''Saurauia copelandii'' 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

Actinidiaceae The Actinidiaceae are a small family of flowering plants. The family has three genera and about 360 species and is a member of the order Ericales. Distribution They are temperate and subtropical woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native to Asia ( ...

family. It is native to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer (June 14, 1870 – 1942) was an American botanist and plant collector.. He was mostly active in the Philippines, his collections being described as new species by both himself and other botanists. The Japanese sent him ...

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

Edwin Copeland Edwin Bingham Copeland (September 30, 1873 – March 16, 1964) was an American botanist and agriculturist. He is known for founding the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture at Los Baños, Laguna and for being one of the America's ...

, another American botanist who collected many botanical samples in the Philippines.

Description

It is a tree reaching 7 meters in height. Its oblong leathery leaves vary in size, but are generally 30 by 10 centimeters and their tips are rounded. The leaves are dark green on their upper side, paler green below, and smooth on both surfaces. The leaves have 12-17 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. The leaf margins are serrated toward their tips. Its petioles are 1 centimeter long and have a furrow on their upper side.

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s are axillary and organized on 1-3 peduncles 5-8 centimeters in length. Its flowers are pendulous and have a 2 centimeter long specialized leaf, called a

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. Its flowers have 4 rigid, green

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, in 2 rows of 2. The outer pair are thick, oval-shaped and 1.5 centimeters long. The inner pair alternate with the outer, are thinner and elliptical. The flowers have white corollas that are 2.5 centimeters long with 5 lobes; each lobe is notched at the top. Its flowers have numerous

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 that are 5 millimeters long. Each flower has a 4-chambered

ovary 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. ...

. Each ovary contains numerous

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

s. Its flowers have 4 curved styles that are 7.5 millimeters long, and fused at their base for the last 2 millimeters.

Reproductive Biology

The pollen of ''S. copelandii'' is shed as permanent tetrads.Jagudilla-Bulalacao, L (1997) Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Volume 1, Taguig, Metro Manila: Department of Science and Technology, Special Projects Unit, Technology Application and Promotion Institute.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q17250977 copelandii Plants described in 1915 Taxa named by Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer