Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana << Back ANNONACEAE 14. ROLLINIA A. St.-Hil., Fl. Bras. Merid. 1: 28, t. 5. 1827 [1824]. by Paul J. M. Maas Trees or shrubs with simple or rarely stellate to furcate hairs. Inflorescence supra-axillary to leaf-opposed, few-flowered or rarely solitary, shortly pedunculate; pedicels articulate, bracteate at the base and usually above the articulation. Flowers bisexual; receptacle convex. Sepals 3, valvate, free or rarely connate into a cup-shaped base; petals 6, connate, biseriately valvate, the outer 3 prolonged into a wing or spur, the inner 3 small, green to yellow, inner base red. Stamens numerous, anthers not locellate, the connective expanded and truncate above the anther. Carpels several to numerous, ovule 1, basal. Monocarps coalesced into a globose or ovoid fruit. Central America, West Indies, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina; ca. 45 species, 5 in Venezuela, 2 of these in the flora area. Key to the Species of Rollinia 1. Leaves glaucous on the lower surface and covered with papillae, coriaceous; sepals gibbous; fruit 1--2.5 cm diameter, with 30--50 scarcely el-evated carpels; seeds 5--6 mm long...R. exsucca 1. Leaves without glaucous cover and papillae on the lower surface, chartaceous; sepals not gibbous; fruit 2--20 cm diameter, with 30--150 carpels each with a distinct spine to 1 cm high; seeds 7--18 mm long...R. mucosa Rollinia exsucca (DC. ex Dunal) A. DC., Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 5: 199, t. 2, fig. a. 1832. ---Annona exsucca DC. ex Dunal, Monogr. Anonac. 77. 1817. ---Anoncillo, Tuwae yó (Panare). Rollinia multiflora Splitg., Tijdschr. Natuurl. Gesch. Physiol. 9: 97. 1842. Tree 5--20 m; leaves (narrowly) oblong-elliptic, 8--20 × 3--8 cm; fruit globose, 1--2.5 cm diameter. Evergreen, semideciduous, and riparian forests, 100--900 m; Delta Amacuro (Santa Catalina, Serranía de Imataca), Bolívar (common in the eastern and northern portions), Amazonas (upper Río Orinoco, Río Ventuari). Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil. Fig. 385. Rollinia mucosa (Jacq.) Baill., Adansonia 8: 268. 1868. ---Annona mucosa Jacq., Observ. Bot. 1: 16. 1764. Tree to 25 m; leaves narrowly elliptic, 10--25 × 4--9 cm; fruit subglobose, 2--12(--20) cm diameter. Cultivated and locally escaped in open places around villages, 300--400 m; Bolívar (Suruvay at base of Serranía Marutaní). Aragua, Barinas, Cojedes, Distrito Federal, Falcón, Lara, Mérida, Miranda, Táchira, Yaracuy; Central America, West Indies, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia. This species is cultivated throughout tropical America for its delicious fruit. Scientific Comments: Paul Berry (peberry@facstaff.wisc.edu) or Kay Yatskievych (kay.yatskievych@mobot.org).