Annonaceae
Xylopia emarginata Mart.
Kingdom: Plantae Rank: Species Parent: Xylopia Status: Valid
Vegetative Morphology
Habit: Tree to ca. 6 m tall.
Main axis: Bark strong, fibrous.
Branch: Stem slender, brown, smooth when dry.
Leaves: Leaves simple, alternate, sessile or nearly so; the petioles terete, stout, swollen, ca. 1 mm long, brown to black when dry, smooth or slighly tan pubescent; the lamina linear to linear-lanceolate to very narrowly elliptic, to ca. 1 x 5 cm, the base rounded, the apex acute to narrowly rounded to microscopically cleft with a small beak-like acumen, the margins entire; the secondary and tertiary venation inconspicuous to invisible, the secondary veins sometimes anastomosing in a marginal vein when visible.
Reproductive Morphology
Inflorescence: Inflorescence not seen in the study region.
Flowers: Flowers not seen in the study region.
Other
Ecology: Forms monodominant stands in some of the Mauritia-dominated wetlands of Madre de Dios.
Notes: A quite unique Xylopia species easily differentiated by the tiny leaves oriented distichously along the stem such that from a distance the individual trees seem like Podocarpus. A new record for Madre de Dios, Peru, at the time of our collections.