Cecropia pastasana
Type
Type. Ecuador. Pastaza: Mera, ca. 1000 m, 16 Nov 1938 ([male]), Schultze-Rhonhof 2996 (holotype: B, destroyed, duplicates not traced; here replaced by: Ecuador. Morona-Santiago: Between Plan del Milagro & Limón (Gral. Plaza], ca. 1500 m, 30 Jan 1981 [male], Berg 1236 [neotype: QCA; isoneotypes: AAU, BG, COL, GB, MO, NY, U]).
Synonyms
Cecropia sucrensis Cuatrec.
Species Description
Tree, to 25 m tall. Leafy twigs (1-)2-5(-8) cm thick, (dark) red-brown or greenish, sometimes with a thin bluish waxy layer, sparsely puberulous to strigillose to subglabrous, usually with ± dense brown pluricellular hairs; pith scarce and whitish, sometimes copious and brown. Lamina chartaceous to subcoriaceous, ca. (20 × 20 cm to) 35 × 35 cm to 85 × 85 cm, the segments 7-9(-10), the free parts of upper segments ovate or elliptic to obovate, the incisions in the upper part of the lamina down to 3/10-6/10 or down to 8/10, in the lower part less deeply incised, entire or lobate; apices obtuse to rounded to acute or to subacuminate; upper surface scabridulous to almost smooth, puberulous to hispidulous to hirtellous to strigillose and initially with ± dense to sparse to arachnoid indumentum; lower surface hirtellous to subtomentose to tomentellous or to minutely puberulous on the veins, with arachnoid indumentum in the areoles, rather sparse and short, or along the margin only; lateral veins 7-12 or 12-16 pairs, submarginally loop-connected, some or most of them branched; petiole (10-)20-75 cm long, with dense to sparse brown pluricellular hairs or also minutely puberulous, occasionally with a thin bluish waxy layer; trichilia on the abaxially bulging (subscrotiform) base of the petiole, fused or separate, the brown indumentum intermixed with short to rather long whitish to brownish (unicellular) hairs; stipules ca. 10-25, caducous, dull dark red, red-brown, pinkish, or yellowish green, with dense brown pluricellular hairs or also minutely appressed-puberulous outside, densely to sparsely hirtellous to subsericeous inside. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, often subtended by caducous bracts, to 8 cm long, the peduncle erect and the spikes pendulous; peduncle 4.5-9 cm long, densely to sparsely subhispid to hirtellous to subhirsute or (sub)glabrous; spathe 15-32 cm long, dull red (to pinkish) or yellowish green (with longitudinal red stripes), with dense brown pluricellular hairs or also minutely puberulous outside, (sparsely) hairy inside; spikes 10-25, (6-) 12-28 × 0.3-0.5 cm, sessile or with stipes to 0.3 cm long and sparsely tomentose; rachis hairy. Staminate flowers: perianth tubular, 0.8-1.5 mm long, glabrous, the apex slightly convex to plane; filaments flat; anthers 0.5-0.6 mm long, appendiculate, at anthesis detached, remaining attached to the filament by 2 filiform connections between the connective and the upper margin of the filament (?). Pistillate inflorescences in pairs or solitary, often subtended by caducous bracts, to 8 cm long, the peduncle erect to deflexed and the spikes erect to ± pendulous; peduncle 4-10 cm long, densely to sparsely hirtellous to hirsute and with dense brown pluricellular hairs or (sub)-glabrous; spathe 10-17 cm long, the color and indumentum as in the staminate inflorescence; spikes (2-) 4-6(-7), 10-16 × ca. 0.4-0.8 cm, to 28 × 1.3 cm in fruit, sessile to subsessile (or with stipes to 0.8 cm long), glabrous. Pistillate flowers: perianth 1.5-2 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, also in the style channel inside, the apex slightly convex, smooth or sparsely granulate style long, straight, minutely puberulous; stigma comose. Fruit ellipsoid to oblongoid, ca. 1.5 mm long, smooth.
Discussion
Considering the similarities in many characters and similarities in the variation patterns, this species appears to be very closely related to Cecropia andina. It can be distinguished by the consistent presence of trichilia on a subscrotiform base of the petiole, often also by the presence of indumentum (including often dense brown pluricellular hairs!) on the leafy twigs, petioles, and stipules, the more or less clearly whitish upper surface of the lamina, and only occasional presence of a waxy layer on leafy twigs and petioles. In the northern part of the range of this species, almost coinciding with the range of C. andina, this species occurs at elevations to ca. 1500 m, below the elevational range of C. andina (1500-2300 m). In the southern part of the distribution range, C. pastasana can be found at elevations to 2300 m. In the northern part of the species range, the arachnoid indumentum on the upper surface is rather thin and the leaves look whitish only if seen from some distance, whereas in the southern part of the species range (Huánuco and Pasco) they are more often clearly whitish above. In the northern part of the species range, the incisions of the lamina are mostly down to 5/10 or 6/10 and the number of pairs of lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment is 7-12, but in the southern part of the range the incisions are often deeper, down to 8/ 10, and the number of pairs of lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment is 12-16.
Cecropia pastasana is the white- or whitishleaved species occurring on the eastern slopes of the Andes, in the northern part of its range (southern Colombia and Ecuador), at elevations below that of the white-leaved C. telenitida, and in the southern part (Peru) below that of the white-leaved C. albicans. Ants are usually present, but they are not always of the genus Azteca.
Authority
Berg, Cornelius C. & Franco Rosselli, Pilar. 2005. Cecropia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 94: 1--230. (Published by NYBG Press)
From Colombia (Caquetá) to Peru (Pasco).
In premontane to montane forest, at ca. 900-2300 m.