Drypetes lateriflora

(Swartz) Krug & Urban

Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 15: 357. 1892.

Common names: Guiana-plum
Illustrated
Basionym: Schaefferia lateriflora Swartz Prodr., 38. 1788
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 12. Treatment on page 369.

Trees to 10 m. Bark light brown, rough, separating into scales. Buds hairy, not resinous. Leaves: petiole 0.3–1 cm; blade lanceolate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, 4–12 × 1.5–5 cm, thick-papery, base obtuse to acute, margins entire or minutely serrate, apex usually abruptly acute to acuminate; venation finely reticulate. Staminate inflorescences: flowers 8–25 per fascicle. Pistillate inflorescences: flowers 1–5 per fascicle. Staminate flowers: sepals 4(–5), ovate-elliptic, 1.5–2 mm, ciliate, otherwise sparsely hairy or glabrous; nectary deeply lobed; stamens 4(–5). Pistillate flowers: sepals like those of staminate flowers; nectary lobed; ovary 2-carpellate; styles 2; stigmas 2. Drupes red-orange at maturity, ovoid to subglobose, 10–13 × 8–11 mm; mesocarp 1–2 mm thick, fleshy; endocarp 0.5 mm thick, brittle. Seeds usually 1 per fruit, sometimes 1 per locule.


Phenology: Flowering late winter–spring; fruiting spring–early summer.
Habitat: Tropical hammocks.
Elevation: 0–10 m.

Distribution

V12 877-distribution-map.jpg

Fla., e Mexico, West Indies, Central America.

Discussion

Fruits of Drypetes lateriflora apparently are removed by animals soon after they ripen; specimens with mature fruits are rarely collected. Drypetes lateriflora is more common on the Florida mainland than in the Keys.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Drypetes lateriflora"
Geoffrey A. Levin +
(Swartz) Krug & Urban +
Schaefferia lateriflora +
Guiana-plum +
Fla. +, e Mexico +, West Indies +  and Central America. +
0–10 m. +
Tropical hammocks. +
Flowering late winter–spring +  and fruiting spring–early summer. +
Bot. Jahrb. Syst. +
Illustrated +
Drypetes lateriflora +
Drypetes +
species +