Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 SAPINDACEAE~APOMCEAE 201
West Indies and northern South America; in Dominica in
margins of rainforests, 15-50 m: Clarke Hall (Beard 658, Ernst
1439). Fruiting in May.
Cupania triquetra
Cupania triquetra A. Richard in Sagra, 1845, 10:119.
Leaflets 5-15 cm long; fruits sharply 3-angled.
Greater and some Lesser Antilles; reported for Dominica by
Howard (1989,5141).
Dodonaea Miller
Dodonaea viscosa
Dcdonaea vircosa (Linnaeus) Jacquin, 1760:19.
Ptelea vircosa Linnaeus, 1753:118.
Shrubby tree to 5 m; fruit k orbicular, with two membranous
wings.
Pantropical; mentioned for Dominica for pioneer zone on
beaches beyond limit of storm wave action by Hodge (1954:22)
and expected, even in dry scrub, but no specimens seen.
Paullinia Linnaeus
1. Leaf rhachis winged; fruit with 3-4 erect apical lobes
......................... P. pinnata
1. Leaf rhachis unwinged; fruit with 3 spreading apical wings
........................ P. vespertilio
Paullinia pinnata Linnaeus, 1753:366.
Paullinia pinnata
High-climbing vine; leaf rhachis winged; leaflets 5, toothed;
fruits clavate, turning red, with 3-4 erect apical lobes to 1 cm
long; seeds black with white aril.
Pantropical; in Dominica only in NW comer: Portsmouth
(Krauss 1678, Whitefoord 5299, Prince Ruperts Bay (Hodge
655), Swamp Gutter near Cabrits (Ernst 2098, Whitefoord
4036, Wilbur 8259). Flowering June-August, fruiting
August-January.
Paullinia vespertilw
Paullinia vespertilio Swartz, 1788:64.-Howard, 1989,5:150.
Paullinia sphoerocarpa sensu Grisebach, 1860:124, as to Imray specimen, non
L. Richard ex Jussieu.
Paullinia m'crosepala Radlkofer, 1895253.
High-climbing vine; leaf rhachis unwinged; leaflets 5,
toothed; fruits red, clavate with 3 wings spreading -1 cm from
apex, said to represent the devil with 2 horns and a goatee; seed
solitary, black with a white aril.
Lesser Antilles; probably common in Dominica in rainforests
-450 m but hard to collect from tree tops unless trees are
felled Dleau Gommier (Nicolson 4094), sine loc. (Eggers 1043
at K, Imray s.n. at K).
Sapindus Linnaeus
Sapindus saponaria
Sapindus saponaria Linnaeus. 1753:367.
Soapberry, soap tree, bois savonette, ttilsi (by Carib men),
Mluru (by Carib women).
Tree to 12 m; leaflets 6-12, tending to be paired, entire,
oblong-lanceolate, rounded to acuminate, pubescent below,
glabrous above; h it with globoid cocci, often only 1-2 cocci
maturing.
Neotropics; in Dominica on dry west coast (possibly also on
east coast): Macoucherie (Chambers 2512). Flowering January.
Caribs use the bark and fruits for soap, a decoction of bark is
used against dysentery, and the fruits are strung for necklaces
(Hodge and Taylor, 1957578).
I wonder if this species is native to Dominica. Macoucherie
is also the sole locality of introduced Cananga. The specimen
corresponds to Sapindus saponaria f. inaequalis (A.P. Candolle)
Radlkofer (in Millspaugh, 1898:402), with unwinged
petioles and rhachis and unequal leaflets.
SAF'OTACEAE
(by A.C. Nicolson)
Members of this family commonly have milky sap. This
family of large trees is somewhat intractable due to the few
collections that associate flowers, fruits, and leaves.
Mimusops elengi Linnaeus of the East Indies has been
collected in the Roseau Botanic Gardens (Hodge 905). It has
broadly oblong leaves 5-12 cm long, 1-4 axillary flowers on
pedicels to 1 cm long, a biseriate calyx (44 lobes), corolla
lobes with evident paired petalloid appendages, and seeds with
a short, subbasal scar.
Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertner (including Butyrospermum
parkii Kotschy) is an African species with petioles to 10 cm
long, large, obovate leaves to 30 cm long with prominent
secondary venation, pedicels to 2 cm long, a biseriate calyx
(44 lobes), petals without appendages and a long seed scar,
cultivated in the Roseau Botanic Garden (Hodge 3888).
Excluded Sapotaceae
Bumelia retusa Swartz of the Greater Antilles and Yucatan,
reported from Dominica by Grisebach (1861:401), is based on
a misidentification of an Imray collection (GH, K) of
Sideroxylon foetidissimum.
Fertile Material
1. Sepals 6, biseriate (3+3); seed scar long, lateral and