Eugenia viscacea Sobral, 2013

Sobral, Marcos, 2013, Eight New Atlantic Rainforest Species and Nomenclatural Notes in Brazilian Myrtaceae, Phytotaxa 135 (1), pp. 43-61 : 52-54

1.5. Eugenia viscacea Sobral , sp. nov.

Type: BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Castro Alves, topo da Serra da Jiboia, em torno da torre de televisão , 12 Mar. 1993, L.P. Queiroz, M.J.S.L. Costa & T.S.N. Sena 3094 (holotype BHCB ; isotype HUEFS ).

Figure 5 .

This species is related to Eugenia ellipsoidea , from which it can be distinguished by the leaves with scarcely visible venation, inflorescences with densely imbricate decussate bracts and smaller pedicels.

Shrub to 1.5 m. Twigs glabrous, slightly complanate, grey when dry, the internodes 10–25 mm × 1–2 mm. Leaves with petioles 2–3 × 1–1.8 mm, adaxially plain, sometimes abaxially darker; blades elliptic to rounded, 35–52 × 21–33 mm, 1.4–1.7 times longer than wide, discoloured when dry, dark brown and sometimes vernicose adaxially and light brown abaxially, chartaceous or leathery, both surfaces densely covered with slightly prominent glandular dots, these smaller than 0.1 mm in diameter and 20 to 30 per square milimeter; apex obtuse or rounded; base obtuse, slightly decurrent along the petiole; midvein plain or somewhat raised on both sides, lighter than the rest of the surface abaxially; lateral veins 7 to 10 on each side, leaving the midvein at angles between 70 –80 degrees, weakly visible and sometimes faintly raised on both sides; marginal vein 1–2.5 mm from the margin, the margin itself revolute and with a subtle brown girdle to 0.2 mm wide. Inflorescences mostly ramiflorous, some axillary, glabrous, racemiform, the ramiflorous ones with up to four axes arising from the same node; axes 1–5 × 0.5–0.6 mm; bracts hemispheric, to 0.5 × 0.5 mm, densely crowded along the proximal half of the axis in up to ten pairs, generally with up to four flowers on the distal part of it, but sometimes also along the proximal part; terminal apical flower occasionally present. Flowers glabrous, the pedicels 1–1.5 × 0.3 mm, bracteoles triangular, to 0.7 × 0.5, sometimes basally fused and partially clasping the ovary in young flowers; flower buds globose, 2–2.8 × 2–2.5 mm, the globe of petals visible above the calyx lobes, these four, slightly unequal in size, widely triangular, 0.4–0.5 × 0.8–1 mm; petals rounded, glabrous, to 3× 3 mm; stamens about 40, 4– 5 mm, the anthers subglobose, 0.5 × 0.3 mm, with one apical gland; style 5 mm, the stigma punctiform; ovary bilocular, with 10 to 11 ovules per locule. Fruits not seen.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:—presently known only from the type material, collected in the central portion of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, where it was collected in semideciduous forests; flowers were observed in March.

Conservation:— Eugenia viscacea was collected in Castro Alves, in central eastern Bahia, a municipality of 700 km 2 ( IBGE 2012) from which there 1,097 gatherings are known ( CRIA 2012), with an average of 1.5 collection / km 2; the existence of only one known collection of the species may be indicative of its rarity, but it may be that botanists did not returned to the collection area, since most of the collections in Castro Alves were made before 2000 ( CRIA 2012). So, it seems adequate to consider this species as DD (Data Deficient) according to IUCN criteria (IUCN 2001).

Affinities:—this species is apparently related to the widespread Eugenia ellipsoidea Kiaerskou (for description see Kiaerskou 1893; see also note on lectotypification in this paper), from which it is distinguished by the characters in the following couplet:

1. Blades 18–45 × 6–20 mm, 2.3–2.5 times longer than wide, with lateral veins visible on both sides; inflorescences with internodes visible and never concealed by bracts; pedicels 5–9 mm ..................................... Eugenia ellipsoidea

—. Blades 35–52 × 21–33 mm, 1.4–1.7 times longer than wide, with lateral veins visible on both sides; inflorescences with internodes concealed by the densely imbricate bracts; pedicels 1–1.5 mm ............................... Eugenia viscacea

Etymology:—the epithet is allusive to the resemblance of the leaves of this species with those of species of Phoradendron (Viscaceae) ; additionally, the young inflorescences also resemble, due to the densely imbricate bracts, inflorescences of Phoradendron .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Eugenia viscacea—holotype (scale: 50 mm); insert: inflorescences (scale: 5 mm).