that runs east-west across the country. It grows in rather dry areas with pine forest, oak forest, 
and tropical deciduous forest, between (300) 1100 and 2000 (2200) m of altitude. However, it is 
not uncommon to find it growing in wetter places adjacent to its usual habitat, in creeks or 
protected slopes with oak-pine mixed forest; places that frequently correspond to the lowest areas 
of its range of distribution. Flowers are present from (January) February through May (July), and 
ripe fruits are found from June to October (November). 
C. pachypodum presents a rather wide morphological variation, with larger and softer 
leaves, as well as bigger inflorescences in more humid areas. The combined occurence of leaf 
undersurface velutinous, flowers glabrous, and fruits bore by broaden hypanthia with persistent 
tepals, however help to place those specimens under this name. Few specimens exist with 
undersurfaces that tend to be glabrescent and with shorter hairs, presenting sometimes primary 
domatia of the type found in C. effusum. Thus, all these plants are considered putative hybrids 
between these two species. At the same time, the specimen H. Rubio 1663 is probably a hybrid 
between C. pachypodum and C. bractefolium, as the large foliose bracts in the inflorescence and 
glabrescent leaf undersurface with erect hairs seem to indicate. Finally, Phoebe ehrenbergii is 
included here on the basis of the presence of some specimens that have glabrous leaves, but the 
same type of pubescence on young branches, flowers glabrous, and entire persistent tepals in the 
fruit as typical C. pachypodum. The inclusion of this species under C. pachypodum is not 
conclusive yet, for the presence of subglabrous interior of hypanthium in P. ehrenbergii type. 
As Mez (1889) suspected in his treatment of the American Lauraceae, Hartweg 84 
(flowering material) and Ehrenberg 942 (fruiting material) collections are conspecific. The 
fragment of Ehrenberg collection filed at F has only two leaves and one loose flower bud that 
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