Trema micrantha
Trema
Florida trema, guacimilla, Jamaican nettletree
nettletree, trema
dark brown or gray brown, smooth, shallowly furrowed, sometimes sometimes appearing warty with large, raised lenticels.
unarmed, stout;
twigs hoary tomentose.
copiously pubescent.
blade ovate to narrowly ovate, 5-6.5(-9) × 2.5-4(-4.5) cm, base oblique to cordate, margins evenly serrate, apex acute to long-acuminate;
abaxial surface softly, velvety white-pubescent;
venation conspicuous but scarcely raised.
blade: ovate, base oblique to cordate or truncate, margins crenate to serrate;
venation palmate at base, pinnate on remainder of blade.
cymes, compact to lax, 12-20-flowered.
calyx greenish white.
mostly unisexual, usually staminate and pistillate on same plants, appearing after leaves on new stems, in 1 series, pedicellate;
calyx 5-parted.
nearly sessile;
pistillodes present.
pedicel present;
staminodes absent.
, if present: pedicel present;
ovaries ± globose;
styles persistent, 2, glabrous;
stigmas 2, unbranched.
bright red-orange to yellow, 1.5-3.5 mm diam. 2n = 20 (from Costa Rica).
drupes, globose, fleshy.
thick walled.
Trema micrantha
Trema
Trema micrantha, as interpreted here, is widespread in tropical regions of the New World. Small-leaved populations may be confused with T. lamarckiana.
The soft wood of Trema micrantha is suitable for the construction of tea chests and match sticks.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species ca. 15 (2 in the flora).
Trema cannabina Loureiro and T. orientalis (Linnaeus) Blume, sometimes reported for North America, are Old World species occasionally planted but not known to have escaped from cultivation.
Trema species are fast-growing pioneer trees with economically important alkaloids.
Trema is a member of the subfamily Celtoideae. Species are locally called nettletrees in reference to their superficial resemblance to members of the Urticaceae. Further studies of variation in this group are needed in the field and in the laboratory, giving special consideration to the morphologic variants within Trema micrantha.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blade mostly longer than 5 cm, abaxially velvety white-pubescent, veins conspicuous but scarcely raised; fruits bright red-orange to yellow. | T. micrantha |
1. Leaf blade mostly shorter than 4 cm, harshly pubescent on both surfaces, venation abaxially pronounced, raised; fruits pink. | T. lamarckiana |
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