Alfaroa costaricensis
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Alfaroa costaricensis is a Central American tree from the walnut family(Juglandaceae).
features
Alfaroa costaricensis grows as a tree or large shrub. It grows to a height of 23 m with a diameter of up to 90 cm at chest height. Buttress roots are small or absent. The bark is up to 1 cm thick, inside pink with white stripes or, more rarely, light orange. Buds and shoots are covered with long (1.5 mm), coarse hairs , which become fewer over time.
The leaves are mostly opposite, less often alternate or whorled. The petiole is 0.4 to 2 cm long and hairy, the rachis 10 to 15, rarely up to 30 cm long and also hairy. The 12 to 24 leaflets are opposite or almost opposite, the lower ones are noticeably reduced. The leaf margin usually entire, sometimes serrated. The leaf margin is roughly sawn on root shoots and young plants. The upper side of the leaf is waxy green and bare with the exception of the ribs, the underside is dull green. Young shoots are formed in January at the beginning of the dry season and are initially red.
The female inflorescences are terminal on this year's shoots, are stiff and upright. Male catkins or single flowers can stand at their base . They have up to 65 flowers in one spike, which dry up several weeks after flowering. The male kittens are alternate or opposite, up to 16 cm long. Up to 10 kittens stand together, up to 40 or 50 can form a contracted, terminal panicle . Androgynous panicles consisting of a central female ear and lateral, 1 to 4 short male catkins are rare.
The male flowers are clearly stalked 1 to 2 (rarely 8) mm long. They stand in three-lobed bracts . They have 4 to 7 flower segments (sepals and bracts ), which are bent back to maturity and do not envelop the stamens. There are 6 to 11 stamens . The pollen grains are approximately triangular in polar view, their diameter is around 25 micrometers. The female flowers are sessile. Your bract is three-lobed with a clear central lobe. The four calyx lobes are bent back and reveal the scar . The stylus is extended biramose. The scar lobes are round to horseshoe-shaped and bright red when ripe. The main flowering time is in February.
The fruit is ellipsoidal to ovate, rarely compressed. It is up to 3 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. The calyx forms a 2 to 5 mm long beak and remains on the fruit. The shell of the nut is largely missing and is less than 0.5 mm thick. The nutshell is very thin, less than 1 mm, and gristly.
The first two leaves of the seedling that appear outdoors are opposite, compound, and roughly serrated. The first subsequent leaves are alternate, pinnate and serrate. Later, the leaves become opposite and predominantly with entire margins.
distribution
The area of Alfaroa costaricensis extends from Mexico to Panama . In the past it was quite a common species in the woods.
The species grows on slopes with a slope of at least 5% at heights of 600 to 2200 m. The areas have annual rainfall of 1500 to 2500 mm and minimum temperatures of 15 to 20 ° C.
use
The wood has a pink grain, but is difficult to work with. It is used for furniture, posts, charcoal and as lumber.
supporting documents
- E. Arnaez, I. Moreira: Alfaroa costaricensis . In: Tropical Tree Seed Manual Part II. Species Descriptions , USDA Forest Service, 2003, pp. 287-288. (pdf) ( Memento from April 16, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- Donald E. Stone: Juglandaceae , in: William Burger (Ed.): Flora Costaricensis , Fieldiana Botany, Volume 40, 1977, pp. 28-53, ISSN 0015-0746
Web links
- Type herbarium in the New York Botanical Garden