Cecropia albicans Trécul

Species Description

Tree, to 20 m tall; branches (very) short and departing at angles of ca. 90° at the apex of the tree or longer and then departing in acute angles at the lower part of the tree. Leafy twigs 3-10 cm thick, blackish or reddish to green and then with a bluish waxy layer, densely (sub)hirsute or (sub)glabrous. Lamina coriaceous, ca. 25 × 25 cm to 95 × 95 cm; the segments 11-13, the upper ones in deeply incised laminas oblong (to subovate), the incisions down to 4/10 or to 8/10; apices acute to subacuminate; upper surface smooth, subglabrous or with ± dense arachnoid indumentum; lower surface rather sparsely to densely tomentose on the veins, arachnoid indumentum in the areoles and on the smaller veins or also on the main veins; lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment 10-16 pairs, submarginally loop-connected, in the lower part often not distinctly so, often ± branched; petiole ca. 30-75 cm long, puberulous and with sparse to rather dense arachnoid indumentum or subglabrous; trichilia absent or present and fused, the brown indumentum intermixed with short to rather long white to pale brown (unicellular) hairs; stipules ca. (10-)25-45 cm long, red to pinkish, sometimes with a bluish waxy layer, with only moniliform brown pluricellular hairs outside, glabrous inside; terminal buds inflated. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, erect, usually subtended by pinkish or greenish, caducous bracts to 4 cm long, attached at or ca. 1 cm above the base of the peduncle; peduncle 3-7 cm long, (sub)glabrous; spathe ca. 4-10 cm long, yellowish to pinkish, with only moniliform brown pluricellular hairs outside, glabrous inside; spikes (7-) 15-24, 3.59 × 0.3-0.7 cm, sessile or with stipes 0.2-0.3 cm long and sparsely hairy; rachis hairy. Staminate flowers: perianth tubular, 1-1.5 mm long, sparsely and minutely puberulous on the lower part of the apex, the apex plane, ± clearly 2-lobed; filaments flat; anthers ca. 0.8 mm long, appendiculate, detached at anthesis, remaining attached to the filament by 2 filiform connections between the connective and the upper margin of the filament. Pistillate inflorescences in pairs, erect, usually subtended by pinkish, caducous bracts to 4 cm long, attached at or ca. 1 cm above the base of the peduncle; peduncle 1.5-2.5 (or to 14) cm long, subglabrous; spathe 5-11 cm long, the color and indumentum as in the staminate inflorescence; spikes 4-7(-9), 4-10 × 1-1.2 cm, to 15 × 2 cm in fruit, sessile; rachis glabrous. Pistillate flowers: perianth ca. 2 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, also in the lower part of the style channel inside, the apex ± convex, punctate to submuriculate; style rather long, straight, unilaterally hairy; stigma comose. Fruit oblongoid, ca. 2.5 mm long, ± tuberculate.

Discussion

The material collected in Pasco, matching the type material, has been made from trees with the typical Cecropia tree shape, although the primary branches are short and do not branch, the stems are broadened toward the apex, the leafy twigs are densely hairy (and blackish), the lamina of adult trees is incised <5/10, and trichilia are present. Berg et al. 1800 from San Martin largely matches that from Pasco, but Young 4071 from San Martin matches the Huánuco material. The material collected in Huánuco taken from trees more or less fastigiate in shape, with lateral branches departing (at one to three levels) in acute angles from the lower part of the stem, the stem is not broadened toward the apex, the leafy twigs are glabrous with a bluish waxy layer, the lamina is incised >5/10, and trichilia are absent. In other features the two types are largely similar, occur at similar elevations, and cooccur with C. tacuna both in Pasco and Huánuco.

Young 4071 also has glabrous leafy twigs and also lacks trichilia. Juvenile specimens of the Pasco type has laminas with incisions to 9/10, the free part of the midsegment has ca. 17-20 pairs of lateral veins, the dense subhirsute indumentum found in the leafy twigs occurs also on the petioles and on the main veins of the lamina beneath, and the stipules are pinkish. The peduncle of the pistillate inflorescence is usually very short (to 2.5 cm), but in Young 4071 the peduncles are much longer (to 9 cm). The trees in Pasco are usually inhabited by ants, those in Huánuco not.