''Xylopia parviflora'' 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

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Richard Spruce Richard Spruce (10 September 1817 – 28 December 1893) was an English botanist specializing in bryology. One of the great Victorian botanical explorers, Spruce spent 15 years exploring the Amazon from the Andes to its mouth, and was one of t ...

, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its small flowers ( in Latin), though he did not specifically state their size.

Description

It is a tree reaching 18.3 meters in height. Its branches form a dense pyramid-shaped profile. Its branches are

tetrapinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

- they have branchlets that are themselves triply branched. The branches are covered in reddish-brown hairs. Its lance-shaped, rigidly membranous leaves are 2.5-3 by 0.7-0.8 centimeters. The upper surfaces of the leaves are dark green and hairless; the lower surfaces are covered in white, silky hairs that lay flat against surface. The bases of the leaves are pointed. The tips of the leaves are shallowly pointed. Its hairy petioles are 1 millimeter long, with a groove on their upper side. Its flowers occur on solitary peduncles that are 1-2 millimeters long and have a pair of

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. Its flowers have 3 triangular

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 ...

that are 1.5 by 2 millimeters. The sepals have pointed tips. The sepals have reddish-brown hairs on their outer surfaces and are hairless on the inside. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The outer petals are 5 millimeters long, pale on their outer surfaces, and covered in reddish, silky hairs. The flowers have

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 ...

with yellow-brown hairs.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''Xylopia parviflora'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It has been observed growing at elevations of 200-650 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q13190266 Plants described in 1860 Flora of Bolivia Flora of Brazil Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of French Guiana Flora of Peru Flora of Venezuela Taxa named by Richard Spruce parviflora