Brunfelsia portoricensis

Brunfelsia portoricensis

Brunfelsia portoricensis is a species of the genus Brunfelsia Brunfelsia section. The plants are endemic to Puerto Rico.

Description

Brunfelsia portoricensis is a hairless shrub which grows to a height of 1 to 3 m. The relatively strong branches densely covered with leaves. The leaves are leathery, narrowly oblong to lanceolate or ovate vice versa. They are 7 to 15 cm long and 1-5 cm wide. They are pointed towards the front or pointed at the base and narrowed to obtuse at the base. The wires are directed ascending to the top of the center rib is suppressed. The top is shiny green, the underside is dull light green. The petioles are strong, 3-6 mm long.

The flowers are or individually, terminal or in the axils in clusters. The flower stems are less than 1.5 mm long. The calyx is tubular - cylindrical and 3 to 4.5 cm long. He is irregular and almost to the middle split into two pointed tip. The white crown has a final, puberulous hairy corolla tube with a length of 6 to 9 cm. The coronary band has a diameter of 6.5 cm or more and is busy with rounded, protruding corners. The four stamens are in two pairs.

The fruits are yellow, almost spherical in shape and measures about 3 cm in diameter. The seeds are elliptical, brown and about 5 mm.

Occurrence

Brunfelsia portoricensis is endemic to Puerto Rico. There, the species grows in the eastern mountains in forests of middle and senior positions in 500 to 600 m altitude.

Swell

• Henri Alain Liogier: Descriptive Flora of Puerto Rico and adjancent Islands, Spermatophyta, Volume IV: Melastomataceae to Lentibulariaceae. Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1995, ISBN 0-8477-2337-2.