Cecropia utcubambana Cuatrec.

Species Description

Tree, to 15(-25) m tall. Leafy twigs 1.5-3.5(-5) cm thick, green (or partly bluish), puberulous to sub-hispidulous with curved to uncinate hairs. Lamina chartaceous to subcoriaceous, ca. (10 × 10 cm to) 25 × 25 cm to 60 × 60 cm, the segments 7-9(-11), the free part of upper segments oblong to subobovate or to obovate, the incisions down to 5/10-6(-7/1 )0; apices obtuse to short-acuminate; upper surface scabrous to scabridulous (to almost smooth), puberulous to hispidulous (to hirtellous); lower surface minutely puberulous, mostly also with longer uncinate to straight hairs on the veins, with arachnoid indumentum in the areoles or (almost) confined to the margin; lateral veins in the free part of the midsegment 9-16 pairs, submarginally loop-connected, some or most of them branched; petiole 15-50 cm long, green or red-brown, minutely puberulous; trichilia fused, the brown indumentum intermixed with sparse, (rather) short, white hairs; stipules 4-12 cm long, red-brown to brown, dark red to purplish, or greenish, minutely puberulous or on the ribs sparsely hirtellous outside, sparsely to densely sericeous with white (or brownish) hairs inside. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, pendulous; peduncle (6-) 10-21 cm long, puberulous and with very sparse arachnoid hairs; spathe 7-26 (-32) cm long, yellowish brown to greenish, dark red to orange, or grayish, puberulous to sparsely strigillose to subhirtellous or also with sparse to dense arachnoid indumentum outside, (almost) glabrous inside; spikes 4-7(-15), (4-) 10-22(-31) × 0.2-0.5 (-0.8) cm, sessile (or with stipes 0.8-1.8 cm long and hairy); rachis glabrous or sparsely hairy. Staminate flowers: perianth tubular, 0.8-1.5 mm long, with short hairs just below or also on the margin of the apex, the apex slightly convex to plane; filaments flat; anthers 0.4-0.7 mm long, not appendiculate, detached and remaining attached by 2 filiform connections between the connective and the upper margin of the filament. Pistillate inflorescences in pairs, pendulous; peduncle 15-50 cm long, puberulous to subhispidulous; spathe 9-20 cm long, the color and indumentum as in the staminate inflorescence; spikes 4-5(-6), 10-20 × 0.8-1 cm, to 35 × 1.2 cm in fruit, (sub)sessile; rachis hairy to subglabrous. Pistillate flowers: perianth ca. 2 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, also below the style channel inside, the apex sparsely to densely muriculate; style rather short; stigma penicillate. Fruit ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm long, smooth, the upper and lower part dark brown, the middle part pale brown.

Discussion
Cecropia utcubambana and C. puberula, considered to be morphologically, ecologically, and geographically distinct (Berg & Franco Rosselli, 1996), had to be merged as recent collecting reduced the differences considerably. In the northern part of the distribution range, the species is submontane and the arachnoid indumentum is confined to the margin of the lamina. In the southern part of the range, the species is a lowland element, and it often has arachnoid indumentum in the areoles of the lamina beneath. The species has a green morph and a red one (with red to red-brown stipules, spathes, petioles, and peduncles). This species shows strong affinities to C. latiloba. It differs from the latter in the indumentum of the stipules, the indumentum on the veins at the lower surface of the lamina, and the lateral veins being submarginally loop-connected instead of marginally. It is clearly distinct from C. latiloba in its ecology, as it is a true upland species. In its habit, the species resembles C. putumayonis, as briefly discussed under the latter. The pistillate inflorescences with long peduncles (and spikes) of one of the Ruiz & Pavón s.n., on sheets at B and MA, indicated as C. peltata and in G without name, might belong to C. puberula. Matching leaves have not been found among the Ruiz & Pavón collections.

Authority

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