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 XXV, Number 4, October 2018

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

BORAGINACEAE [or CORDIACEAE, if you must]. While leaving the Pacific port town of Puntarenas, caught in traffic due to road repairs, Manual co-PI Barry Hammel grabbed quick photos and specimens of the lovely Cordia sebestena L., in front of houses, along the abandoned railroad track. Although this individual must surely have been planted, and the sp. is already known as rarely planted for ornament in Costa Rica, our excuse for including it in this column—other than its striking flowers—is that the few other records and reports have all been from the Atlantic coast. As suggested by the numerous and vigorous seedlings below the mother plant, it won't be surprising if more populations show up, like for example in the fence-row at at a certain property in Cabuya. Hammel seems to have a penchant these days for spotting interesting plants while caught in traffic jams [see, e.g., under "Asteraceae," this column in The Cutting Edge 25(1), Jan. 2018]! Such is modern life, for the lucky botanist. Go to Hammel's Flickr site for pictures of this sp.

RHAMNACEAE. Correspondent and técnico forestal of the Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe Jonathan Barrantes, with the assistance of our friend and MO Alwyn H. Gentry Fellowship alumnus Esteban Jiménez, has recently identified a large rhamnaceous tree as most probably Colubrina arborescens (Mill.) Sarg. This sp. was mentioned in the Manual Rhamnaceae treatment (2014) as expected in Costa Rica, given that specimens had been collected from both Nicaragua and Panama. Although not yet seen fertile, and therefore still determined somewhat tentatively, this 10–15 m individual looks to be quite majestic.

Colubrina
Colubrina

Jonathan informs us that the plant is from the vicinity of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and, in his own words, with "corteza externa pardo grisácea o blanquecina, lisa o fisurada, a veces se exfolia en escamas, hojas simples alternas con varias glándulas submarginales en el envés." He goes on to state that "el nombre común más aceptado es 'Panichel', esto con un censo de 10 aledaños que me aseguraron que es el nombre común o bien conocida en la zona. Esta sp. se distribuye desde Gandoca, Manzanillo, Puerto Viejo, Cahuita y Bordón…. Esta sp. la primera vez que la vi fue hace unos 20 años en la comunidad de Cahuita, es una especie utilizada como madera, la madera es muy similar a Chloroleucon eurycyclum Barneby & J. W. Grimes." Many thanks to Jonathan for his fine photos and the collection information.

TOP


 

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

E-mail
Technical Support