Myroxylon peruiferum L.f.

Sartori, Â.L.B., Lewis, G.P., de Freitas Mansano, V. et al. 2015. A revision of the genus Myroxylon (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae)Kew Bulletin 70: 48. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-015-9604-7

Type

Type: America meridionalis, s.d., Mutis s.n. (hototype P00679272, photo!).

Morphology General Habit

Tree, 6 – 30 m tall

Morphology Leaves

Leaves 5 – 15-foliolate, densely to sparsely ferrugineous-tomentose, petiole 0.5 – 3.4 cm long, rachis 3.2 – 14 cm long; petiolules (1 –) 3 (– 6) mm long; leaflets 2.9 – 4.5 (– 10.5) × (1 –) 1.7 – 2 (– 3.3) cm, oblong, elliptic, broadly-elliptic to ovate, apex obtuse, retuse to acuminate, base oblique, rounded or attenuate to subcordate, terminal leaflets narrowly elliptic, obovate, or rhombic, base ovate, margin sinuous, entire, rarely crenate, concolorous, adaxial surface glabrous or sparsely tomentose over the midrib, abaxial surface sparsely-tomentose over the blade, tomentose over midrib, adaxial surface shiny, veins prominent on the abaxial surface, pellucid dots and streaks conspicuous over the entire blade

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Racemes axillary or terminal, longer than the leaves, the axis ferruginous-tomentose, 11 – 20 cm long; bract deltate, apex acute, base truncate, concave, ascending, c. 1 mm long; pedicel 9 – 16 mm long, greyish or ferruginous-tomentose

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flower buds globose, apex obtuse; bracteole ovate, under 0.5 mm long Flowers 7 – 9 mm long; calyx 5 – 7 × 9.6 – 11.4 mm, greyish tomentose externally, the lobe apices obsolete; standard petal blade (3.3 –) 4.6 × (6.5 –) 7.5 – 9.7 mm, claw (4 –) c. 6.6 mm long, broadly-ovate, apex rounded or emarginate, base attenuate to rounded, margin entire, externally glabrous (rarely with trichomes at apex); other petals (5.9 –) 7.6 – 10.3 × 0.7 – 1.5 mm, lanceolate, apex acute, base attenuate, margin sinuous, sometimes externally sericeous at apex and on margin; stamens c. 9 mm long, filaments c. 4 mm long, anthers c. 5.2 mm long; ovary c. 6.5 mm long, short-stipitate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit a 5.7 – 9.8 cm long samara; seed-chamber 1 – 2 cm long, elliptic; upper margin 1 – 4.5 (rarely up to 7) mm wide; lower margin 1 – 1.8 cm wide; stipe 3 – 9 mm long; calyx sometimes persistent; seed testa rough

Distribution

Myroxylon peruiferum is disjunctly distributed in the Americas, from Mexico to northern Argentina and southern Brazil (Map 1).

Ecology

Myroxylon peruiferum occurs mostly in mesophyllous forest and dry habitats at 540 – 2000 m elevation. In Bolivia, it is known from dry forest on stony, sandy soils and also in remnant forest in the lower valleys.

Conservation

Myroxylon peruiferum is a widely distributed species but is not abundant within its area of occurrence. The impacts of human activities such as deforestation, mainly in areas of Atlantic Forest and mesophyllous forest, have resulted in only small remnants of these vegetation types persisting and thus an associated decline in the populations of M. peruiferum. The species is temporarily assessed to be Near Threatened (NT).

Note

Flowering from June to September, fruiting from August to November. Myroxylon peruiferum is easily distinguished from M. balsamum by the combination of its leaflet with a shiny adaxial surface, the leaflet blade with conspicuous pellucid dots and streaks, broadly-ovate standard petal (4.6 mm wide), the standard claw 6.6 mm long, the calyx lobes obsolete, smaller flowers 10 mm long (without pedicel) and the rough seed testa. On any one specimen of M. peruiferum one can encounter different leaflet shapes. Smaller flowers are seen in specimens from Peru and Bolivia. Glandular trichomes, when present, can be observed on the leaf rachis, the abaxial surface of the leaflets, the inflorescence axis, flower-buds and calyces.

Vernacular

Argentina: Quina-quina (Rodriguez 1110), Quina colorada (Cozzo 75982); Brazil: Bálsamo (A. Maciel 787), Cabreúva (A. L. K. M. Alvernaz 11668), Cabreúva-vermelha (O. Vecchi 191), Caburayba (Bacelli R69645), Óleo-vermelho (J. G. Kulmann 16564); Bolívia: Quina-quina (T. Centurión & R. Quevedo 1209), Ecuador: Chaquino (A. Samaniego & F. Vivar 36); Peru: Quinillo (A. Sagastegui 15087); México: Bálsamo (G. B. Hinton et al. 12296), Cedro-quino (R. Conzatti & Makrinius 3079), Quina (Schreiter 11434), Quina- colorada (S. Venturi 5402).

Use Materials

Used as material.

Use Medicines

Medical uses.