Platymiscium lasiocarpum Sandwith

Klitgaard, B. (2005). Platymiscium (Leguminosae: Dalbergieae): Biogeography Systematics, Morphology, Taxonomy and Uses. Kew Bulletin, 60(3), 321-400. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4111062

Type

Mexico. State of Mexico: Mpio. Temascaltepec, Acatitlin, 19 Jan. 1933, Hinton 3174 (holotype K; isotypes BM, GH, K, NY, S, US; photo of holotype C, F, GH, NY, S).

Morphology General Habit

Tree to 22 m tall; crown spreading; bark fissured; internodes of juvenile branchlets usually solid

Morphology Leaves

Leaves opposite or 3-verticillate, 5(- 7)-foliolate; vegetative parts indumented; leaf axis 5 - 14 cm long, rachis more than twice as long as petiole, white, tomentose; stipules broadly lanceolate, 8- 10 mm long, caducous; leaflets broadly elliptic, distal leaflet larger than others, 6 - 9 x 4 - 6 cm, base rounded, apex acute or acuminate, veinlets in areoles with diffuse edges, primary vein prominent on upper surface, lower surface tomentose (on veins more than blade), upper surface glabrous, slightly glossy green

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences of laxly flowered, pendent, axillary, simple 25 - 35- flowered racemes (occasionally with secondary branching), which often appear terminal, with 1- several inflorescences per leaf axil; inflorescence axis slender, with white villous tomentum, to 12 cm long including a 2 - 5 cm long peduncle; bracts narrowly ovate or elliptic, concave, 1.5 - 2 x 0.5 - 1 mm, with white villous tomentum, caducous before anthesis; bracteoles broadly ovate to ovate, 1.5 - 2 x 1 - 1.5 mm, with white villous tomentum, caducous before anthesis

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers 10 mm long, robust, pedicellate to subsessile; pedicels (0 -) 1 - 3 mm long, with white villous tomentum, confluent with bracteoles, articulated at calyx base, caducous after flower fall; calyx tubular, 3- 4 mm long, robust, glabrate, (drying purplish brown), base rounded, 5-toothed, abaxial three teeth triangular, acute, adaxial two teeth longer than abaxial ones, connate to 3/4 their length, obtuse; corolla yellow; standard broadly obovate, 8- 10 x 6- 8 mm, short-clawed, with a purple nectar guide; wing petals 8 - 10 x 3 - 4 mm; keel petals 8 - 9 x 3 mm, adnate along most of lower margins, ciliate along free part of margins; stamen filaments fused progressively higher abaxially to 1/2 their length, sometimes the vexillary stamen only fused at base; anthers dimorphic; ovary long-stipitate, with a dense tomentum

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Samara narrowly elliptic to widely elliptic, 4- 7 x 2- 3 cm, 389 base and apex acuminate (base tapers into stipe), white tomentose persisting to maturity; stipe to 8 mm long, calyx persistent around base of stipe; seed not observed

Seedling

Seedling germination phaneroepigeal; first eophylls unifoliolate, opposite, cordate.

Distribution

Known from the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Mexico and Oaxaca in Mexico, to be expected in the State of Guerrero.

Ecology

The species grows in the lowlands and on the Pacific slopes of Mexico along rivers, in ravines, in llanos, in fields, and in lowland deciduous forest with Acacia, Bursera and Tabebuia, or in forests with Pinus and Quercus, from sea level - 1050 m.

Phenology

Flowering has been recorded from January to May with most records from February, and fruit set has been recorded from February to June with most records from April. A single tree may carry mature leaves, inflorescences, and young fruits at the same time, but trees are usually leafless while flowering, which gives them a yellow aspect when seen from a distance. It takes c. 1 month for seedlings to germinate.

Conservation

VU A2cd - vulnerable because of a population size reduction of 30% over the next 10 years due to a decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence and/or quality of habitat, and due to actual and potential levels of exploitation.

Vernacular

Granadillo.

Note

The Brazilian-Bolivian species Platymiscium pubescens looks superficially similar to P. lasiocarpum, but the latter differs in having slender (vs. robust) flowers, erect (vs. pendent catkin-like) inflorescences, and large ovate (vs. oblong, sometimes splitting) stipules. When McVaugh (1987) lectotypified Platymiscium lasiocarpum, he assumed that there is only one sheet of Hinton 3174 at K, but he never saw a specimen. At Kew there are, however, three sheets of Hinton 3174, one of which surely is the sheet used by Sandwith in his protologue. This sheet carries a type label and it is clearly recognisable as that used for the illustration in Sandwith (1934). I therefore consider it the holotype. In his protologue to P. lasiocarpum Sandwith (1934) cited two additional collections: Hinton 3389 and Hinton 5396. These are considered to be paratypes.