Qualea parviflora

Qualea parviflora
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Vochysiaceae
Genus: Qualea
Species:
Q. parviflora
Binomial name
Qualea parviflora

Qualea parviflora, known as pau-terra in Portuguese, is a deciduous tree indigenous to Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.[2] The tree favors dry climates like the tropical savanna of the cerrado.[3][4][5]

Description

Qualea parviflora grows up to 8 m (26 ft) tall. It flowers between September and December. Each flower has one light purple petal, a single stamen, a spurred calyx, and a three-parted ovary. Pau-terra can be distinguished from a close relative Qualea multiflora by its smaller flowers.[6]

Ecology

The flowers are pollinated by bees.[6] The seeds are eaten by buprestid beetles and small Hymenoptera species.[6] Caterpillars of the dalcerid moth Dalcera abrasa feed on Quaela parviflora.[7]

References

  1. ^ Martius, Karl Friedrich Philipp von (1824). "Qualea parviflora". Nova genera et species plantarum :quas in itinere per Brasiliam MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX jussu et auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I., Bavariae regis augustissimi instituto / (in Latin). Impensis Auctoris. pp. 135–136.
  2. ^ "Qualea parviflora Mart". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. ^ Gonçalves-Alvim, SJ; Collevatti, RG; Fernandes, GW (August 2004). "Effects of genetic variability and habitat of Qualea parviflora (Vochysiaceae) on herbivory by free-feeding and gall-forming insects". Annals of Botany. 94 (2): 259–68. doi:10.1093/aob/mch136. PMC 4242161. PMID 15234928.
  4. ^ Heckman, Charles W. (1998). The Pantanal of Poconé: Biota and Ecology in the Northern Section of the World’s Largest Pristine Wetland. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780792348634.
  5. ^ Lorenzi, Harri; Flora, Instituto Plantarum de Estudos da (2002). Brazilian Trees: 4th ed. Instituto Plantarum de Estudos da Flora. p. 365. ISBN 9788586714177.
  6. ^ a b c Custódio, Luciana Nascimento; Carmo-Oliveira, Renata; Mendes-Rodrigues, Clesnan; Oliveira, Paulo Eugênio (September 2014). "Pre-dispersal seed predation and abortion in species of Callisthene and Qualea (Vochysiaceae) in a Neotropical savanna". Acta Botanica Brasilica. 28 (3): 309–320. doi:10.1590/0102-33062014abb3064.
  7. ^ "HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2019.