Bocoa prouacensis Aubl.

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation

Not Threatened

Morphology General Habit

Perennial, Not climbing, Tree

Vernacular

Aie Oudou, Bois Bobo, Boko, Caux Bois Boco, Ijzerhart, Itikiboroballi Hohorodikoro, Yzerhart

Ireland, H. (2007). Taxonomic Changes in the South American Genus Bocoa (Leguminosae-Swartzieae): Reinstatement of the Name Trischidium, and a Synopsis of Both Genera. Kew Bulletin, 62(2), 333-349. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20443359

Type

French Guiana, without locality, F Aublets.n. (holotype BM! [photo GH!]). Type species.

Morphology General Habit

Slender tree 4 - 5 m tall

Morphology Stem

Young and older branchlets glabrous

Morphology Leaves

Leaf rachis 7 - 15 mm long, glabrous, not channelled above; unifoliolate, leaflets elliptic, the apical '/2 or 1/3 often folded along the costa in dried specimens, glabrous above and beneath, 50- 180 mm long, 25 - 105 mm wide; petiole 3 - 5 mm long, 2 - 3 mm wide, glabrous; costa slightly raised above, costa and lateral veins raised beneath

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence ramiflorous, axes in clusters, 9 - 45 mm long, glabrous; floral bract c. 1 mm long, broadly triangular, persistent in fruit; pedicel c. 0.5(- 2) mm long, glabrous

Morphology General Buds

Buds ellipsoid

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flower with calyx c. 2.5 mm long, splitting almost to the base into three equal loosely recurved segments, glabrous internally and externally, caducous in fruit; stamens 7- 10, anthers c. 1.3 mm long, 0.5 - 1 mm wide, filaments, c. 4.5 mm long; ovary and immature fruit glabrous, containing two ovules, stipe c. 1 mm long, style 1.5 - 2 mm long, persistent and attached asymmetrically in fruit

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit body 18 - 35 mm long excluding remnants of the style, 14 - 22 mm wide, 10 - 15 mm broad, with a shallow ridge c. 1 mm wide along the upper and lower sutures, glabrous, the surface smooth, stipe 2 - 3 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seed ellipsoid, 15 - 23 mm long, c. 12 - 14 mm wide, 12 - 13 mm deep, attached to the fruit by a long filiform funicle 1.5 - 3 m long that is folded neatly around the seed in a single layer, and unravels when the fruit dehisces, the aril white, c. 15 x 10 mm, covering the top of the seed.

Distribution

French Guiana and Surinam.

Ecology

Lowland forest; up to 900 m alt.

Vernacular

Aie oudou; Boco, Bois Boco, Boco d'Aprouak (French Guiana).

Phenology

Flowering time: Oct. to Nov.

Note

This species is recognisable by its unifoliolate leaves, which usually dry to an olive-green to mustard brown colour, are shiny above, have a short petiole to about 5 mm in length and often have spots of fungus damage. The fruit is distinctive, because upon dehiscence the seed is suspended on a long, thin thread (the funicle), which reaches up to 3 metres in length, presumably serving to aid dispersal by animals. This funicle is tightly folded around the seed before the fruit dehisces. The seed has a large, white, fleshy aril. Cowan (1974) suggested that the closest relative of this species is Bocoa alterna but since this species has now been transferred to Trischidium, its closest relative must be one of the other two species of Bocoa. Evidence from morphology and anatomy shed no light on relationships, however. For example, all three species differ in their leaflet arrangement, and their stamen number, and the fruit of B. prouacensis and B. viridiflora differ in the surface pattern and the length of the funicle. Moreover, B. prouacensis and B. viridiflora have different pollen types (Ferguson and Schrire, 1994) (the pollen of B. ratteri has not been studied). Relationships within the genus therefore remain unclear. Prouac refers to the Approuague river in the Caux region of northeastern French Guiana, where the type specimen was collected.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/19891437/20029446

Conservation

LC - least concern