Annona acuminata explained

Annona acuminata is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is native to Panama, and Colombia.[1] William Edwin Safford, the American botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the tapering (Latin: acuminatus in Latin) tips of its leaves.[2]

Description

It is a tree reaching 5 to 7 meters in height. Its branches have numerous red-brown lenticels. Its oblong, membranous leaves are 6.5-8 by 1.8-2.2 centimeters and smooth on both surfaces. Its leaves taper to a distinctive tip which at its apex is rounded. The leaves have 10-12 pairs of secondary veins emanating from its midrib. Its petioles are 1.5-3 millimeters long. Flowers are solitary on 16-16 millimeter long peduncles. The peduncles, which are extra-axillary, have two distinctive, 2-4 millimeter long bracteoles, one at their base, and one near their middle. Its sepals are partially fused to form a broad-based calyx with three triangular tips. The outside of the calyx is hairy and the inside has stiff rust-colored hairs at its base. Its flowers have numerous 2.5 millimeter long stamens. Its flowers numerous ovaries arranged in a disc, each with a 1.5 millimeter long, club-shaped style.[3] Its round, spiny fruit is 2-2.5 centimeters in diameter. Its yellow seeds are 7-8 millimeters long.[4]

Reproductive biology

The bright orange-yellow pollen of Annona acuminata is shed as permanent tetrads.[5]

Uses

Extracts of bioactive molecules from its tissues have been reported to contain aporphine derivatives.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Annona acuminata Saff. . . n.d. . Plants of the World Online . The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . December 22, 2018.
  2. Book: Stearn, William . Botanical Latin . Timber Press David & Charles . Portland, Ore. Newton Abbot . 2004 . 9780881926279 .
  3. Safford . William E. . 1913 . Annona sericea and its Allies . Contributions from the United States National Herbarium . 16 . 263–276.
  4. Woodson, Jr. . Robert E. . Schery . Robert W. . 1962 . Flora of Panama. Part IV, Fascile 5 (Nymphaeaceae to Monimiaceae) . Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden . 49 . 137–255. 10.2307/2394708 . 2394708 .
  5. Walker . James W. . 1971 . Pollen Morphology, Phytogeography, and Phylogeny of the Annonaceae . 41764703 . Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University . 202 . 202 . 1–130.
  6. Borup-Grochtmann . I. . Kingston . David G. I. . Aporphine Alkaloids From Annona acuminata . Journal of Natural Products . 45 . 1 . 1982 . 102 . 0163-3864 . 10.1021/np50019a011.