Cecropia purpurascens C.C.Berg

Species Description

Tree, to 15 m tall. Leafy twigs 1-5 cm thick, green, hispidulous to hirtellous, with curved to uncinate hairs. Lamina (sub)coriaceous, ca. 20 × 20 cm to 65 × 65 cm, the segments (5-)6-7, the free parts of the upper segments ovate, the incisions down to 4/10-5/ 10; apices obtuse; upper surface scabrous, hispidulous; lower surface minutely puberulous on the veins, on the larger veins also sparsely hirtellous with uncinate hairs to subtomentose, with arachnoid indumentum in the areoles or sometimes also on the main veins; lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment 8-10 pairs, submarginally loop-connected, usually unbranched; petiole 20-50 cm long, puberulous to hirtellous, or sometimes also with arachnoid indumentum; trichilia fused, the brown indumentum intermixed with short white hairs; stipules 8-16 cm long, pale red-brown, hirsute outside, subsericeous inside. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, with the peduncle erect and the spikes pendulous; peduncle 6-9(-15) cm long, hispidulous to puberulous; spathe 12-15 cm long, grayish red to orange-red, densely hirtellous outside, glabrous inside; spikes 15-20, 713 × 0.3-0.4 cm, with stipes 1.2-1.5 cm long and minutely puberulous. Staminate flowers connate; perianth tubular, ca. 1.5 mm long, glabrous, the apex plane; filaments ± swollen; anthers ca. 0.5 mm long, appendiculate, detached at anthesis (?), reattached to the margins of the aperture by the appendages (?). Pistillate inflorescences in pairs, erect, deflexed in fruit; peduncle 5-10 cm long, hispidulous to puberulous; spathe 8-12 cm long, the color and indumentum as in the staminate inflorescence; spikes 4, 8-10 × 0.4 cm, to 13 × 1 cm in fruit; subsessile or stipes to 0.5 cm long and minutely puberulous; rachis hairy. Pistillate flowers: perianth ca. 2 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, also in the style channel inside, the apex truncate, muriculate; style long, ± S-shaped, minutely puberulous; stigma comose. Fruit oblongoid, ca. 2.5 mm long, ± tuberulate.

Discussion

This species is exceptional in the connate perianths of the staminate flowers. It shows affinities to Cecropia ficifolia and C. obtusa.

Authority

Berg, Cornelius C. & Franco Rosselli, Pilar. 2005. Cecropia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 94: 1--230. (Published by NYBG Press)