Trichilia triacantha Urban, Symb. Ant.

Pennington, Terence D., 2016, Systematic Treatment Of American Trichilia (Meliaceae), Phytotaxa 259 (1), pp. 18-162 : 123

63. Trichilia triacantha Urban, Symb. Ant. 1: 329 (1899); T. D.Penn. & Styles, Fl. Neotrop. 28: 229 (1981). Type:— PUERTO RICO. Near Guanica, fl., Sintenis 3749 (lectotype, S (designated FN 28: 229 (1981); isolectotypes, BM, F, G, GH, K, M, MO, P). Map 71

For synonymy see FN 28: 229 (1981). Illustration: FN 28: 226, fig. 48 (1981).

Abbreviated Description. Indumentum puberulous with simple or dibrachiate hairs, leaves digitate, leaflets (3–)5–7, 2 × 1–2.6 × 1.3 cm, obovate or oblanceolate, with a broadly truncated apex, produced into 3 acute spinous lobes, coriacious, venation craspedodromous, inflorescence ca. 1.5 cm long, few-flowered, petals 5, ca. 3 mm long, free, valvate, filaments completely fused in a staminal tube, margin with 10 short acute lobes, anthers 10, nectary absent, ovary shortly strigose, 3-locular, locules with 2 collateral ovules, fruit unknown.

MAP 71. Distribution of Trichilia triacantha Urb. Solid dots, distribution pre-1981, open dots new records 1981–2010.

Distribution & Ecology. Puerto Rico, in tropical dry forest over limestone, below 200 m elevation. Due to constant loss of habitat, this species is now classified as endangered ( Ventosa-Febles (2007)).

Additional Collections Examined. PUERTO RICO. Guaniquilla (NW1867), Woodbury s.n. (NY).

Trichilia triacantha and T. aquifolia are the only species of a group of 6 supposedly closely related Antillean species with reduced spinous leaves which were included in the ITS study. There they are shown to be not at all closely related. Their placement with a group of coastal Brazilian species needs further investigation.