.B.K. However, most of the Panamanian materials I have seen have paniculate inflorescences. Reported to be dioecious (Bawa & Opler, 1975). Mexico to Brazil; West Indies. In Panama, reported by Smith (1965) to be a species of fence rows, forest margins, and forests; known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Chiriqui, Panama, and Darien. |
|