Casearia sylvestris Sw.

(Flacourtiaceae)

Chavarría, F., Espinoza, R., Masís, A., Guadamuz, A. and Perez, D. 1998. Casearia sylvestris (Flacourtiaceae) Species Page, May 21, 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr

I. Identification:

Shrub up to 10 m tall (Croat 1978).

Flower:

Very small flowers. Light green at the base of the calyx and creamish-yellow at the sepals. The corola is not visible. The inflorescence is axillar, compound with perfect flowers (both sexes on the same flower).

 

View of the inflorescence

Fruit:

Ovoid capsule 3-4 mm long (Croat 1978), reddish-orange. The calyx remains surrounding the fruit. Contains 3-4 seeds enwrapped in orange aril.

 

  

 

View of the infrutescence

Leaves:

Leaves are simple alternate, lanceolate, serrated margins. Dark green on the upper surface and light green on the under surface. Approximately 5-7 cm long. Cilindrical petiole.

Under surface of the leaf

Upper surface of the leaf

 

 

Under surface of the leaf in detail

 

 

Leaf arrangement

   

Leaf shoots

 

Bark and wood:

The exterior bark is grey and the wood is cream colored. The contrast of the green petiole against bark of the branches distinguishes this species from the other species of Casearia.

   

Bark

Whole plant architecture:

 

Similar species:

Casearia corimbosa, has a very short petiole and the ends of the leaves are rounded; Flowers in May.

Casearia arguta................

Casearia tremula with silvery-grey bark. There are two patches of this species known of in Santa Rosa, one near the stream Quebrada Costa Rica and the other is at the edge of the last hill before the intersection of Argelia and Estero Real.

Casearia praecox is found in the area known as Bosque Humedo in the Santa Rosa sector, with very small and thin leaves. Common bordering the well in Centerno.

Verification:

II.Geographic distribution:

International:

Throughout the american tropics (Croat 1978).

In Costa Rica:

 

In the Area de Conservación Guanacaste:

 Map of macro-habitats of the ACG

III. Natural History:

IV. How to find:

Acknowledgements.

This project was carried out by the Area de Conservación Guanacaste/CR, with help from INBio/CR, ICBG from the Foggarty center, NIH/USA and NSF/USA.

Thanks to Kate Beattie and Alexandra Kern for helping with the image management and the translation of this species page.

Literature cited:

Croat, T.B. 1978. Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Standford University Press, Standford. Pg 626.