Randia longiloba

Randia longiloba
Randia longiloba stem with leaves and spherical fruit
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Randia
Species:
R. longiloba
Binomial name
Randia longiloba
Synonyms[1]
  • Randia millspaughiana S.F.Blake
Randia longiloba flower side view; the immature, green fruit topped with five small sepals is visible at the top right.
Randia longiloba flower with white corolla

Randia longiloba, with no English name, is a species of small tree endemic just to southeastern Mexico. It belongs to the family Rubiaceae.[1]

Description

Randia longiloba is recognized by these distinctive features:[2][3][4]

  • It is a shrub or small tree reaching 10 m (33 ft) high, armed at branch tips with paired spines up to 10 mm (0.4 in) long. Stipules up to 2 mm (0.08 in) long clustering at petiole bases are triangular, sharp-pointed, and may or may not persist with age.
  • Leaves with short petioles are up to 10 cm long (4 inches) and about half as wide. They cluster at tips of stems and side spurs and are generally elliptic in shape. Blade margins bear no teeth, lobes or indentations, and have up to 10 secondary veins.
  • Plants are dioecious, with a few very aromatic flowers arranged in clusters. Atop inferior ovaries, the bottom parts of the white corollas form tubes atop which 5 petals or lobes spread broadly. Male flowers are considerably smaller than female ones.
  • Fruits are berry-type, spherical or nearly so, smooth and hairless, and up to 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter. Seeds are up to 6 mm (0.24 in) long.

Distribution

Randia longiloba is endemic just to the southeastern Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo and Yucatan.[5][6]

Habitat

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Randia longiloba occurs in low- and medium-height dry forest and moist forests, including those with columnar cacti.[7] Also they occur in acahuales,[3] which basically constitute the revegetation stage of traditional slash-and-burn agriculture, with the possibility of using the cut woody plants, not just burn them.[8]

Ecology

The fruit of Randia longiloba provides food for birds and squirrels.[9]

Human interactions

In traditional ceremonies

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula the Mayan people hollow out the spherical fruits of Randia longiloba so that the hard rinds can serve as cups to hold sacred atole during religious ceremonies.[9]

In traditional medicine

An infusion of Randia longiloba bark has been used to treat dengue fever.[10]

As a nematicide

Extracts from Randia longiloba produce a mortality greater than 80% for the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, known as probably the most economically important plant-parasitic nematode.[11]

For making charcoal

In the Mexican state of Quintana Roo the wood of Randia longiloba is converted to charcoal.[12]

Taxonomy

Randia longiloba was named and formally described by William Botting Hemsley in 1886. In the text, the name is written Randia ? longiloba, as a proposal, remarking that although he'd not seen the fruit, since the flowers had one-celled ovaries, "... it seems better to refer it to Randia rather than Gardenia.[4]

Etymology

The genus name Randia is a New Latin construction meant to honor the English botanist Isaac Rand.[13]

The species name longiloba is New Latin based on the Latin longus, meaning "long", and Greek lobos, for lobe -- "long-lobed".[14] Probably this refers to the species' long corolla lobes, for when Hemsley formally described Randia longiloba he remarked that the corolla lobes relative to the corolla tube were long.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Randia longiloba Hemsl". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  2. ↑ Standley, Paul C.; Robinson, B.L.; Greenman, J.M. (1926). "Trees and Shrubs of Mexico" (PDF). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 23 (5). Washington, DC: Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution: 1313–1722. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Lorence, D.H. "Randia longiloba Hemsl". The World Flora Online (in Spanish). WFO from Flora Mesoameriana. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Hemsley, W. Botting (1886). Godman, F. Ducane; Salvin, Osbert (eds.). Biologia Centrali-Americana:zoology, botany and archaeology. Botany (in English and Latin). Vol. 4. London, England: Published for the editors by R. H. Porter and Dulau & Co. p. 101.
  5. ↑ "Randia longiloba Hemsl". catalogueoflife.org. Catalogue of Life. February 13, 2026. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  6. ↑ Villaseñor, José Luis (August 4, 2016). "Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 87. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Taxón: Randia longiloba Hemsl". Flora de La Península de Yucatán (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  8. ↑ Soto Pinto, Lorena; Anzuelo Martínez, Manuel; Quechulpa, Sotero (June 2011). El acahual mejorado un prototipo agroforestal (PDF). Red de Espacios de Innovación Socioambiental (in Spanish). Chiapas, Mexico: ECOSUR El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. ISBN 978-607-7637-43-1.
  9. 1 2 Trejo-Torres, Jorge Carlos; Hayden, W. John; Pasos-Enríquez, Ricardo M.; et al. (May 2014). Catálogo de la Flora de Kaxil Kiuic. Reporte final del proyecto "Difusión Ambiental en la Reserva Biocultural Estatal Puuc" (PDF) (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Kaxil Kiuic A.C. & Programa de Pequeñas Donaciones – FMAM-México – PNUD.
  10. ↑ Ojea Ayala, Manrique (September 29, 2023). Activida antioxidante, anticarcinogénica y antiiflamatoria de los compuestos y fraciones del fruto de papache (Randia echinocarpa) (PDF). Tesis para obtener el grado de Doctor en Ciencias Agropecuarias (in Spanish). Culiacán, Sinaloa, México: Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa.
  11. ↑ Cristobal-Alejo, J.; Tun-Suarez, J.M.; Moguel-Catzin, S.; et al. (June 2006). "In vitro sensitivity of Meloidogyne incognita to extracts from native Yucatecan plants". Nematropica. 36 (1). USA: Organization of Nematologists of Tropical America. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Documento técnico unificado para aprovechamiento forestal maderable en 2,643.804 ha Ejido N.C.P.E. Huatusco Municipio de Bacalar, Quintana Roo" (PDF). semarnat.gob.mx (in Spanish). México: Promotora Cooperativa Intelicoop S.C. de R.L. December 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Randia noun". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  14. ↑ Clifford, H. Trevor; Bostock, Peter D. (2007). Etymological Dictionary of Grasses (PDF). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-38432-8.
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