Trichilia cipo (A.Juss.) C.DC.

Pennington, Terence D., 2016, Systematic Treatment Of American Trichilia (Meliaceae), Phytotaxa 259 (1), pp. 18-162 : 103-104

49. Trichilia cipo (A.Juss.) C.DC. in Mart., Fl. Bras. 11(1): 214 (1878). Map 55

Moschoxylum cipo A. Juss., Bol. Sci. Nat. Géol. 23: 239 (1830); Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 19: 239, 280 (1831). Type :— FRENCH GUIANA (Cayenne), banks of R. Kourou, fl., Collector unknown s.n., (holotype, P (ex herb. L. C. Richard)) .

For synonymy see FN28: 152 (1981). Illustration: FN28: 153, fig. 27 (1981).

Abbreviated Description. Indumentum of minute mostly basifixed appressed hairs, leaflets 7–11, usually alternate, 10 × 3.5–21.5 × 6 cm, oblong to elliptic, inflorescence 10–40 cm long, a few- to many-flowered pyramidal thyrse, petals (3–)4–5, 2–2.5 mm long, fused for 1/3–2/3 their length, filaments completely fused into an urceolate staminal tube, anthers 7–8, nectary absent, ovary puberulous, (2–)3-locular, locules with 2 collateral ovules, capsule 1.3–2 cm long, 3(–4)-valved, ellipsoid, smooth, appressed puberulous, seeds 2 in each fruit, arillode developed at apex and along the adaxial face, with at least the lower half of the abaxial surface remaining exposed.

Field Characters. Treelet or small tree 15(–20) m high and 20 cm diam., often flowering when only 2–4 m high, with smooth greyish brown bark. Flowers cream-coloured, without scent, and mature fruit greyish green. The seed has a dark red arillode, and the cotyledons are also red. Most flowering records are from October to December, with fruit maturing January–June.

Distribution & Ecology. Southern Venezuela and the Guianas to central and western Amazonian Brazil, and Amazonian Peru. Most frequently recorded along the edges of blackwater streams, occasionally in permanently flooded (igapó) forest and also on non-flooded infertile soils.

MAP 55. Distribution of Trichilia cipo (A. Juss.) C.DC. Solid dots, distribution pre-1981, open dots new records 1981–2010.

Representative Additional Collections, VENEZUELA. Bolívar: Río Caura, banks of R. Canaracuni (NW0464), Stergios 11875 (K); Rio Caura (NW0564), Stergios & Delgado 12440 (K). Amazonas: Rio Ocamo, Atabapo (NW0367), Fernandez 6513 (K).

GUYANA. Rupununi Dist., Kuyuwini landing (NW0259), Jansen-Jacobs et al. 3082 (K); Region Potaro-Siparuni, Iwokrama Reserve (NW0458), Mutchnick 817 (K).

SURINAM. Tumuc Humac Mts., W of Talouakem Peak (NW0254), Acevedo-Rodríguez et al. 6126 (K).

BRAZIL. Acre: upper R. Moa, Fazenda Arizona (SW0773), Campbell et al. 6405 (K). Amazonas: Municipio Barcelos, R. Jauari (NW0063) J.A. Silva 251 (K). Pará: Serra dos Carajas, Rio Parauapebas (SW0649), Sperling et al. 6301 (K). Roraima: Municipio São Luiz do Anaua, Manaus-Caracaraí km 396 (SW0160), Cid Ferreira 9271 (K).

Relationships. Trichilia cipo is very similar to both T. surinamensis and T. tuberculata (here including T. maynasiana ). Their differences have been discussed at length (FN28: 149, 154 (1981). The differences cited there are still valid, except that the inclusion of T. maynasiana within T. tuberculata means that T. tuberculata can no longer be separated on the basis of its free petals, as most specimens are gamopetalous.

The best characters for separating T. cipo from T. surinamensis are the more numerous +/- parallel secondary veins (fewer and strongly arcuate and convergent in T. surinamensis ), the denser indumentum of the corolla and calyx (subglabrous in T. surinamensis ), and their ecology. Trichilia cipo frequently occurs along black water streams, and in flooded forest, whereas T. surinamensis is absent from this habitat.

Trichilia cipo is best separated from T. tuberculata by the denser indumentum on the calyx and corolla (subglabrous in T. tuberculata ), the smooth, densely appressed puberulous capsule (subglabrous and frequently tuberculate in T. tuberculata ) and aril structure (aril apical and adaxial, leaving most of seed exposed in T. cipo versus completely covering the seed in T. tuberculata .

Trichilia cipo appears to be relatively scarce in western Amazonia and is not yet known from Ecuador or Colombia. Specimens placed in T. cipo by Palacios ( Flora Ecuador 98: 64 (2007) belong in T. tuberculata .

Unfortunately no DNA samples were available for either T. tuberculata or T. surinamensis .