1455

 

Metteniusa edulis H.Karst.

Family	:	Metteniusaceae
Distribution	:	Colombia.
Habitat	:	Altitudes between 160 and 2000 meters.
Endemic/Exotic	:	Endemic to Colombia
Key botanical characters: Metteniusa are evergreen trees that reach a height of 4 to 20 meters, their branches are cork-pored, young branches felty hairy. The alternating, stalked leaves are full-edged. The leaf stalk is carved in the axis. On the axis-facing surface, the stomata sit in cyclocytic arrangement. The axis-like inflorescences are cymos and have two to four trager swords and two to seventeen actinomorphic, twitchy flowers. The five roof-brick-like calyxes are about a third of the base and felty hairy on the outside, the back-curved and on the inside red felty hairy petals are overgrown, the crown is about 2 centimetres long. The five approximately 0.8 centimetre dust dust bags are moliniform, so the three branches each point away from the elevated connective in the centre, to which they are anchored to the dust threads, similar to the wings of a windmill. The pollen is tricolporate. The upper fruit knot is single-faced, unusual is the location of the seed plant at the upper end of the fruit leaf (placenation). The large, filamentous handle is bare, the scar is point-shaped. The fruit is a five-ribbed stone fruit with woody endocarp. The seeds have plenty of white endosperm.