''Annona acuminata'' is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
in the
Annonaceae
The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...
family. It is native to
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
, and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.
William Edwin Safford
William Edwin Safford (December 14, 1859, Chillicothe, Ohio – January 10, 1926) was an American botanist, ethnologist, and educator employed by the U.S. Navy and federal government.
Safford graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880 and pursu ...
, the American botanist who first
formally described the species, named it after the tapering ( in Latin) tips of its leaves.
[
]
Description
It is a tree reaching 5 to 7 meters in height. Its branches have numerous red-brown lenticel
A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...
s. Its oblong, membranous leaves are 6.5-8 by 1.8-2.2 centimeters and smooth on both surfaces. Its leaves taper to a distinctive tip which at its apex is rounded. The leaves have 10-12 pairs of secondary veins emanating from its midrib. Its petioles are 1.5-3 millimeters long. Flowers are solitary on 16-16 millimeter long peduncles. The peduncles, which are extra- axillary, have two distinctive, 2-4 millimeter long bracteoles
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
, one at their base, and one near their middle. Its sepals
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
are partially fused to form a broad-based calyx with three triangular tips. The outside of the calyx is hairy and the inside has stiff rust-colored hairs at its base. Its flowers have numerous 2.5 millimeter long stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s. Its flowers numerous ovaries
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. T ...
arranged in a disc, each with a 1.5 millimeter long, club-shaped style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
.
Reproductive biology
The bright orange-yellow pollen of ''Annona acuminata'' is shed as permanent tetrads.
Uses
Extracts of bioactive molecules from its tissues have been reported to contain aporphine
Aporphine is an alkaloid with the chemical formula . The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) name of aporphine is ''6-methyl-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo e,guinoline.'' It is the core chemical substructure of the aporphine ...
derivatives.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15400075
acuminata
Plants described in 1913
Flora of Colombia
Flora of Panama
Taxa named by William Edwin Safford