Hirtella racemosa Lam.

(Chrysobalanaceae)

Masís, A, Espinoza, R., Guadamuz, A., Perez, D. and Chavarría, F. 1998. Hirtella racemosa (Chrysobalanaceae) Species Page, June 12, 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr

I. Identification:

Shrub from 3-4 m tall.

Flower:

The inflorescence is terminal raceme of light purple flowers with a sweet odor. Flowering begins in January.

View of the flowers

 

 

 

 

Fruit:

Oblong drupe, 1.5 cm long, dark purple when mature. Mature between February and March.

View of the mature fruits

 

 

 

Leaves:

Simple alternate, with an oblanceolate form, undulate margins. Between 7-10 cm long.

Under surface

Upper surface

 

Leaf arrangement

Bark and wood:

The bark is a greyish color.

Whole plant architecture:

Similar species:

Hirtella americana is a tree up to 20 m tall. The leaves are larger than those of Hirtella racemosa.

Verification:

II.Geographic Distribution:

International:

In Costa Rica:

In has been reported in premontane forests (Croat 1978).

In the Area de Conservación Guanacaste:

In the lowland semideciduous, lowland evergreen and submontane wet forests.

 Map of macro-habitats of the ACG

III. Natural History:

IV. How to find:

Within the Santa Rosa sector, in the area known as Bosque Húnedo and also near the Naranjo sector. Near the Los Almendros station in the El Hacha sector. On the edges of trails in the Cacao sector.

Acknowledgements.

This project was carried out by the Area de Conservación Guanacaste/CR, with help from INBio/CR, ICBG from the Foggarty center, NIH/USA and NSF/USA. We would especially like to thank Mariano Pereira for the taxonomic identification of this species.

Thanks to Kate Beattie and Alexandra Kern for helping with the image management and the translation of this species page.

Literature cited.

Croat, T.B. 1978. Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Standford University Press, Standford. Pg 417.