Vouacapoua Aubl., Hist. Pl. Guiane 2 (Suppl.): 9, pl. 373. 1775.

Bruneau, Anne, de Queiroz, Luciano Paganucci, Ringelberg, Jens J., Borges, Leonardo M., Bortoluzzi, Roseli Lopes da Costa, Brown, Gillian K., Cardoso, Domingos B. O. S., Clark, Ruth P., Conceicao, Adilva de Souza, Cota, Matheus Martins Teixeira, Demeulenaere, Else, de Stefano, Rodrigo Duno, Ebinger, John E., Ferm, Julia, Fonseca-Cortes, Andres, Gagnon, Edeline, Grether, Rosaura, Guerra, Ethiene, Haston, Elspeth, Herendeen, Patrick S., Hernandez, Hector M., Hopkins, Helen C. F., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau, Hughes, Colin E., Ickert-Bond, Stefanie M., Iganci, Joao, Koenen, Erik J. M., Lewis, Gwilym P., de Lima, Haroldo Cavalcante, de Lima, Alexandre Gibau, Luckow, Melissa, Marazzi, Brigitte, Maslin, Bruce R., Morales, Matias, Morim, Marli Pires, Murphy, Daniel J., O'Donnell, Shawn A., Oliveira, Filipe Gomes, Oliveira, Ana Carla da Silva, Rando, Juliana Gastaldello, Ribeiro, Petala Gomes, Ribeiro, Carolina Lima, Santos, Felipe da Silva, Seigler, David S., da Silva, Guilherme Sousa, Simon, Marcelo F., Soares, Marcos Vinicius Batista & Terra, Vanessa, 2024, Advances in Legume Systematics 14. Classification of Caesalpinioideae. Part 2: Higher-level classification, PhytoKeys 240, pp. 1-552 : 1

Vouacapoua Aubl., Hist. Pl. Guiane 2 (Suppl.): 9, pl. 373. 1775.

Figs 22 , 23 , 24

Type.

Vouacapoua americana Aubl.

Description.

Unarmed trees. Stipules not observed. Leaves spiral, imparipinnate; petiole terete; extrafloral nectaries on pulvinus or between all pairs of leaflets, sessile, secretory surface convex, sometimes absent; leaflets 7-11, opposite. Inflorescence a panicle; bract 1, caducous, bracteoles 2, caducous. Flowers perigynous, radially symmetrical; hypanthium campanulate; sepals 5, free; petals 5, yellow, free; stamens 10, free, filaments glabrous, anthers longitudinally dehiscent; pollen unknown; ovary shortly stipitate, attached to the base of the hypanthium. Fruit obovoid to ellipsoid drupaceous legume, rugose and velutinous, one (rarely 2-3)-seeded, swollen over seed, dehiscent. Seeds globose to obovoid, with a brownish, smooth and glossy testa.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Three species, V. americana , V. macropetala Sandwith and V. pallidior Ducke, restricted to northern South America in the wet Amazonian forests of Brazil, British Guiana, French Guiana and Suriname ( Ducke 1932a; Sandwith 1937; Cota 2020c; Fig. 24 ).

Ecology.

The genus is known only on well-drained soils from lowland tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin ("terra firme").

Human uses.

The timber of V. americana is used in civil and naval constructions and furniture ( Lewis 2005b).

Etymology.

The name originated with the Galibi (also called Kalinã), indigenous people from northern South America. " Vouacapoua " or “Voicapou” are Galibi names for Vouacapoua americana ( Aublet 1775; Mari-Mut 2018).

Notes.

Vouacapoua is characterised by a terete petiole, extrafloral nectaries on the pulvinus or between the pairs of leaflets, glabrous stamen filaments (Fig. 22 ), an obovoid to ellipsoid legume, swollen over the (mostly) single seed, and seeds globose to obovoid with a brownish testa. In the original description, Vouacapoua was described as having three bracteoles on the pedicels, but from observation of herbarium specimens, we certify that there are two bracteoles and one bract. Vouacapoua has extrafloral nectaries on leaves and flowers that are radially symmetrical, a characteristic also seen in Batesia . However, Batesia differs from Vouacapoua by having winged petioles, stamens with a villous filament base, a follicle rather than a drupaceous legume, and seeds with an orangish to reddish testa.

Seeds of V. americana are dispersed by small rodents ( Myoprocta exilis and Dasyprocta leporina ) that bury the fruits at short distances from the source tree ( Forget 1990, 1994). Their fragrant flowers are pollinated by small bees ( Apidae , Halictidae and Anthophoridae ) and flies ( Syrphidae ; Maués et al. 1999).

Taxonomic references.

Aublet (1775); Cota (2020c); Ducke (1932a); Lewis (2005b); Sandwith (1937).

Figures

Figure 22. Examples of variation in stamens and pistil among Cassieae genera A Cassia moschata Kunth (Rando et al. 1184) B Senna macranthera (DC. ex Collad.) H. S. Irwin & Barneby (Rando et al. 272) C Chamaecrista bahiae (H. S. Irwin) H. S. Irwin & Barneby (Rando et al. 1214) D Melanoxylum brauna Schott (Cardoso et al. 2439) E Recordoxylon speciosum (Benoist) Gazel ex Barneby (Pereira-Silva et al. 15631) F Vouacapoua americana Aubl (Nascimento 245). G Batesia floribunda Spruce ex Benth (based on photographs of Projeto Flora Reserva Ducke, INPA / DFID, comm. Mike Hopkins). Scale: 1 cm. Drawn by Najla M. B. Scheidegger / @ ilustre. nt.

Figure 23. Examples of Batesia, Melanoxylum, Recordoxylon and Vouacapoua diversity A Batesia floribunda Spruce ex Benth. extrafloral nectary, petiolules and part of leaflets (Cota 1158) B, C Vouacapoua americana Aubl. (Cardoso et al. 3450) B leaves and immature fruit C mature fruits and seeds on the ground D, E Melanoxylum brauna Schott (Cardoso et al. 2439) D inflorescence, buds and flowers E flower F-H Recordoxylon speciosum (Benoist) Gazel ex Barneby (Pereira-Silva et al. 15631) F trunk of mature individual G flowers and immature fruit H flower. Photo credits A-E D Cardoso F-H G Pereira-Silva.

Figure 24. Distribution of Vouacapoua based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.