''Sapranthus palanga'', commonly known as palanca, is a species of cauliflorous tree in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

, native to the tropical regions of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, especially

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. This species was recently separated from ''Sapranthus violaceus'', on the basis of cauliflory (flowers emerging from the side of stem instead of shoots).Schatz 2018 The flowers are dark purple when mature and emit

amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are organic compounds that contain carbon-nitrogen bonds. Amines are formed when one or more hydrogen atoms in ammonia are replaced by alkyl or aryl groups. The nitrogen atom in an amine possesses a lone pair of elec ...

s such as

putrescine Putrescine is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)4(NH2)2. It is a colorless solid that melts near room temperature. It is classified as a diamine. Together with cadaverine, it is largely responsible for the foul odor of Putrefaction, putref ...

and

cadaverine Cadaverine is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)5(NH2)2. Classified as a diamine, it is a colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. It is present in small quantities in living organisms but is often associated with the putrefaction of Tiss ...

which mimic the smell of a rotting carcass to attract target pollinating agents such as flies.

References

External links

* (2018): ''Revision of the Neotropical genus Sapranthus (Annonaceae)
PDF fulltext
* ''Zamora, N.1999. Annonaceae. En Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Missouri Botanical Garden- Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad- Museo Nacional de Costa Rica.'' Annonaceae Cauliflory Trees of Costa Rica Trees of Central America Trees of El Salvador Taxa named by Robert Elias Fries {{Annonaceae-stub