Name: Ruptilio in Latin means "to split irregularly", and "carpon" is the Greek word for fruit.
Spanish: cedro caracolito, meaning little snail cedar.
Clades:
Lepidobotryaceae.
Genus: 1 species.
Region: Central and South America, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Suriname.
Habitat: hillsides, well-drained areas; often in red clay; altitude from sea level to 400 m.
Use: wood for cabinet-making
TaxonomyRuptiliocarpon was named and described by Barry Hammel and Nelson Zamora in 1993 and made it the second member of
Lepidobotryaceae. The authors suggested relationships to the flower structure of
Meliaceae. The ovule and seed morphology suggested a relationship with
Phyllanthaceae. But it is now known that
Lepidobotryaceae belongs in
Celastrales.
BotanyTall tree; 20 to 30 m, rarely 40 m tall; dioecious.
Stem: straight; 50 to 90 cm in diameter; wood is light.
Leaves: alternate, in two rows along the stem; elliptic, margin is entire; unifoliate, petiolule swollen, conspicuous joint separates it from the rachis, like a single, elongate stipel; pair of fused stipules at the base of the petiole.Inflorescence: irregular arrangement of several spikes attached opposite a leaf.Flower: small, green, unattractive; opens only slightly, a small hole; male and female flowers differ only slightly; stamens 10, united into a tube, secretes nectar; anthers5, attached to the top of the tube, 5 mounted on short filaments; ovary has two compartments, separated by a partition; ovules attached to the partition, near its top; stigmas 2, short, attached directly to the apex of the ovary; blooms March and April.
Fruits: capsule with one or rarely, two seeds.
Seed: shiny, black, lower third covered by an orange aril; surrounded by two endocarps which fall away, the larger resembles a small shell.