Guatteria delicatula Maas & Westra, 2015

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 : 69

48. Guatteria delicatula Maas & Westra , sp. nov. — Fig. 24g , 32 ; Map 11

Frutex parva pro genere,foliis parvis supra conspicue venosis venulis omnino prominentibus monocarpiis in stipitibus articulatis bene distincta. — Typus: Solomon 9282 (holo U; iso LPB, MO), Bolivia, La Paz, Prov. Nor Yungas, 13.7 km NW of San Pedro on road through Incahuara-Mejillones and along trail to 12 de Octubre, 1500 m, 15–16 Jan. 1983 .

Shrub c. 1.5 m tall; young twigs rather densely covered with appressed to semi-erect whitish brown hairs to c. 1 mm long, eventually becoming glabrous. Leaves: petiole 2–3 mm long, c. 1 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic, 5–7.5 by 1.5–2 cm (leaf index 2.7–3.8), subcoriaceous, not verruculose, dark brown and shiny above, brown and dull below, glabrous above except for rather densely to sparsely hairy primary vein, rather densely covered with appressed to semi-erect hairs to c. 1 mm long on primary vein, elsewhere rather densely to sparsely so below, base acute to obtuse, apex acuminate (acumen 5–10 mm long), primary vein flat to slightly raised above, second- ary veins distinct, 10–12 on either side of primary vein, raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 1–2 mm, tertiary veins raised above, reticulate. Flowers solitary in leaf axils, only seen in bud and fruiting stage; fruiting pedicels c. 25 mm long, c. 1 mm diam, rather densely covered with appressed hairs, ultimately glabrous, articulated at c. 0.1 from the base, bracts soon falling, not seen, not countable; flower buds green in vivo, only one loose young bud seen, ovoid, c. 3 by 3 mm, pointed; flowers not seen. Monocarps ≤ 20, purplish in vivo, black in sicco, ellipsoid, 5–7 by 4–4.5 mm, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum c. 0.5 mm long), wall c. 0.3 mm thick, stipes 8–10 by 1–1.5 mm, articulated to the monocarp body. Seed ellipsoid, c. 6 by 4 mm, brown, transversely grooved, raphe not distinct from rest of seed.

Distribution — Bolivia (La Paz).

Habitat & Ecology — In ‘mixture of moist forest with little disturbance and small fields’, in secondary growth. At an eleva- tion of c. 1500 m. Flowering: unknown; fruiting: January.

Vernacular names — Not recorded.

Note — Guatteria delicatula , only known from the type collection, is one of the smallest (c. 1.5 m tall!) species in the genus, and is recognizable by small leaves with a distinctly raised venation on the upper side and by the stipes which are articulate to the monocarp body. The articulation is clearly visible as a constriction between the stipes and the monocarp body. This is not often seen in the genus as a whole.

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. 32 Guatteria delicatula Maas & Westra. Flowering and fruiting branch (Solomon 9282, holotype U).