Ocotea

Ocotea
Tilo (Ocotea foetens) in Terra Chã (Azores)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Ocotea
Aubl.
Species

Over 200, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Agathophyllum Juss.
  • Evodia Gaertn.
  • Mespilodaphne Nees
  • Oreodaphne Nees & Mart.
Ocotea guianensis - MHNT

Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Many are evergreen trees with lauroid leaves.

There are 324 species currently accepted within the genus,[2] distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (around 300 species)[3] including the Caribbean and West Indies,[4][5] but also with some species in Africa, Madagascar[3] and the Mascarene Islands.[6] One species (O. foetens) is native to the Macaronesia (in Canary Islands and Madeira).[7]

Description

They are trees or shrubs, occasionally with adventitious roots (O. hartshorniana, O. insularis). Leaves simple, alternate, rarely opposite or whorled.[8] The leaves are lauroid, they are commonly dark green glossy with sometimes brown on the underside and fragrant oil cells.[9]

The African and Madagascan species all have bisexual flowers (possessing both male and female parts), whereas many of the American species have flowers that are unisexual (either male or female).[3] The apetalous flowers are in small panicles.

The fruits are globose or oblong berries, 3–5 cm in length, hard and fleshy and at the junction of the peduncle part with the fruit covered by a cup-shaped, occasionally flat, cupule,[10] giving them an appearance similar to an acorn. The fruit is dark green, gradually darkening with maturity. The cupule at the base of the berry, can be more brightly colored. The fruit has a single seed wrapped in a hard coat and can be slightly lignified.

Names

The genus has no standard common name. Names often refer to the aroma of the wood, which can be strong and not always pleasant. Sweetwood is usually applied only to this genus,[11] although many names are also applied to this genus and other genera:

The common names of some species refer to their similarity to other Lauraceae such as Sassafras (Brazilian sassafras: O. odorifera) or Laurus (Cape laurel: O. bullata, Sword laurel: O. floribunda, Guaika laurel: O. puberula, etc.).

Ecology

Ocotea species are distributed in subtropical and tropical regions, often at higher altitudes. They are characteristic plants of many tropical montane habitats such as Araucaria moist forests, Laurisilva, Afromontane biomes, Knysna-Amatole montane forests and Talamancan montane forests, although in Madagascar they also occur in lowland forests. Most relatively small fruit species are of great environmental importance because they are the food of many endemic birds and mammals, especially in Islands, and premontane and montane forests.[8] The leaves of Ocotea species are the food source for the caterpillars of several species of endemic Lepidoptera, including several species of Memphis.[12] Some Memphis caterpillars feed solely on the leaves of one species of Ocotea; for example M. mora feeds only on O. cernua, and M. boisduvali feeds only on O. veraguensis[12]

Seed distribution of some Ocotea species is performed by frugivorous birds such as toucans, the three-wattled bellbird (family Cotingidae), quetzal[13] and Cape parrot.[14] Ocotea fruit is also consumed by several Columbiformes such as Columba trocaz,[15] Delegorgue's pigeon,[14] Bolle's pigeon (Columba bollii),[16] African wood pigeon,[17][18][19] and American doves.[20]

Most of the African tree species are ancient paleoendemic species,[21] which in ancient times were widely distributed on the continent.[16][21] This is not the case in the Americas: 89 species have been collected in Venezuela alone.[22]

Species of Ocotea can be attacked by various rot-inducing root pathogens, including Loweporus inflexibilis, Phellinus apiahynus[23] and Phytophthora cinnamomi.[24]

Some Ocotea species are used as nesting sites by ants, which may live in leaf pockets or in hollowed-out stems. The ants patrol their host plants more frequently in response to disturbance or to the appearance of insect pests such as grasshoppers.[25]

Uses

Dried ishpingo (O. quixos) cupules can be used as spice.

Ocotea produce essential oils, which are rich in camphor and safrole. East African camphorwood (O. usambarensis), Peruvian rosewood (O. cernua) and Brazilian sassafras (O. odorifera) are traded internationally.

Dried fruit cupules of ishpingo (O. quixos) are used in Ecuador to flavor beverages, such as colada morada.

Some fast growing Ocotea tree species are harvested commercially for timber. These include O. puberula, O. bullata (black or true stinkwood) and O. usambarensis. The timber is valued for its resistance to fungal decay.

O. odorifera (Brazilian sassafras) and O. kuhlmanni are frequently used as honey plants.

Selected species

The following are some of the species of Ocotea.[26] Distinguishing Ocotea species from Nectandra and other close relatives is problematic. Povedadaphne may be better placed in Ocotea.

Formerly placed here

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tropicos.org".
  2. ↑ "Ocotea". Theplantlist.org. Retrieved May 19, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 Henk van der Werff (1996). "Ocotea ikonyokpe, a new species of Lauraceae from Cameroon". Novon 6 (4): 460–462. JSTOR 3392056.
  4. ↑ "ITIS, Integrated Taxonomic Information System".
  5. ↑ Alain H. Liogier, Luis F. Martorell. Flora of Puerto Rico and Adjacent Islands: a Systematic Synopsis.
  6. ↑ Kostermans, Achmad Jahja (GH); Marais, W. (1979). Ocotea (Lauraceae) in the Mascarene Islands. H.M. Stationery Office. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  7. ↑ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Ocotea foetens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  8. 1 2 José González (2007). "Flora Digital De Palo Verde" (PDF).
  9. ↑ Andrés Castillo Q. (2010). "Manual dendrológico de las principales especies de interés comercial actual y potencial de la zona del Alto Huallaga" (in Spanish). Cámara Nacional Forestal.
  10. ↑ Henk van der Werff (2002). "A synopsis of Ocotea (Lauraceae) in Central America and Southern Mexico". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89 (3): 429–451. JSTOR 3298602.
  11. ↑ "Plants Profile: ''Ocotea'' Aubl.". USDA. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  12. 1 2 Daniel H. Janzen. "About Memphis mora". Ontario Genomics Institute. Retrieved May 2012.
  13. ↑ J. Phil Gibson & Nathaniel T. Wheelwright (1995). "Genetic structure in a population of a tropical tree Ocotea tenera (Lauraceae): influence of avian seed dispersal" (PDF). Oecologia 103 (1): 49–54. doi:10.1007/BF00328424. JSTOR 4221000.
  14. 1 2 "''Ocotea bullata''". Plantzafrica. November 22, 2002. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ Paulo Oliveira, Patricia Marrero & Manuel Nogales (2002). "Diet of the endemic Madeira laurel pigeon and fruit resource availability: a study using microhistological analyses". The Condor 104 (4): 811–822. doi:10.1650/0010-5422(2002)104[0811:doteml]2.0.co;2. JSTOR 1370703.
  16. 1 2 "MANAGEMENT of Natura 2000 habitats * Macaronesian laurel forests (Laurus, Ocotea) 9360: Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora" (PDF).
  17. ↑ David Gibbs (2010). Pigeons and Doves: a Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. A&C Black. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Biodiversity Explorer: The web of life in southern Africa". Columba arquatrix (African olive-pigeon, Rameron pigeon). Biodiversityexplorer.org. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ Steven T. Mwihomeke, Innocent J.E. Zilihona, William C. Hamisy, Dismas Mwaseba (n.d.). "Assessment Of Forest User Groups And Their Relationship To The Condition Of The Natural Forests In The Uluguru Mountains" (PDF). Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST).
  20. ↑ Mahabir P. Gupta (2006). "Medicinal Plants Originating In The Andean High Plateau And Central Valleys Region Of Bolivia, Ecuador And Peru" (PDF).
  21. 1 2 Ben H. Warren & Julie A. Hawkins (2006). "The distribution of species diversity across a flora's component lineages: dating the Cape's 'relicts'". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273 (1598): 2149–2158. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3560. PMC 1635518. PMID 16901834.
  22. ↑ Hernán E. Ferrer-Pereira (2009). "Lauraceae at the Herbario Nacional de Venezuela (VEN)" (PDF). Herbario Nacional de Venezuela.
  23. ↑ P. Renvall & T. Niemelä (1993). "Ocotea usambarensis and its fungal decayers in natural stands". Bulletin du Jardin botanique national de Belgique / Bulletin van de National Plantentuin van België 62 (1/4): 403–414. JSTOR 3668286.
  24. ↑ W. A. Lübbe & G. P. Mostert (1991). "Rate of Ocotea bullata decline in association with Phytophtora cinnamomi at three study sites in the Southern Cape indigenous forests". South African Forestry Journal 159 (1): 17–24. doi:10.1080/00382167.1991.9630390.
  25. ↑ Jean Stout (1979). "An association of an ant, a mealy bug, and an understory tree from a Costa Rican rain forest". Biotropica 11 (4): 309–311. JSTOR 2387924.
  26. ↑ "Ocotea Aubl.". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Retrieved February 19, 2010.

External links

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