Roupala montana

Last updated

Roupala montana
Flickr - Joao de Deus Medeiros - Roupala montana.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Roupala
Species:
R. montana
Binomial name
Roupala montana
Synonyms
  • Embothrium pinnatumRuiz & Pavón
  • Roupala pyrifoliaKnight
  • Roupala diversifoliaR.Brown
  • Roupala mediaR.Brown
  • Roupala dentataR.Brown
  • Roupala complicataKunth in HBK
  • Roupala ovalisPohl
  • Roupala affinisPohl
  • Roupala macropodaKlotzsch & H.Karsten
  • Roupala brasiliensisKlotzsch var. macropodaMeisner
  • Roupala gardneriMeisner
  • Roupala gardneriMeisner var. angustataMeisner
  • Roupala gardneriMeisner var. dentataMeisner
  • Roupala gardneriMeisner var. integrifoliaMeisner
  • Roupala glabrataKlotzsch
  • Roupala martiiMeisner
  • Roupala martiiMeisner var. pinnataMeisner
  • Roupala martiiMeisner var. simplicifoliaMeisner
  • Roupala veraguensisKlotszch
  • Roupala ovalisKlotzsch ex Meisner
  • Roupala boissierianaMeisner
  • Roupala tomentosaPohl var. sellowiiMeisner
  • Roupala montana var. complicata(Kunth) Grisebach
  • Roupala montana var. heterophyllaGrisebach
  • Roupala borealisHemsley
  • Roupala acuminataGlaziou
  • Roupala darienensisPittier
  • Roupala panamensisPittier
  • Roupala discolorRusby
  • Roupala dissimilisPittier
  • Roupala repandaLundell
  • Roupala sphenophyllaDiels ex Sleumer
  • Roupala mayanaLundell
Roupala montana - MHNT Roupala montana MHNT.BOT.2010.6.36.jpg
Roupala montana - MHNT

Roupala montana is a species of shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae which is native to much of the Neotropics. It is a morphologically variable species with four recognised varieties. The species is used medicinally in Venezuela, and as an aphrodisiac in Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Contents

Description

The species ranges in size from shrubs to trees, usually 1–8 metres (3–26 ft) tall, but sometimes ranging up to 25 metres (82 ft) tall. The leaves are usually simple in adult plants, but are occasionally compound. [2] :131 It is an ochlospecies—a species that is highly variable morphologically, and that variability "cannot be satisfactorily accommodated within a formal classification" [3] —with a very wide distribution. Consequently, a large number of species and varieties have been described based on variations between collections. [2] :142

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1775. The name Roupala was based on roupale, a name used locally in French Guiana. [2] :117 The Latin specific epithet montana refers to mountains or coming from mountains. [4]

In their 2007 monograph, Ghillean Prance, Katie S. Edwards and coauthors recognised four named varieties within the species: R. montana var. montana (the "nominate" variety, based on Aublet's original description of the species), R. montana var. brasiliensis (Klotzsch) K.S.Edwards, R. montana var. impressiuscula (Mez) K.S.Edwards and R. montana var. paraensis (Sleumer) K.S.Edwards. [2] :131–146

Distribution

Roupala montana ranges from Mexico in the north, through Central America, to Trinidad and Tobago, and across South America to southern Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil. [2] :132

Uses

The species is used for fuel wood, high quality charcoal, medicinally and to a limited extent for woodworking and construction, [2] :135–188 The wood is commonly used for wood turning and sold in small spindles and blocks. Specialist exotic wood suppliers typically refer to this timber as Leopardwood but it can be confused with other species such as Lacewood (Panopsis -P. rubescens and P. sessilifolia). [5] The wood shows strong figuring in quartersawn sections. It turns well and gives a good finish.

Quartersawn lacewood and leopardwood showing characteristic figuring Lacewood.jpg
Quartersawn lacewood and leopardwood showing characteristic figuring

It is one of several species including Parinari campestris and Richeria grandis which known by the common name bois bandé. These species are reputed to have aphrodisiac properties. [6] :105

Related Research Articles

<i>Juniperus communis</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Taxus brevifolia</i> Species of conifer

Taxus brevifolia, the Pacific yew or western yew, is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It is a small evergreen conifer, thriving in moisture and otherwise tending to take the form of a shrub.

<i>Banksia nutans</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae native to the south coast of Western Australia

Banksia nutans, commonly known as nodding banksia, is a species of shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia in the genus Banksia. Growing to a metre (3 ft) tall, it has pale blue-green fine-leaved foliage and unusual purple-brown inflorescences which hang upside down rather than grow upright like most other banksias.

<i>Banksia sphaerocarpa</i> Shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae widely distributed across the southwest of Western Australia

Banksia sphaerocarpa, commonly known as the fox banksia or round-fruit banksia, is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus Banksia. It is generally encountered as a 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) high shrub, and is usually smaller in the north of its range. This species has narrow green leaves, and brownish, orange or yellow round flower spikes which may be seen from January to July. It is widely distributed across the southwest of Western Australia, growing exclusively in sandy soils. It is usually the dominant plant in scrubland or low woodland. It is pollinated by, and is a food source for, birds, mammals, and insects.

<i>Banksia armata</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia armata, commonly known as prickly dryandra, is a species of often sprawling shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has deeply serrated leaves with sharply pointed lobes and spikes of about 45 to 70 yellow flowers.

<i>Banksia fraseri</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia fraseri is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has hairy stems, broadly linear pinnatisect leaves with between four and eighteen sharply-pointed lobes on each side, between eighty and one hundred pink to cream-coloured flowers and wedge-shaped follicles.

<i>Banksia tenuis</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia tenuis is a species of shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has pinnatifid, serrated or smooth-edges leaves, golden brown and cream-coloured flowers in heads of about fifty-five and glabrous, egg-shaped follicles.

<i>Banksia spinulosa <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> collina</i> Variety of shrub in the family Proteaceae from the east coast of Australia

Banksia spinulosa var. collina is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales. Commonly known as Hill Banksia or Golden Candlesticks, it is a taxonomic variety of B. spinulosa. It is a popular garden plant widely sold in nurseries.

<i>Richeria grandis</i> Species of tree

Richeria grandis is a tree species in the family Phyllanthaceae which ranges from the Lesser Antilles to South America. The species is reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.

<i>Roupala</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae from Mexico to Argentina

Roupala is a Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family Proteaceae. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.

<i>Banksia spinulosa <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> spinulosa</i> Variety of shrub in the family Proteaceae from the east coast of Australia

Banksia spinulosa var. spinulosa is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.

<i>Banksia spinulosa <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> cunninghamii</i> Variety of shrub in the family Proteaceae from the east coast of Australia

Banksia spinulosa var. cunninghamii, sometimes given species rank as Banksia cunninghamii, is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Victoria and New South Wales. It is a fast-growing non-lignotuberous shrub or small tree infrequently cultivated.

<i>Bellendena</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Bellendena montana, commonly known as mountain rocket, is a species of low-growing multi-stemmed shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to high-altitude subalpine and alpine regions in Tasmania, Australia. The prominent white flower spikes appear over summer, followed by small bright red or yellow fruit in late summer and autumn.

<i>Roystonea oleracea</i> Species of palm

Roystonea oleracea, sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly naturalized in Guyana and on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

<i>Heliconia psittacorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Heliconia psittacorum is a perennial herb native to the Caribbean and South America. It is considered native to French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. It is reportedly naturalized in Gambia, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica and the Lesser Antilles. It is often cultivated as a tropical ornamental plant in regions outside its native range.

<i>Aechmea dichlamydea</i> Species of flowering plant

Aechmea dichlamydea is a species of bromeliad in the genus Aechmea. This species is native to Venezuela and to Trinidad and Tobago.

<i>Oreocallis</i> Monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae from Peru and Ecuador

Oreocallis is a South American plant genus in the family Proteaceae. There is only one species, Oreocallis grandiflora, which is native to mountainous regions in Peru and Ecuador.

<i>Agastachys</i> Monotypic genus of flowering shrub in the family Proteaceae

Agastachys odorata, commonly known as the white waratah or fragrant candlebush, is the sole member of the genus Agastachys in the protea family. It is an evergreen shrub to small tree and is endemic to the heaths and button grass sedgelands of western Tasmania.

Parinari campestris is a species of tree in the plant family Chrysobalanaceae which is native to Trinidad, the Guianas, Venezuela and Brazil. It is reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.

References

  1. Prance, G. (2020). "Roupala montana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T61956965A61956975. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T61956965A61956975.en . Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ghillean T. Prance; Vanessa Plana; Katie S. Edwards & R. Toby Pennington (2007). "Proteaceae". Flora Neotropica. 100 (1): 1–218. JSTOR   4393956.
  3. Cronk, Q.C.B. (1998). "The Ochlospecies Concept". In C.R. Huxley; J.M. Lock; D.E. Cutler (eds.). Chorology, Taxonomy and Ecology of the Floras of Africa and Madagascar (PDF). Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. pp. 155–170.
  4. Archibald William Smith A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins , p. 239, at Google Books
  5. "Leopardwood | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood)" . Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  6. Winer, Lise (2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.