18. Sphyrospermum POEPPIG & ENDLICHER Nov. Gen. Sp. Pl. 1: 4 (1835). --Lectotype:
Sphyrospermum buxifolium POEPPIG & ENDLICHER.
Sophoclesia KLOTZSCH, Linnaea 24: 15, 29 (1851). Type: not cited.

Reference: SMITH, A. C., The genera Sphyrospermum and Disterigma. Brittonia 1(4): 203--232 (1933).

Slender, often straggly, epiphytic or terrestrial shrubs with pendent branches. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, sometimes very thickly so, often brittle, usually small and obscurely nerved, subsessile. Inflorescence axillary, flowers solitary or rarely paired in axils of the leaves; pedicel slender, cernuous, distally swollen; bracteoles 2, deciduous. Flowers 4--5-merous, without odor; aestivation apparently valvate; calyx continuous with the pedicel; hypanthium subglobose or obconic; limb suberect; corolla campanulate, cylindric (tubular), to infundibuliform; stamen usually as many or twice as many as the corolla lobes, equal or alternately slightly unequal; filaments distinct, usually longer than anther, lacking spurs, usually somewhat sigmoid at the base; anther inserted dorsally near base, membranous, smooth, lacking disintegration tissue; tubules distinct, as long as or longer than the thecae, dehiscing by oval clefts; pollen lacking viscin threads; nectariferous disc annular-pulvinate, but not apparent; ovary inferior, 4--5-locular, the partitions soon decaying; stigma truncate; style filiform, about as long as corolla. Fruit a subglobose or ellipsoid, juicy berry, translucent white to lavender or purplish, glabrous or pubescent, when immature the pericarp dry and brittle, when mature thin and papery; ovules numerous, the placentation axile but often appearing central or even basal; seeds elongate, striate, the embryo green and clearly visible through the endosperm.

Sphyrospermum is a genus of about 22 species, which ranges from southern Mexico through the highlands of Central America and the Andes of South America to Bolivia and east to French Guiana, and in the Caribbean from Haiti to Trinidad.


Key to Species of Sphyrospermum
1a.
Corolla tiny, less than 4 mm long.
2a.
Stamen 4; leaves suborbicular-elliptic, (1.5-) 2--4 cm long; pedicel 5--9 mm long
.......................................................................................S. ellipticum
2b.
Stamen 8--10; leaves orbicular to ovate-elliptic, 0.5--1.3 x 0.4--0.8 cm; pedicel to 4 mm long.
3a.
Flowers 5-merous, subsessile, pedicel less than 1 mm long; corolla hispid in distal 1/2--1/3, cylindric-campanulate, the throat open and spreading; leaves 10--13 x 6--8 mm
..............................................................................S. spruceanum
3b.
Flowers 4-merous, obviously pedicellate, pedicel 3--6 mm long; corolla glabrous, cylindric, the throat narrowed and contracted; leaves 5--8 x 4--6 mm long
..............................................................................S. microphyllum
1b.
Corolla larger, equal to or greater than 4 mm long (if 4 mm long, then pedicel > 15 mm long).
4a.
Corolla campanulate, the throat broad and spreading.
5a.
Corolla yellow, ca 5--5.5 mm long; anther tubules much longer than thecae, dehiscing by oblique, subterminal pores.
..............................................................................S. flaviflorum
5b.
Corolla dark red, 8.5--12 mm long; anther tubules equal to or shorter than thecae, dehiscing by perfectly terminal pores.
6a.
Flowers 4-merous; pedicel 1--4 (-8) mm long; leaves apically acute to rounded; anther tubules about equalling thecae, ca 1.6--2.5 mm long; berry quadrangular
.....................................................................S. dissimile
6b.
Flowers 5-merous; pedicel 10--15 mm long; leaves apically obtuse-mucronate; anther tubules < thecae, ca 0.5--0.6 mm long; berry ellipsoid
....................................................................S. campanulatum
4b.
Corolla cylindric to cylindric-urceolate or cylindric-infundibuliform, the throat obviously contracted.
7a.
Corolla equal to or greater than 12 mm long, the lobes strongly reflexed at anthesis so as to expose stamens (mature corolla unknown in S. musicolum ).
8a.
Leaves pellucid, veinlets clearly visible, very acute at apex, about as long as broad, 20--30 x 20--23 mm; stamen 10, with filaments slightly longer than anthers; calyx lobes ca 1.5 mm long, tufted-pilose at tip; pedicel 15--20 mm long; corolla red, pilose distally, 12--20 mm long
.....................................................................S. musicolum
8b.
Leaves coriaceous, opaque, veinlets obscure, long- to short-acuminate at apex, noticeably longer than broad; stamen 8--10, with filaments about two times anther length.
9a.
Leaves narrowly ovate-lanceolate, very long-acuminate; flowers 5-merous; E Ecuador
............................................................S. lanceolatum
9b.
Leaves ovate to broadly ovate, short- to long-acuminate; flowers 4-merous; W Ecuador.
10a.
Leaves 1--3.5 (-4.3) x 0.5--1.5 (-1.8) cm; corolla infundibuliform, moderately to densely short-hirsute; filaments 13--15 mm long, densely pilose; flowers conspicuously extending beyond the subtending leaf; calyx densely to sparsely puberulent
...................................................S. boekei
10b.
Leaves (2.6-) 3--7 (-8.5) x (1.6-) 2.5--3.5 cm; corolla tubular, broadened above middle, usually glabrous; filaments 9--15 mm long, usually glabrous; flowers not extending beyond but instead usually slightly hidden by the subtending leaves; calyx usually glabrous
...................................................S. grandifolium
7b.
Corolla equal to or less than 12 mm long, the lobes not so strongly reflexed as to expose stamens at anthesis.
11a.
Pedicel 6--10 mm long, the flowers hidden by the leaves.
12a.
Corolla tubular, broadest above the middle, 9--12 mm long, hispid, red with lobes blue-black (even when dry); leaves 1--3 cm long, succulent and brittle when fresh but drying thin-coriaceous with the lower surface strongly wrinkled; calyx hispid, the lobes acuminate, 0.6--0.8 mm long; stamen alternately unequal, the filaments longer than anthers, 5.5--7.5 mm long
............................................................S. sodiroi
12b.
Corolla urceolate, ca 6 mm long, glabrous, pale yellow, the lobes not black; leaves (2-) 2.5--4 cm long, succulent when fresh and drying thick-coriaceous, concave, often revolute, and with the midrib often strongly carinate; calyx short white pilose to villous, the lobes deltate, short-acuminate, 0.6--1 mm long; filaments shorter than anthers, 1--1.5 mm long
............................................................S. haughtii
11b.
Pedicel (10--) 12--25 mm long.
13a.
Leaves suborbicular, (0.7-) 0.9--1.5 (-1.8) cm long, the apex rounded; flowers extending well beyond the leaves; mature corolla 4--5.5 mm long (rarely 6 mm), white to pinkish; stamens 4
............................................................S. buxifolium
13b.
Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, usually conspicuously longer than broad, (1-) 2--13 cm long, the apex obtuse to sharply long-acuminate; flowers rarely extending beyond the leaves; mature corolla 5--9.5 mm long (rarely less), white to dark red; stamens 4--5 or 8--10.
14a.
Leaves broadly to narrowly ovate, (1-) 2--3.5 (-5) x (-.8) 1.5--2.5 (-3) cm, the apex obtuse or rounded to acute, sometimes shortly and bluntly acuminate; corolla (4-) 5--7 (-9) mm long; stamens 4--5 or 8--10
...................................................S. cordifolium
14b.
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, (8-) 10--13 x 4--5 cm, the apex (usually sharply) long-acuminate; corolla ca 9.5 mm long; stamens 10
...................................................S. longifolium