''Annona acutiflora'' 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

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

, the German botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the inner petals which come to a sharp point ( in Latin).

Description

It is a tree reaching 3.7-5.5 meters in height. Its branches have numerous

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 leaves are crowded and arranged in two opposite rows on the branches. The membranous, oblong leaves are 5.4-13.5 by 2.7-5.4 centimeters. The leaves are smooth, dark green on their upper surfaces, and come to a tapering point at their tip. The leaves have 8-11 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its hairless petioles are 4.5-6.8 millimeters long and have a furrow on their upper surface. Its flower buds are covered in rust-colored hairs. The inflorescences are extra- axillary. When young the inflorescences are enclosed by two triangular, hairy, rust-colored

bract 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 ...

s. The inflorescences consist of 2-3 flowers on peduncles. Its flowers have a calyx with 3 triangular lobes that are 4 millimeters long and come to a point at their tip. It has 6 petals arranged in 2 rows of 3. The fleshy outer petals are white with a purple or red spot at their base. The outer petals are united at their base and 12-16 millimeters long. The tip of the outer petals comes to a tapering point. The oval-shaped inner petals are white with a purple spot at their base. The inner petals are 6-8 millimeters long and come to a sharp point at their tips. Its flowers have numerous short, yellow

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 have numerous

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

that are crowded together. Its oblong

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 ...

are covered with long soft hairs. Its short styles are topped by velvety stigmas. Its unripe fruit are bumpy, oval to cone shaped, reddish, covered in fine hairs.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''Annona acutiflora'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It grows in moist, forested areas and on coastal sandy areas.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15400177 acutiflora Species described in 1841 Flora of Colombia Flora of Panama Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius