Trichilia gamopetala T.D. Penn., Fl. Neotrop.

Pennington, Terence D., 2016, Systematic Treatment Of American Trichilia (Meliaceae), Phytotaxa 259 (1), pp. 18-162 : 101-102

47. Trichilia gamopetala T.D. Penn., Fl. Neotrop. 28: 177 (1981). Type:— VENEZUELA. Amazonas, Rio Cunucunuma , Cerro Huachamacari, fl., yfr., Maguire, Cowan & Wurdack 29795 (holotype, FHO; isotypes, MO, NY). Map 53

Illustration: FN 28: 178, fig. 34 (1981).

Abbreviated Description. Indumentum pubescent to tomentose with simple basifixed hairs, leaflets 9–11 with 1 pair of vestigial scales about 2 cm above the base of the petiole, subopposite to alternate, 11 × 3–15 × 4.5 cm, narrowly elliptic to oblong, pubescent on the veins, coriaceous, secondary veins 16–19 pairs, tertiary reticulum prominent on both surfaces, inflorescence 20–30 cm long, a crisped-pubescent panicle, petals (4–)5, 5.5–7.5 mm long, fused for 2/3 of their length, valvate, densely appressed pubescent, filaments completely fused into a staminal tube, anthers 8–10, nectary absent, ovary 3-locular, locules with 2 collateral ovules, densely long-strigose.

Emended description of capsule: Capsule 2.5–2.7 cm long, 1.3–1.5 cm broad, 3-valved broadly ellipsoid to ovoid, with a broad acute beak at the apex, base acute, smooth, densely golden tomentose; pericarp 0.5–0.75 mm thick. Seed solitary, ca. 1.8 × 1 cm (including the beaked arillode), ellipsoid, obtuse to rounded at apex and base, arillode confined to the adaxial surface of the seed and prolonged at the apex into a slender beak ca. 0.7 cm long. Embryo with plano-convex, collateral cotyledons, radicle apical, extending to the surface; endosperm absent.

Distribution & Ecology. Bolívar and Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela in non- flooded lowland rain forest over igneous rocks, below 400 m elevation.

Additional Collections Examined. VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Rio Mawarinuma, Neblina Base Camp (NW0066), Boom & Weitzman 5871 (K); Atabapo, Salto Yureba, Cerro Yureba (NW0466), Liesner 18643 (K, MO, NY). Bolívar: Rio Paragua, Rio Chiguao (NW0663), Stergios 10927 (NY).

MAP 53. Distribution of Trichilia gamopetala T.D.Penn. Solid dots, distribution pre-1981, open dots new records 1981–2010.

Relationships. Morphologically close to the eastern Brazilian T. ramalhoi , but this relationships is not confirmed by the ITS analysis. It shares a similar indumentum and floral structure, but differs in the much longer inflorescence and in the arillode structure and in the presence of a pair of subulate vestigial scales near the petiole base. Other members of this group include T. schomburgkii , T. poeppigii and T. lecointei , but these all lack the conspicuous tomentose indumentum of T. gamopetala .