www.mobot.org Research Home | Search | Contact | Site Map  
 
Research
W³TROPICOS
QUICK SEARCH

MO PROJECTS:
Africa
Asia/Pacific
Mesoamerica
North America
South America
General Taxonomy
Photo Essays
Training in Latin
  America

MO RESEARCH:
Wm. L. Brown Center
Bryology
GIS
Graduate Studies
Research Experiences
  for Undergraduates

Imaging Lab
Library
MBG Press
Publications
Climate Change
Catalog Fossil Plants
MO DATABASES:
W³MOST
Image Index
Rare Books
Angiosperm
  Phylogeny

Res Botanica
All Databases
INFORMATION:
What's New?
People at MO
Visitor's Guide
Herbarium
Jobs & Fellowships
Symposium
Research Links
Site Map
Search

Projects

 
Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica

Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge
Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors

The Cutting Edge

Volume XII, Number 3, July 2005

News and Notes | Recent Treatments | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature | Season's Pick | Annotate your copy

SEASON'S PICK: Clusia croatii D'Arcy (Clusiaceae) et others of section Retinostemon.

Clusia croatii -- Hammel 14221 Clusia croatii -- Hammel 23665

Both Clusia croatii (staminate flower, above left--Hammel 14221, mature open fruit
with arrilate seeds, above right--Hammel 23665)

Clusia uvitana -- Hammel 9113 Clusia uvitana -- Hammel 17080

and C. uvitana Pittier (staminate flower, above left--Hammel 9113, pistillate flower above right--Hammel 17080), are members of the Clusia minor L. group (=section Retinostemon), one of the many groups of Clusia characterized, in part, by the production of floral resins. Although detailed pollination studies for this group are lacking, sporadic observations indicate that small Meliponid bees, taking both pollen and resin, are the primary floral visitors.

Clusia croatii -- McPherson 6702 Clusia uvitana -- Dwyer 1817

From young buds of the staminate flowers of these species (C. croatii, above left--Mcpherson 6702, C. uvitana, above right--Dwyer 1817), it is obvious that the resin is produced by the expanded connective of the central stamens. The resin of pistillate flowers in this group is produced by the staminodial ring that surrounds the base of the ovary.

Clusia_minor Clusia minor

Oddly (virtually all Clusia are dioecious), C. minor itself is morphologically hermaphroditic; all flowers are pistillate and all have at least a few pollen producing anther sacs in the staminodial ring--Hammel 22418.

All the species mentioned above are flowering and fruiting during this part of the rainy season. All photos are by B. Hammel.

TOP

 

 
 
© 1995-2024 Missouri Botanical Garden, All Rights Reserved
4344 Shaw Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 577-5100

E-mail
Technical Support