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17. XYLOPIA L., Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 1250. 1759.
Shrubs or trees usually with long, slender, often horizontal branches; leaves distichous, presenting a 2-ranked appearance; flowers solitary or fasciculate in the leaf axils or sometimes produced on old branches or from the woody trunk, sessile or shortly pedicellate. Flowers bisexual; receptacle conic, excavate in the middle. Sepals small, valvate in bud, free or connate into a cupular calyx; petals 6, biseriately valvate, thick, linear-oblong, ligulate, or deltoid, connivent in bud, spreading at anthesis. Stamens numerous, anthers locellate, the connective truncate-expanded above the anther; staminodes present in a few species. Carpels few to numerous, deeply sunken in the center of the receptacle; ovules lateral, 2--6; styles elongate. Monocarps free, sickle-shaped, clavate, or globose-rhomboid, few-seeded, eventually dehiscent. Seeds in 1 or 2 rows, arillate.
Central America, West Indies, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Old World tropics; ca. 150 species, 18 in Venezuela, 16 of these in the flora area.
After this treatment was completed, an additional species, Xylopia pittieri Diels, was identified from Knab 31 (MO), from the Río Nichare basin in Bolívar state. This species keys out close to X. amazonica, but has more oblong, multi-seeded monocarps 1--2 cm long. A possible additional species, represented by Aymard et al. 9885 (MO, PORT; from Amazonas state, 3 km south of El Porvenir near the Río Casiquiare) is a 35 m tall tree that has tentatively been identified as Xylopia polyantha R.E. Fr., but more material is needed to confirm this.
1. Leaves rounded or broadly obtuse at the apex...2
1. Leaves usually distinctly narrowed to an acute, acuminate, or caudate apex, the apex sometimes terminating in an obtuse tip...6
2(1). Leaves 2--3 cm wide, with an angular projection on the margin near the blade base; outer petals sparsely pubescent without...X. plowmanii
2. Leaves 0.6--1.2 cm wide, usually without the above kind of projection on the blade margin; outer petals densely sericeous without...3
3(2). Largest leaves (1.5--)3--3.5(--4) cm long, scarcely or not emarginate at apex, the apex with a conspicuously hairy tuft...X. parviflora
3. Largest leaves 3--9 cm long, emarginate and generally without a hairy tuft at the apex...4
4(3). Largest leaves 7--9 cm long, the venation inconspicuous on both surfaces...X. spruceana
4. Largest leaves 3--6 cm long with elevated reticulate venation on one or both surfaces...5
5(4). Pedicels glabrous or sparsely sericeous; sepals subglabrous; petals to 16 mm long; leaves broadest below the middle, long-attenuate apically; carpels ca. 8; leaves papery with prominent venation on both surfaces...X. emarginata
5. Pedicels densely reddish brown-pubescent; sepals densely sericeous without; petals ca. 10 mm long; leaves neither broadest below the middle nor long-attenuate apically; carpels ca. 12; leaves char-taceous...X. venezuelana
6(1). Flowers emerging directly from the trunk, not from the leaf axils...X. benthamii
6. Flowers principally or entirely in leaf axils...7
7(6). Young stems, lower surfaces of leaves (especially along the midvein), calyx, and monocarps densely villous or tomentose with soft, erect to spreading, rust-brown hairs 1--2 mm long...8
7. Without the above combination of characters...9
8(7). Leaves 6--10 × 2--4 cm, often cordate at the base; calyx ca. 2 cm long...X. crinita
8. Leaves much larger than above, ca. 16--23 × 5--7 cm, not cordate at the base; calyx ca. 1 cm long...X. excellens
9(7). Sepals connate to above the middle or nearly connate throughout their length, forming a cup-shaped calyx; carpels 15--45...10
9. Sepals free, or connate only to the middle; carpels 3--12...11
10(9). Leaves gradually narrowed to a long acute or acuminate apex; secondary and tertiary venation usually evident on both sides (at least in the dried state); largest leaves mainly 8--15 × (1.5--)2.5--4.5 cm; petals 25--30 mm long; calyx 4--5 mm long, conspicuously appressed-pubescent...X. aromatica
10. Leaves abruptly shortly and obtusely acute or shortly narrowed at the apex; secondary and tertiary venation inconspicuous; largest leaves mainly 5--8(--10) × 1.5--2(--3) cm; petals 15--20 mm long; calyx 2--3 mm long, sparsely appressed-pubescent...X. nitida
11(9). Pedicels glabrous; calyx mainly glabrous without except for a sericeous apex...X. ligustrifolia
11. Pedicels and calyx ± densely or sparsely pubescent...12
12(11). Largest leaves mainly 8--14 cm long; petals 15--18 mm long...13
12. Largest leaves mainly 3--8 cm long; petals 8--12 mm long...14
13(12). Largest leaves mainly 2.5--3.5 cm wide; lower surface of leaves with an evident reticulation not obscured by the indument...X. calophylla
13. Largest leaves mainly 1.5--2.5 cm wide; lower surface of leaves densely and finely sericeous with indument uniformly overlying the surface and often obscuring the venation...X. sericea
14(12). Young branches with elongate, loosely ascending pilose indument; leaves firmly chartaceous or subcoriaceous, the lower surface with densely and finely sericeous tomentum overlying the surface and often ob-scuring the venation; monocarps 10--13 mm long...X. frutescens
14. Young branches with short appressed indument; leaves papery or chartaceous, the lower surface scarcely to densely appressed- or sericeous-pubescent, the venation often prominent; monocarps 6--9 mm long...15
15(14). Leaves distinctly acuminate at the apex...X. amazonica
15. Leaves acute at the apex...X. discreta