Guatteria saffordiana Pittier

Maas, P. J. M., Westra, L. Y. T., Guerrero, S. Arias, Lobão, A. Q., Scharf, U., Zamora, N. A. & Erkens, R. H. J., 2015, Confronting a morphological nightmare: revision of the Neotropical genus Guatteria (Annonaceae), Blumea 60 (1), pp. 1-219 : 153-155

143. Guatteria saffordiana Pittier — Fig. 69 , 70a ; Map 31

Guatteria saffordiana Pittier (1927) 77; R. E.Fr. (1939) 404. — Type: Pittier 11855 (holo VEN; iso B, G, K, M, NY, P, US), Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande, road from Maracay to Ocumare de la Costa, 11 Aug. 1925 .

Guatteria knoopiana Pittier (1927) 78. — Type: Pittier 10435 (holo VEN; iso G, K, NY, P, US), Venezuela, Miranda, Parque Knoop , Los Teques, 20 Aug. 1922.

Guatteria eximia R.E.Fr. (1939) 404, syn. nov. — Type: Pittier 13487 (holo US;iso F), Venezuela, Guarico, Los Corozos, Puerto La Cruz valley , 800 m, May 1934.

Guatteria longedecurrens R.E.Fr. (1960) 22,syn.nov. — Type: Bernardi 2255 (holo NY; iso G 3 sheets, K, S), Venezuela, Mérida, Pueblos del Sur , 1600–2200 m, June 1955.

Tree 3–20 m tall, 10–25 cm diam; young twigs sparsely covered with appressed or rarely erect hairs, soon glabrous. Leaves: petiole 5–15 mm long, 2–3 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic, sometimes narrowly ovate, 12–30 by 4–11 cm (leaf index 2–3.2), chartaceous to coriaceous, not verruculose, dull, greyish green above, brown below, glabrous above, rarely covered with some appressed hairs along primary vein and secondary veins, sparsely covered with appressed or rarely erect hairs below, base acute to obtuse, sometimes slightly attenuate, apex acuminate (acumen 5–20 mm long), primary vein impressed above, secondary veins distinct, 12 –15 on either side of primary vein, flat to slightly raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 2–4 mm, tertiary veins flat to slightly raised above, reticulate. Flowers in 1–2(–occa- sionally more)-flowered inflorescences in axils of leaves or on leafless branchlets; pedicels 5–20(–30) mm long, 1–1.5 mm diam, fruiting pedicels 10–30(–40) mm long, 2–3 mm diam, sparsely to rather densely covered with appressed or erect hairs, articulated at (0.1–)0.2–0.6 from the base, bracts 6–7, soon falling, the basal ones 2–3 mm long, the upper ones 5–20 mm long; flower buds depressed ovoid; sepals basally connate, broadly ovate-triangular, 6–8 by 5–6 mm, reflexed, outer side densely to rather densely covered with appressed hairs; petals cream or pale yellow in vivo, elliptic, 10– 25 by 5 –10 mm, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; stamens 1–1.5 mm long, connective shield glabrous to papillate. Monocarps 50–100, green, maturing purple-black in vivo, brown to black in sicco, ellipsoid, 7–11 by 5–7 mm, glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum <0.5 mm long), wall 0.2–0.5 mm thick, stipes 10–25 by c. 1 mm. Seed ellipsoid, 8–10 by 5–6 mm, pale to dark brown, pitted to rugulose, raphe raised.

Distribution — Northern Venezuela (Aragua, Carabobo, Mérida, Miranda, Táchira, Trujillo, Yaracuy).

Habitat & Ecology — Almost always in cloud forest. At elevations of (350–) 500–1800 m. Flowering: November to May; fruiting: throughout the year.

Vernacular names — Venezuela: Maguaná (Lopez-Palacios 1612), Raspadero (Ruiz-Terán 1447).

Notes — Guatteria saffordiana is a species fairly common in the cloud forests along the coastal region of Venezuela. It does not show many distinguishing features, except for the sepals which are basally fused. They often do not fall off during fructification but stay on the fruiting pedicel as a loose ring.

Guatteria saffordiana closely resembles the allopatric species G. glauca , which occurs in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and W Amazonian Brazil (Acre). It differs, however, by its distinctly fused sepals, a feature uncommon in the genus (and only rarely seen in G. glauca ) and by the secondary veins which are flat to slightly raised on the upper side of the lamina (vs impressed in G. glauca ).

Guatteria longedecurrens is put into synonymy of this species as the only difference is found in the slightly attenuate leaf base, which is also sometimes encountered in ‘normal’ G. saffordiana .

Figures

Fig. 69 Guatteria saffordiana Pittier. Fruiting branch (Riina et al. 265, U).

Fig. 70 a. Guatteria saffordiana Pittier. Fruits, note connate sepals. – b. Guatteria slateri Standl. Fruit. – c. Guatteria synsepala Maas & Westra. Fruit. – d. Guatteria tacarcunae Maas & Erkens. Fruit. – e. Guatteria ucayalina Huber. Detail of leaf venation, lower side. – f. Guatteria vallensis Maas & Westra. Loose flower from below and above. – g. Guatteria venezuelana R.E.Fr. Flowers. – h, i. Guatteria verruculosa R.E.Fr. h. Flower and young fruits; i. fruit (a: Riina et al. 265, U; b: McPherson & Merello 8295, U; c: Betancur et al. 811, isotype MO; d: Gentry et al. 16953, MO; e: Hill 12959, U; f: Monsalve B.685, isotype MO; g: Van der Werff 3624, U; h: Fosberg 19126, holotype S; i: Fosberg 19126, isotype US).