Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 AMARANTHACEAE~~NACARDIACDIACEAE 21
Widely cultivated but escaping; only once collected on
Dominica: Cabrits Swamp (Whitefoord 4080).
The cockscomb, likely cultivated on Dominica, belongs to
the same polyploid complex, sometimes is treated as a species,
C. cristata Linnaeus, aid sometimes as a variety of C.
argentea .
Cyathula Blurne, nom. cons.
Cyathula prostrata
Cyathula prostrata (Linnaeus) Blume, 1826:549.
Achyranthes prostrata Linnaeus. 1762:296.
Weedy herb with opposite leaves; racemes terminal and
elongate; flowers finally nodding and developing hooked
spines that catch on clothes.
Pantropic weed; in Dominica usually in dry places:
Belvedere (Eggers 533), Carib Reserve (Hodge 3373, Clarke
Hall (Chambers 2706), Grand Bay road (Erst 1594), Laudat
(Hodge 1793, Pointe Ronde (Hodge 2730), South Chiltern-
Scotts Head (Hodge 1641), SL Paul Parish (Cooley 8767),
Wallhouse (Eggers 66).
Adjanohoun et al. (198541, pl. 8) reported use against
diarrhea.
Cyathula achyranthoides (Kunth) Moquin was reported for
Dominica by Fawcett and Rendle (1914, 3:135), but this is
surely an error for the Dominican Republic. It is distinguished
by its long-acuminate leaves and hooked spines that are twice
as long as the fruiting perianth.
Iresine Browne, nom. cons.
Two perennial species are expected: I. angustifolia Euphrasen
with glabrous bisexual flowers and I. argentata (Martius)
D. Dietrich with tomentulose bisexual flowers. The former was
attributed to Dominica by Velez (1957:73).
Iresine herbstii Hooker, zizier poule, a cultivated shrub with
colored leaves was illustrated by Honychurch (19804) and
Adjanohoun et al. (1985:43, pl. 9) from Dominica.
Iresine diffusa
Iresine dims Humboldt & Bonpland ex Willdenow, 1805,4:765.Shinners,
1962141.
Celosia paniculata Linnaeus, 1753:206.
Iresine celosia Linnaeus. 1759a: 1291, nom. supem.
Iresine celosioides Linnaeus, 1763:1456. norn. supem.?
Iresine paniculata (Linnaeus) Kuntze, 1891,2:542. non Poiret.
Weedy annual herb with opposite leaves. Differs from other
Dominican Amaranthaceae in having a loosely paniculate
inflorescence of small (to 1 mm long) unisexual flowers and
being dioecious.
Neotropics; on Dominica in dry coastal woodlands: South
Chiltem-Scotts Head (Hodge 164O), Roseau Valley Waterfalls
(Hodge 2003), sine loc. (Eggers 64).
Mears and Gillis (1977:63) called this species Iresine
canescens Willdenow without mentioning the equally priorable
name I. diffusa accepted by Adams (1972:259) and other
authors.
ANACARDIACEAE
Materials cited by Hodge (1954:20 and 28) as Rhus
metopium or (gomme l'incense) are actually Protium attenuutum
(Rose) Urban of the Burseraceae. Metopium brownei
(Jacquin) Urban and Metopium toxiferum (Linnaeus) Krug &
Urban, dangerous contact-poison plants, do not occur in the
Lesser Antilles.
1. Leaves compound . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . Spondias
1. Leaves simple.
2. Leaves ovate, rounded to emarginate; fruit nut-like,
curved, borne on an enlarged stalk . . . . Anacardiurn
2. Leaves lanceolate, acute: fruit a large drupe . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . , . . . Mangifera
Anacardium Linnaeus
Introduced Anacardium excelsum (Kunth) Skeels, with a
sigmoid h it pedicel and 4 stamens, was collected April 1988
in flower and fruit from a 10 m tree in the Roseau Botanic
Garden (Whitefoord 6119).
Anacardium occidentale
Anacardium occidentale Linnaeus, 1753:383.-Little
1964:286, pl. l3O.-Mitchell& Mori, 1987:38.
& Wadsworth,
Cashew, wild almond, pomme noix.
Spreading tree; leaves obovate; flowers reddish.
Neotropics, often cultivated; apparently wild in Dominica
but sometimes cultivated for fruit: Calibishie (Hodge 3135),
Castle Bruce trail (Hodge 3344), Dublanc (Hodge 2519), Grand
Savanne (Hodge 3789), Hatton Garden (Hodge 3060), Mahaut
(Hodge 1307), Portsmouth (Hodge 660), Ridgefield (Hodge
2124), Salybia (Chambers 2633, Stehle 6410), between
Salisbury and Mero (Erst 1427, Stern & Wasshausen 2461).
The fleshy fruit pedicel is edible raw. The leathery fruit coat
has a caustic oil. The nut is edible after roasting (Hodge and
Taylor, 1957: 577).
Mangifera Linnaeus
Mangifera indica
Mangifera indica Linnaeus, 1753:200.-Little & Wadsworth, 1964:288, pl.
131.-Adjanohoun et al., 1985:45, pl. 11.
Mango.
Tree; leaves elongate; fruit with soft and juicy flesh.
Native of tropical Asia, widely cultivated for fruit; cultivated
in Dominica: Clarke Hall (Wasshausen & Ayensu 302), Lisdara
(Hodge 656), Marigot (Hodge 658), Milton (Hodge 2530).