Estudo Taxonômico de Plântulas de Espécies Arbóreas que Ocorrem no Parque do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (Belém - Pará), (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae): Copaífera retículata Ducke

Abstract

Copaifera reticulata also known as copaiba, is a large tree, 25-30m tall. It occurs in all states of the Amazon region and in Africa, in dryland forests, clay and sandy soils. The wood is reddish or white, quite soft and used for firewood. Among the copaibas, it is the one that produces the largest quantity of "copaíba oil-resin". We used 30 fruits, 30 seeds and 10 seedlings to describe the tree. The general morphology, color, texture, consistency, dehiscence, and indumentation of the fruits were recorded; the tegument, endosperm, and embryo of the seeds were described, and the main vegetative elements of the seedlings. The seedling was considered the development stage in which the eophilia were fully formed. The entire study was based on specialized literature and the morphological characters were illustrated with photographs. The fruit is legume-type, stenocarpic, dehiscent, obovate, scripitate, with apiculate apex, generally monospermic. Epizootic dispersal. Seed stenospheric, base and apex rounded, margin entire, oblong in cross-section; testa black, glabrous, cartaceous, shiny; tegumen dark brown, opaque, spongy; raceme linear, slightly rigid and protruding, black; hilum oval, opaque, glabrous, spongy, flat, apical, black; lens obovate, shiny, glabrous, elevated; fleshy aryl, intense yellow; endosperm absent; embryo basal, small, cotyledonary; cotyledons oblong, apex and base rounded, cream, hard. Germination phanerocotyledonary, epigeal, straight emergence. Seedling with foliaceous eophylls, green, compound, opposite, large, sinuous margin, with hyaline hairs on margin and central vein, with gland-like structures all over the limb; hypocotyl epigeous, brown, striated, with simple hyaline hairs; epichothyll epigeous, green, straight, cylindrical, with hyaline hairs from base to apex.