''Duckeanthus'' is a genus 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 family

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 ...

. 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 ...

. It contains a single species, ''Duckeanthus grandiflorus''.

Robert Elias Fries (Klas) Robert Elias Fries (11 July 1876, Uppsala – 29 January 1966, Stockholm), the youngest son of Theodor Magnus Fries (1832–1913) and grandson of Elias Magnus Fries(1794–1878) and an expert on mushrooms. A Swedish botanist who was a mem ...

, the Swedish botanist who first formally described it, named it in honor of

Adolpho Ducke Adolpho Ducke (October 19, 1876 – January 5, 1959), (also referred to as Adolfo Ducke and occasionally misspelled "Duque"), was a notable entomologist, botanist and ethnographer specializing in Amazonia. According to family records, he was an et ...

who collected the specimen he examined, and its large (''grandis'' in Latin) flowers.

Description

It is a small tree. Its mature branches are smooth. Its

internodes A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrien ...

are 3–5 centimeters long. Its hairless petioles are 5–7 millimeters long and 3 millimeters thick and have a deep groove on their upper surfaces. Its papery, elliptical leaves are 19–23 by 7.5–10.5 centimeters. The leaves have bright green hairless upper surfaces and yellow-green hairless lower surfaces. The tips of the leaves come to an abrupt tapering point about 2 centimeters long. Its leaves have about 10 secondary veins emanating from either side of their midribs. The secondary veins arch toward the leaf tip and join one another 4–6 millimeters before reaching the margin of the leaf. Its inflorescences have 1–2 flowers and are emerge from extra- axillary positions. Its white flowers are on 2 centimeter long, erect, hairless, warty

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

. The pedicels have a 2 millimeter long

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 ...

at their base and about halfway up their length. Its round to triangular

sepal 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 ...

s are 15 by 15 millimeters and come to a point at their tip. The sepals are hairless on both sides, but are often warty. It has 6 fleshy petals in two rows of 3. Its outer petals are 3 by 2 centimeters, have silky hairs on their inner surfaces, and come to a shallow point at their tip. Its rhomboidal to oval inner petals are 4.5–5 by 2.5–3 centimeters and covered in sparse hairs. Its 2.5-3 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 form an androecium 1.5 centimeters in diameter. The connective tissue between the lobes of

anthers 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 filam ...

is overgrown to form a flat cap covered in short hairs. Its narrow, oval

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 1.5 millimeters long and covered in rust-colored hairs. Its bristly stigmas are 1.5 millimeters long.

Reproductive biology

The orange pollen of ''D. grandiflorus'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in wet forest habitats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15961892, from2=Q8770902 Flora of Brazil Plants described in 1934 Monotypic magnoliid genera Annonaceae Annonaceae genera Taxa named by Robert Elias Fries