Guatteria conspicua R.E.Fr.

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 : 61-63

39. Guatteria conspicua R.E.Fr. — Fig. 24d, e , 28 ; Map 10

Guatteria conspicua R.E.Fr. (1950b) 445, f. 1f–i. — Type: Forest Department British Guiana 5542 = Fanshawe 2743 (holo K 3 sheets; iso FDG, K, M, NY, U), Guyana, 85 miles on Bartica-Potaro Road , 2 Nov. 1947.

Tree 4–12 m tall, 5–11 cm diam; young twigs glabrous. Leaves: petiole 3–8 mm long, 1–3 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic, 12–25 by 4–7 cm (leaf index 3–4.3), coriaceous, youngest leaves (always?) scabridulous, brown to pale brown above, brown below, youngest leaves densely covered with appressed hairs, very soon becoming glabrous on both sides, base acute to obtuse, apex acuminate (acumen 5–10 mm long), primary vein flat to slightly impressed above, secondary veins indistinct and hardly visible, 15–25 on either side of primary vein, slightly raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 3–4 mm, tertiary veins inconspicuous and hardly visible. Flowers in 1(–3)-flowered inflorescences in axils of leaves or plant cauliflorous; pedicels 5–10 mm long, c. 1 mm diam, fruiting pedicels to c. 2 mm diam, glabrous, articulated at c. 0.5 from the base, bracts 6–7, soon falling, broadly ovate, basal ones c. 1 mm long, the 2 upper ones to c. 4 mm long; flower buds depressed ovoid; sepals free, broadly ovate-triangular, c. 5 by 4–5 mm, appressed, outer side glabrous, but the margins and apex rather densely covered with appressed hairs; petals pale greenish yellow in vivo, elliptic to broadly elliptic, 12–18 by 8–10 mm, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; stamens 1–2 mm long, connective shield hairy. Monocarps 15–40, pale yellow, scarlet red to finally black in vivo, reddish brown or black in sicco, ellipsoid, 8–11 by c. 4 mm, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum <0.5 mm long), wall 0.1–0.2 mm thick, stipes 2–4 by c. 1 mm. Seed ellipsoid, 7–10 by c. 4 mm, dark brown, pitted to transversely grooved to rugulose, raphe not distinct from rest of seed.

Distribution — Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana.

Habitat & Ecology — In non-inundated savanna forest or Wallaba ( Eperua falcata ) bush, on white sandy soil. At eleva- tions of 0– 100 m. Flowering: throughout the year; fruiting: January, May, November.

Vernacular names — Suriname: Djirikawa (Arawak name) (Lanjouw & Lindeman 455), Jari-jari (Arawak name) (Teunissen, LBB 15967), Kirikawa (Arawak name), Yariyari (Sranang name).

Notes — Guatteria conspicua is a very peculiar species by its scabridulous leaves with a very obscure and hardly visible venation, and by shortly pedicellate flowers. Fries described it as one of the species of sect. Leiophyllum .

It is noteworthy that the youngest leaves can sometimes be seen as densely verruculose, e.g., in Sabatier 4682 (U) from French Guiana, the tiny warts becoming obscured as the scabridulous surface of mature leaves develops.

Figures

Fig. 24 a. Guatteria carchiana Maas & Westra. Flowers. – b. Guatteria chiriquiensis R.E.Fr. Fruit. – c. Guatteria citriodora Ducke. Fruit. – d, e. Guatteria conspicua R.E.Fr. d. Flowers; e. fruit. – f. Guatteria crassivenia N.Zamora & Maas. Detail of lower leaf surface. – g. Guatteria delicatula Maas & Westra. Flower pedicel with perianth and stamens gone. – h. Guatteria dotana N.Zamora & Erkens. Fruit (a: Vargas L. et al. 4242, isotype U; b: Zamora et al. 1461, U; c: Mori et al. 23673, U; d, e: Jonker-Verhoef & Jonker 494, U; f: Herrera C. & Chacón 2746, U; g: Solomon 9282, holotype U; h: Estrada & Solano 1817, MO).

Fig. 28 Guatteria conspicua R.E.Fr. Flowering branch (Jonker-Verhoef & Jonker 494, U).