Miconia victorinii Alain, 1955

Bécquer, Eldis R., Bochorny, Thuane, Gavrutenko, Maria & Michelangeli, Fabián A., 2022, A revision of the “ basal-axile placentation clade ” of Miconieae, the newly erected Miconia sect. Liogieria (Melastomataceae: Miconieae) from the Greater Antilles, Willdenowia 52 (3), pp. 387-432 : 423-427

13. Miconia victorinii Alain in Contr. Ocas. Mus. Hist.

Nat. Colegio “ De La Salle ” 14: 5. 1955. – Holotype:

Cuba, Prov. Oriente [HolguÍn], Cerca de la Playa de

Moa, 25 Mar 1942, León, Victorin & Clemente LS-20670

( HAC ex LS!; isotypes: GH 72773 !, HAC [2 sheets!, ex

SV, ex LS], NY 99612!). – Fig. 23.

= Charianthus obliquus Griseb., Pl. Wright. 1: 186. 1860 ≡ Calycogonium obliquum (Griseb.) Cogn. in Candolle & Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 7: 947. 1891 [non Miconia obliqua Gleason in Amer. J. Bot. 19: 743. 1932]. – Lectotype (designated here): Cuba, Cuba Oriental [Prov. Guantánamo], Monte Verde, Jan– Jul [as appearing on specimens in GH and GOET], or [Prov. Guantánamo], Pinal at M. Purali [Purial?], 22 Aug [as appearing on field notes of C. Wright on specimen in GH] 1859. C. Wright 1217 (GOET 7028!; possible isolectotypes: GH 72759!, K 535770!).

=

Miconia obtusa f. glabrior Urb., Symb. Antill. 9: 112. 1923. – Lectotype (designated here): Cuba, Prov. Oriente [Guantánamo], Monte LÍbano at San Fernández in pinetis, c. 800 m, E. L. Ekman 10287 ( S 13- 13281 [photo!]; isolectotype: NY 1100732 !).

Morphological description — Shrubs 1.5–2.5 m tall, branched, deciduous. Indumentum of stellate and dendritic trichomes 0.1–0.2 mm long, brown to ferruginous, on young branches, leaves, inflorescences, flowers and fruits, and scales 0.05 mm long, brown, on hypanthium. Young branches quadrate, with longitudinal lenticels, densely to sparsely stellate tomentose, quickly glabrescent. Mature branches with a light brown bark, usually with conspicuous longitudinal lenticels. Petiole 0.3–2 cm long, terete, canaliculate adaxially, reddish when young, glabrescent; leaf blade 2–7 × 1.4–3 cm, mostly elliptic, sometimes ovate-elliptic, ovate-oblong to lanceolate or obovate-elliptic, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, base rounded to slightly cordate, sometimes cuneate or slightly decurrent, apex obtuse to rounded, usually retuse, or acute, margin flat, later revolute, entire to spaced serrate visible on young leaves, teeth up to 0.5 mm; adaxial surface flat, rarely bullate, glabrescent, usually drying distinctly olivaceous with yellowish tint, darker than abaxial surface; abaxial surface sparsely tomentose, mostly on veins, quickly glabrescent, drying distinctly yellowish. Venation with 2 pairs of secondary veins, usually symmetric, innermost conspicuous, suprabasal, placed 0.5–4 mm above base, marginal pair inconspicuous; midvein and secondary veins impressed adaxially and prominent abaxially, tertiary veins slightly impressed adaxially and slightly prominent abaxially, quaternary veins mostly inconspicuous. Mite domatia present as small holes with few stellate trichomes at point where midvein and secondary veins join. Inflorescence 2.5–4 × 1.5–4 cm, peduncle 0.3–1.2 cm long, with 2 or 3(–7) flowers; each inflorescence with 1 or 2 pairs of branches, pseudopedicel 0.4–1.5 cm long, lateral branches arising at base of main axis with a terminal flower; bracts c. 1 mm long, subulate, early caducous, bracteoles c. 1 mm long, subulate, early caducous. Flowers 5-merous; pedicel 0.2–1 mm long. Hypanthium 4–4.5 mm long, campanulate, free portion 2.3–2.5 mm long, external surface sparsely tomentose to glabrescent, tuberculate, internal surface glabrous. Calyx tube c. 0.5 mm long; calyx lobes 0.1–0.7 mm long, rounded to broadly triangular, inconspicuous, internal surface glabrous; calyx teeth c. 0.1 mm long, inconspicuous. Petals 6.5–9.5 × 5–7 mm, broadly obovate, white with pink tint, glabrous, base obtuse, apex obtuse, rounded to truncate with a notch. Stamens 10, deflexed in 2 groups on both sides of flower at anthesis, 2 or 3 on same side as style and 7 or 8 on opposite side, deflexed backward and turning pink to red with age, falling together with petals. Filaments 4.5–7 mm long. Anthers 3–4.3 × 0.8–1 mm, lanceolate, flattened toward apex; connective not projecting below thecae; thecae smooth, with a ventral-apical pore. Ovary 3-locular, free portion ridged, apex lobulate and sunken at union with style, glabrous; placentation axile-central to basal. Style 7–10 mm long. Berries 6–7 × 6–7 mm, subglobose, 20–30-seeded, maturing black. Seeds 2.2–2.7 mm long.

Phenology — Flowering specimens have been collected in May, July, October and November, fruiting specimens in May, July, August, October and November.

Distribution and ecology — Miconia victorinii is endemic to E Cuba ( Fig. 16), where it is found in the Sierra de Baracoa, Meseta del Guaso, Cuchillas del Toa and Sierra de ImÍas (Guantánamo), Sierra de Moa and serpentine hills and lowland coastal areas between Moa and Baracoa (HolguÍn and Guantánamo). It grows in semi-arid montane shrub woods and pine forests on serpentine soils ( Borhidi 1996), as well as on limestone outcrops of Pinar de Montecristo, Yateras (Guantánamo), at 10– 800 m.

Informal conservation status — Miconia victorinii and Charianthus obliquus (as M. obtusa sensu Alain (1957) , non (Griseb.) Triana), were preliminarily assessed in the Red List of Cuban flora as Threatened, but without a specific category (see González-Torres & al. 2016). The EOO of M. victorinii is estimated to be 2424 km 2 (within the limit for Vulnerable status under sub-criterion B1) and its AOO to be 11 km 2 (within the limit for Endangered under sub-criterion B2). It is known from 12 localities representing eight locations sensu IUCN (2012), five of them included in the National Park Alejandro de Humboldt and the Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources Cuchillas del Toa. Ongoing mining work in Playa La Vaca, Moa, and the presence of invasive alien species and intentional fires at Miraflores-Cananova have the potential to drastically degrade and reduce the habitat of this species. Furthermore, at least three locations are considered to have been lost due to mining and urban development in the city of Moa (Playa de Moa, Cayo Coco de Moa and woods near Moa airstrip). Lastly, the locality of Monte Verde, Yateras, is considered highly degraded by subsistence agriculture and livestock. Although population studies have not been carried out, the species is considered rare. However, it is not estimated that its population is severely fragmented. Therefore, we assess M. victorinii as Vulnerable (VU) under criteria B1 ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii,iii,iv,v).

Discussion — Miconia victorinii is a member of the deciduous group of Miconia endemic to E Cuba, and it closely resembles the other species that lack conspicuous elongate glandular trichomes (i.e. M. cerasiflora and M. lenticellata ). For differencesm, see the key and the discussion under these two other species.

Some specimens collected in poorly drained Moa ferritic soils (Marie-Victorin & León 1956) (e.g. Montero LS-20877, Michelangeli & al. 1523) usually have flat leaves, with the adaxial surface bullate, both surfaces drying darker, while others collected on dry rocky soils with serpentine substrates (e.g. Bisse & al. HFC-49397, Michelangeli & al. 1530) usually have convex leaves, with the adaxial surface not bullate, drying distinctly olivaceous with a yellowish tint, darker than the abaxial surface, also the abaxial surface drying distinctly yellowish. The first group corresponds to the definition of Miconia victorinii s.str. of Alain (1955) and the latter resembles the type of Charianthus obliquus Griseb. However , there are no differences in floral characters that allow these entities to be separated, particularly due to the scarcity of flowering specimens for both groups. In the future, more detailed studies using morphometric techniques of both vegetative and reproductive characters at the population level will be necessary to define this species complex. It should be noted that the two accessions of M. victorinii included in the phylogenetic analyses (one of which matches the type of M. victorinii and one that matches the type of C. obliquus ) are resolved as sisters with strong support.

In the protologue of Miconia victorinii, Alain (1955) mentioned that the holotype was deposited in the Colegio de La Salle herbarium, Vedado-Habana (LS), and that there is an isotype in NY. There are now two duplicates of Victorin & Clemente LS- 20670 in HAC. One of these is clearly labelled as from the herbarium (LS). This sheet also corresponds to the one shown in the protologue ( Alain 1955: fig. 5) and it is annotated by Alain as the holotype. The other sheet is annotated as from Estación Experimental Agronómica, Santiago de las Vegas (SV), which was also incorporated into the HAC collection ( Regalado Gabancho & al. 2010).

In the protologue of Charianthus obliquus, Grisebach (1866) did not specify the herbarium for the type gathering. As we explain above, the specimen in GOET (7028) is chosen as the lectotype. All other specimens labelled Wright 1217 have label type 2 ( Howard 1988), so they may belong to the same gathering and are cited as possible isolectotypes. It should be noted that the locality and date on the labels of these duplicates (“prope villam Monte Verde dictam, Cuba Orientali Jan. – July 1859 ”) differs from the field note that appears attached to the specimen deposited in GH (“Pinal at M. Purali [Purial?], 22 Aug”). At this point, it is impossible to explain this disagreement.