Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 RUBIACEAE 193
Palicourea crocea 5. Plants epiphytic; leaves fleshy ............
................... P. guadalupensis
Palicourea crocea (Swartz) Schultes in Roemer & Schultes, 1819, 5:193.-
Steyermark, 1972:737.
Psychofria crocw Swartz, 1788:44.
Shrub or tree to 6 m: leaves lanceolate, acute at both ends;
stipule with tube -1 mm long and 4 teeth 1-3.5 mm long (in
ours): inflorescence terminal, thyrsoid, axis and pedicels
usually red, occasionally yellow or orange.
The typical variety is Antillean, others extend to Bolivia; one
of the most common (and most frequently collected) plants in
Dominica in lower to middle elevations, 50-600 m, occasionally
to 1300 m: Northeast and East coast (Chambers 2611,
Ernst 1904, Hodge 687,3406,3562, Lloyd 667, Nicolson 4072,
Stehle 6415, Whitefoord 3760, Wilbur 7525), Diablotins area
(Hodge 2585, 2601, 2818, Lloyd 906, Webster 13333, 13544,
Whitefoord 3494), Pont Casse to Sylvania area (Cooper 6,
Ernst 2050, Fosberg 48301, Hodge 686,1188,1298, Nicolson
1846, Wilbur 7545, 7712, 7758, 8315), Freshwater Lake area
(Chambers 2671, Gillis 8160, Hodge 1870,1929, Smith 10301,
Wilbur 7433, Southern end (Ernst 1316, Gillis 8119, Hodge
699, 1660, 1498, 2384, Howard 11737, Lloyd 10, Stern &
Wasshausen 2408, 2497, Webster 13201), sine loc. (Cooley
8785).
There is a correlation between leaf size and altitude;
specimens from higher elevations have smaller leaves than
those from middle and lower elevations.
Psychotria Linnaeus, nom. cons.
Psychotria nervosa Swartz (as Psychotria lanceolata Nuttall)
was attributed to Dominica by Grisebach (1861:342) based
on an Imray collection. The species is distinguishable by a
tubular but deciduous stipule, shortly petiolate leaves, and a
subsessile inflorescence. The Imray specimen has not been
checked but no collections attributable to P. nervosa have been
seen.
5. Plants terrestrial; leaves membranous or leathery.
6. Calyx clearly lobed, the teeth as long or longer than
broad; stipules with 2 teeth as long as tube of
stipules, persistent .......... P. berteriana
6. Calyx essentially a truncated rim, the teeth only
tiny points: stipules not toothed or with teeth
shorter than stipule-tube.
7. Stipules persistent, only 2 mm long: vein-axils
with white, pubescent domatia where lateral
veins join the midrib ....... P. microdon
7. Stipules soon deciduous, 5 mm long; vein axils
often with glabrous pocket-domatia.
8. Calyx essentially truncate; stipules blunt;
inflorescence peduncle elongate .......
............... P. mapourwides
8. Calyx shortly but conspicuously toothed:
stipules lanceolate, often bifid; inflorescence
peduncle short ......... P. tenuifolia
Psychotria aubletiana
Psychofria aubletiana Steyermark, 1912694.
Cephaelis axillaris Swartz, 1788:45. non Psychofria axillaris Willdenow, nor
Vellozo.
Shrub to 1.5 m with sessile, axillary heads of white flowers
and blue hits.
Lesser Antilles; common in Dominica on forest floors above
lo00 m (replacing P. urbaniunu of lower elevations): Mome
Anglais (Hodge 700, 2272, Wilbur 7943), Morne Diablotins
(Webster 13324, Whitefoord 443~9, Laudat (Lloyd 124), Mome
Trois Pitons (Chambers 2481, Ernst 2026, Hodge 701, 1390,
Wasshausen & Ayensu 388, Wilbur 8094), Morne Nicholls
(Hodge 1934, Nicolson 2019), Mosquito Mountain (Webster
13552), sine loc. (Imray s.n., 278).
1. Flowers sessile, in axillary clusters or terminal bracteate
heads.
2. Flowers in axillary clusters ....... P. aubletiana
2. Flowers in terminal, pedunculate heads surrounded by
broad bracts ............... P. urbaniana
1. Flowers pedicellate or, if sessile, in branching inflorescences.
3. Herbs with thick, succulent stems; leaves >10 cm broad,
rounded or shortly acuminate at apex; inflorescences
strictly axillary.
4. Inflorescences shorter than petioles; fruit white
...................... P. discolor
4. Inflorescences longer than petioles; fruit red . ....
...................... P. uliginosa
3. Plants with woody or herbaceous stems, but not
succulent; leaves 4 0 cm broad: inflorescences terminal
but irregularly axillary.
Psychotria berterinna
Psychotria berferiana A.P. Candolle, 1830, 4:515.--Steyernalk, 1972:534.
Psychofria plafyphylla A.P. CandoUe. 1830,4517.
Shrub or small tree to 10 m; stipules persistent, -2 mm long
but with 2 broad, lateral teeth -2 mm long; inflorescences
terminal, long-pedunculate, loosely branching, pubescent;
calyx teeth as long as hypanthium: corolla white; fruits turning
black, spheroid, longitudinally ridged, capped with persistent
calyx teeth and subtended by 1 or more bracts.
Northern neotropics; occasional to common in Dominica in
interior rainforest, 100-lo00 m: Boeri Lake (Whitefoord
4155), Fon Pays (Hodge 2838), La Chaudiere (Hodge 3606,
3630), Pont Casse area (Sylvania to Deux Branches), (Charnbers
2519, Ernst 1286, 1941, Hodge 711, 2968, 3114, 3120,
3489,3970, Nicolson 2119,4039, Proctor 25784, Wilbur 7550,
7551,8192), Syndicate (Whitefoord 3594,4351).