Guatteria alticola Scharf & Maas

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 : 28-29

8. Guatteria alticola Scharf & Maas — Map 3

Guatteria alticola Scharf & Maas in Scharf et al. (2005) 565, f. 1. — Type: Clarke et al. 9247 (holo U; iso BRG), Guyana, Mt Ayanganna, East face, base of escarpment, 1120 m, 16 June 2001.

Tree 3–6 m tall, diam not recorded; young twigs densely cov- ered with erect hairs to c. 1.5 mm long, finally glabrous. Leaves: petiole 2–4 mm long, 1–2 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic, 10–15 by 3–5.5 cm (leaf index 2.8–3.3), chartaceous, not ver- ruculose, dull, pale to dark brown above, yellowish brown below, rather densely to sparsely covered with erect hairs to glabrous above and below, base acute to attenuate, apex acuminate (acumen 5–20 mm long), primary vein slightly raised above, secondary veins distinct, 6 –10 on either side of primary vein, slightly raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 2–3 mm, tertiary veins flat above, reticulate. Flowers

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solitary in axils of leaves; pedicels 25–30(–35) mm long, 1–1.5 mm diam, rather densely covered with erect hairs, articulated at 0.3–0.4 from the base, bracts c. 5, soon falling, not seen; flower buds subglobose; sepals free, broadly ovate-triangular, c. 4 by 3–4 mm, appressed, outer side densely covered with erect hairs; petals green in vivo, oblong-elliptic, 15–18 by 7–8 mm, outer side densely covered with erect, curly hairs; stamens c. 2 mm long, connective shield papillate, umbonate. Monocarps and seed not seen, but mentioned on the label: ‘fruit green with red stipes’.

Distribution — Guyana.

Habitat & Ecology — In dense forest, on sandstone and peat and riparian vegetation near waterfall, with Protium , Socratea and Clusia . At elevations of 1120–1650 m. Flowering: June, December; fruiting: June.

Vernacular names — Not recorded.

Note — Guatteria alticola looks superficially like another Guianan endemic, G. wokomungensi s, but it differs from that species in having long-persistent, erect hairs on the young twigs instead of having glabrous young twigs.