Siparuna guianensis Aublet, Hist.

Brunassi, Gustavo Rebechi & Lírio, Elton John de, 2025, Flora of Ceará: Siparunaceae, Rodriguesia (e 00592024) 76, pp. 1-8 : 4-6

1.2. Siparuna guianensis Aublet, Hist. pl. Guiane : 865, t. 333. 1775.

Citriosma guianensis (Aublet) Tul., Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. 8: 361. 1855. Type : French Guiana: near Cayenne, between 1762 and 1764, Aublet s.n. (holotype, BM 30814 ; NY photo neg. 739).

Shrub or tree, monoecious, 1.5–8.5 m high, diameter at breast height 3–8(–15) cm, wood pale yellow, soft, bark brown or green with brown spots; young branchlets terete, more or less flattened at the nodes, the youngest with stellate or stellate-lepidote trichomes (not scale-shaped), very small, later glabrous. Leaves membranous, petiole 0.2–1 cm long, pubescent, then glabrous, canaliculate; lamina oblong, elliptical, rarely lanceolate to ovatelanceolate, 8–16 × 4–8 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex obtuse, acute or acuminate, the tip, if present, 0.5–1.2 cm long in the central part, margins entire, slightly stellate-lepidote on both surfaces when young and later glabrescent, rarely with a few simple trichomes on the basal part of the abaxial face when adult; secondary veins 8–14 pairs, barely visible on the adaxial surface and prominent on the abaxial surface, tertiary veins reticulate. Cymes axillary or sub-terminal, in pairs, rarely semiscorpioid, unisexual or sometimes bisexual, 0.7–1.5 cm long, in bisexual inflorescences, pistillate flowers less numerous than staminate flowers and arranged at the base of the inflorescence, white to greenish-yellow. Staminate flowers with pedicels measuring ca. 2 mm long, floral cup 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–3 mm, wide opening, tomentose, with stellate-lepidote trichomes, tepals 4–6, minute, obtuse, sometimes semi-orbicular to wide-triangular, 0.2–0.3(–0.6) mm long, floral roof barely developed or not developed, stamens 10–19, unequal, 0.5–1.2 mm long, exerted at anthesis, membranaceous, ca. 0.5 mm wide, stamens with valvate dehiscence 2, more or less connate, cordiform. Pistillate flowers stellate-tomentose, pedicel measuring ca. 2 mm, floral cup ovoid, ca. 2 × 2.5 mm, tepals 4–6, triangular to rounded, 0.5 × 1 mm long, floral roof infundibuliform, 0.3 mm, tomentose, orifice ca. 0.1 mm, carpels (3–)6–12(–17), styles conniving, exerted ca. 0.8 mm long. Fruiting receptacle subglobose, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, smooth, tepals obsolete, more or less densely covered with stellate trichomes. Fruit green, turning dark red to vinaceous when mature, breaking laterally exposing the yellow-orange interior, with a strong astringent lemon odor; peduncle ca. 1 cm long, pedicel ca. 0.6 cm long. Drupelets 4–14, without stylar aril, exocarp and mesocarp fleshy, whitish, grayish or orange, becoming slimy, endocarp stony.

Material examined: Barbalha , Arajara, Serra do Araripe, 2.VIII.1997, fl. and fr., A. L. Peixoto et al. 4262 ( RBR). Belmonte, road to guard’s house, 26.X.2010, fl., M. Mata et al. 2244 ( HUEFS). Crato, Chapada do Araripe, 31.III.1985, fr., A. Fernandes et al. ( EAC 13115 ); 14.III.2012, fr., E. N. A. Seixas et al. ( HCDAL 8198 ); Lameiro, 8. I.1987, fl. and fr., A. L. Peixoto et al. 4512 ( RBR); close to the source, 12.XII.1986, fl. and fr., A. L. Peixoto et al. 3647 ( RBR); Granjeiro, SÍtio Caiana, 21. I.2014, fr., C. E. B. Proença et al. 4646 ( RBR, CEN, UB, RB); Guaribas, Floresta Nacional do Araripe, 14. I.1999, fr., A. M. Miranda 3141 ( IPA, FCAB, EAC, HUEFS, HST); 18.VIII.1838, fl., G. Gardner 1843 ( NY). 1836–1841, fl., G. Gardner 1842 ( NY) .

Siparuna guianensis is among the first species to develop in secondary areas but can also be found in well-preserved forests. Its identification is facilitated by the combination of elliptical leaves with entire margins, glabrous or glabrescent surfaces, short cymes, and small flowers measuring 0.6–2.5 × 1.5–3 mm.

The species is found in different types of vegetation, such as Riparian or Gallery Forest , Terra Firme Forest , Semideciduous Seasonal Forest , and Ombrophilous Forest . Its geographic distribution includes the Amazon , Caatinga , Cerrado , Atlantic Forest and Pantanal. The species occurs throughout Brazil, except in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina Peixoto et al. (2020). In Ceará, the species occurs in Tropical Sub-deciduous Rain Forests ( Dry Forest ), Tropical Sub-deciduous Xeromorphic Forests ( Cerradão ) and Tropical Subevergreen Rain-Cloud Forests ( Humid Forest ). It was collected in the flowering phase in the month of October and with flowers and fruits from January to March and from August to December ( Fig. 3 ). Some specimens analyzed exhibited a great quantity of trichomes ( Gardner , N. 1842 and 1843; Mata , N. 2244), however, the inflorescence and shape of the leaves match S. guianensis . Three exsiccates with records in databases were requested for analysis, however, the material was not found in the herbarium P ( P00053034 , P00053035 and P00053261 ). The species is popularly known as "negramina".

Figures

Figure 3 – a-b. Siparuna guianensis – a. photo of the branch with mature fruits; b. photo of the fruit in detail, showing the internal structures. Photos: a-b. Robin Heymans.