Cecropiaceae: Coussapoa and Pourouma, with an ... - CNCFlora

Morphology; Phenology; Pollination 113
macrospermous, in contrast to the other four
Phenology
genera of the Cecropiaceae.
General Remarks. -The greatest variation of From label data alone it is difficult if not imcharacters
(mainly, but not only of the leaves) in possible to draw conclusions about the phenolthe
genus is found among taxa in which incised ogy of a particular species.
leaves do not occur constantly. Only part of this In an area explored (Montagne de Trinite,
variation is connected with distribution. Taxa French Guiana, short rainy season, Jan-Feb 1984)
with constantly incised leaves in adult specimens
none of the numerous Pourouma specimens of
and those with entire leaves in all stages of de- different species was bearing flowers or fruits.
velopment tend to be rather uniform, even if This
they suggested seasonal flowering. The combihave
a relatively wide distribution.
nation of label data of all Pourouma collections
It is somewhat difficult to indicate which char- made in the Guianas gives a pattern indicating
acters can be regarded as derived or as a main
special- flowering period in August-October (in
ized. In several of its characters (especially of the the long dry season) and a fruiting period which
vegetative parts) Pourouma is (like the African may extend to February, thus from the end of
genus Myrianthus) intermediate between Cecro- the long dry season into a short rainy season.
pia (and the African genus Musanga) and Cous- According to Croat (1978) P. bicolor fruits in
sapoa (and the Malesian Panama in the end of the
genus Poikilospermum).
dry season. According
From about the middle of the spectrum of vari- to Martius (in Spix & Martius, 1831) P. cecroation
in Pourouma one could indicate a pro- piifolia can bear (ripe?) fruits in May and Nogression
towards Cecropia, ending in a form with vember. The occurrence of these two periods of
thick branches and large, constantly incised leaves fruiting gets some support from the label data of
with many incisions (but never peltate as in Ce- the examined material of this species. Falcao and
cropia), represented, e.g., by P. cecropiifolia and Lleras (1980) found that P. cecropiifolia in the
P. cuspidata; and another progression towards Manaus region was flowering at the height of the
Coussapoa, ending in a form with rather slender rainy season (April-June), and producing a crop
branches and medium-sized, constantly entire of ripe fruit at the end of the dry season to the
leaves. As indicated (p. 5), there is an overlap beginning of the next rainy season.
of the leaf characters of Pourouma and Cous- The period between flowering and bearing ripe
sapoa, and sterile material of both genera can be fruit appears to be longer in P. cecropiifolia than
easily confused.
in (most?) other species of Pourouma. The dis-
In addition to these characters one can also crepancy between the data supplied by Falcao
regard as derived: sparse indument (e.g., Pourou- and Lleras and the observations of Martius might
ma ovata), elliptic to obovate leaves (e.g., P. be caused by the presence of several strains. In
phaeotricha and P. bolivarensis), unbranched lat- the publication "Underexploited Tropical Plants
eral veins (e.g., P. acuminata and P. with
ovata), peti- Promising Economic Value" (National
olulate leaf segments (in taxa with incised leaves), Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1975)
as in P. tomentosa subsp. persecta, short a
petioles fruiting period of three months in the rainy
of constant length (P. formicarum), swollen and season is mentioned for P. cecropiifolia.
saccate base of the petiole (P. formicarum, P.
myrmecophila), short stipules (e.g., P. ovata), sta-
Pollination
minate flowers in globose heads (P. melinonii
and P. myrmecophila), subumbellate pistillate Little is known about pollination in Pourouinflorescences
(P. minor), elongate peduncle of ma. Neither morphological features (of infloresthe
pistillate inflorescence (P. ferruginea and P. cences and flowers) nor habit and habitat (small
ovata), staminate flowers with fused tepals (P. to medium-sized trees in forests) suggest the ocmollis),
stamens with partly or fully connate fil- currence of wind pollination. The herbarium maaments
(P. melinonii and P. napoensis respec- terial indicates that most pistils develop into
tively), and knob-like stigma (P. minor). fruits, which suggests an effective pollination sys-
The above summation of derived characters tem. Falcao and Lleras (1980) found a number
and specializations shows that they tend to be of bee species as pollinators of P. cecropiifolia.
'at the Coussapoa side' of the variation spectrum The bees collect pollen in the staminate infloin
Pourouma.
rescences and fly to pistillate inflorescences. The