Cecropia velutinella Diels

Species Description

Tree, to 25 m tall. Leafy twigs 5-13 cm thick, dark brown to black, white-hirtellous and with dark brown to black pluricellular hairs. Lamina subcoriaceous, ca. 50 × 50 cm to 130 × 130 cm, the segments 14-20 (-24), lanceolate to linear, the incisions down to the petiole; apices acute; upper surface smooth or scabridulous, minutely puberulous and initially with sparse brown pluricellular hairs; lower surface with very dense arachnoid indumentum, on the main veins (initially) also with brown pluricellular hairs; lateral veins in the midsegment 50-80 pairs, submarginally loop-connected, mostly unbranched; petiole 30-100 cm long, with dense arachnoid indumentum and with brown pluricellular hairs, the upper part (pale brown) hirsute to subvillous; trichilia fused, the dark brown indumentum intermixed with short grayish hairs; stipules 25-60 cm long, white to brownish, with dense arachnoid indumentum, intermixed with brown pluricellular hairs outside, dark red, with very short hairs on the ribs or glabrous inside. Staminate inflorescences in pairs, the peduncle erect and the spikes pendulous (?); peduncle 7-14 cm long, brown-puberulous to- subhispidulous, toward the apex hirtellous to setulose, also with arachnoid indumentum and dense brown pluricellular hairs; spathe not seen; spikes ca. 8-10, 12-20 × ca. 0.3 cm, with stipes 0.7-1 cm long and sparsely hirtellous and with dense arachnoid indumentum; rachis glabrous. Staminate flowers: perianth tubular, 1-1.5 mm long, with dense arachnoid indumentum below the apex, the apex muriculate; filaments flat; anthers ca. 0.6 mm long, at anthesis detached, reattached to the margins of the aperture by the appendages (?). Pistillate inflorescences solitary, erect to deflexed; peduncle 7-14 cm long, dark green, with sparse arachnoid indumentum and toward the base and apex brownish-subhispidulous; spathes not seen; spikes 4-5, ca. 25-45 × 1-1.5 cm in fruit, ± curved; rachis subglabrous. Pistillate flowers: perianth ca. 1.5-2 mm long, with arachnoid indumentum below the apex outside, also the lower part of the style channel inside, the apex almost plane, muriculate; style rather long, straight to slightly curved, muriculate; stigma comose. Fruit ellipsoid to subovoid, ca. 2 mm long, slightly tuberculate, dark brown.

Discussion
This spectacular submontane species can be easily recognized by the numerous narrow leaf segments with more lateral veins than in any other Cecropia species. Mullerian bodies are abundantly produced, but the trees are probably rarely inhabited by ants. The absence of ants may be related to the fact that the stems of young trees are covered by densely brown-hirsute indumentum and (sub)persistent stipules covered with very dense and matted, white-arachnoid indumentum mixed with filiform brown-pluricellular hairs.

Authority

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