Vismia Vand.
Descriptions -- Digested by bats -- Dispersed by bats -- Notes -- Species treatments -- References Description.
Shrubs or small trees, often of secondary habitats. Stipules absent. Leaves simple,
opposite. Infructescences terminal or axillary, paniculate. Fruits
berries, globose to ovoid, greenish, with persistent calyx and styles, with numerous
seeds. Pericarp
thick, mostly parenchymatous; mesocarp rich in secretory ducts, with orange-yellow
latex. Seeds
ellipsoid or oblong ellipsoid, straight or curved, 1.7-2.6 x 0.6-0.9 mm, brown
or dark brown, glossy, the surface reticulate. Hilum small, roundish; vascular
bundle enters chalaza. Seed coat of 3 cell layers derived from two integuments,
the exotesta of large cells filled with brown pigment, the endotesta a layer of
large or very small brown cells, the exotegmen a layer of sclereids with undulate
cell walls and crystals in lumen, the other layers of tegmen compressed. Endosperm
one layered. Embryo linear, straight, with large plano-convex cotyledons. Digested by bats. The thick, fleshy, orange-yellowish or reddish pericarp is consumed by bats. The mesocarp and endocarp are composed of a starch rich pulp and the ducts secrete a latex rich in lipids (Mourão & Beltrati, 2001). Dispersed by bats. Seeds. Notes. Seeds of different species of Vismia can be distinguished by using the following characters: size, color, shape, and exotesta and endotesta structure. Species treatments. V. guianensis, V. sessilifolia. Charles-Dominique, P. 1991. Feeding strategy and activity budget of the frugivorous bat Carollia perspicillata (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in French Guiana. J. Trop. Ecol. 7: 243-256. Charles-Dominique, P. 1993. Speciation and coevolution: an intrepretation of frugivory phenomena. Vegetatio 107/108: 75-84. Mourão, K. S. M. and C. M. Beltrati. 2001. Morphology and anatomy of developing fruits and seeds of Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Choisy (Clusiaceae). Rev. Brasil. Biol., 61 (1): 147-158. Reis, N. R., dos & J.-L. Guillaumet. 1983. Les chauvees-souris frugivores de la région de Manaus et leur rôle dans la dissémination des espèces végétales. Rev. Ecol. (Terre et Vie) 38: 147-169. Reis, N. R., dos & A. L. Peracchi. 1987. Quirópteros
da região de Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Bol Mus.
Par. Emilio Goeldi, sér. Zool. 3: 161-182. |
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