Varronia multispicata (Chamisso) Borhidi

Melo, José Iranildo Miranda De, Paulino, Renan Da Cruz, Oliveira, Regina Célia De & Vieira, Diego Daltro, 2018, Flora of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil: Boraginales, Phytotaxa 357 (4), pp. 235-260 : 247

2.4. Varronia multispicata (Chamisso) Borhidi in Borhidi et al. (1988: 392).

≡ Cordia multispicata Chamisso (1829: 490) .

Shrubs, 0.6–1.5 m tall; branches strigose. Leaves alternate; blade 4–10.5 x 1–4.5 cm, membranaceous, bicolor, narrowly to widely elliptic or rarely ovate to obovate, apex acute or acuminate, margin coarsely serrated, base attenuate or obtuse, adaxially and abaxially strigose; venation craspedodromous; petiole 0.2–0.6 cm long, sulcate, strigose. Inflorescences 2–5 cm long, terminal and axillary, spiciform, congested; peduncle 1.5–4 cm, strigose. Flowers 4.5–5 mm long, sessile, monomorphic; calyx ca. 3 mm long, cylindrical, campanulate, lobes ca. 1.5 mm long, lanceolate, apex acuminate; corolla to 5 mm long, campanulate, cream; tube ca. 3.5 mm long; lobes ca. 1 mm long, obovate. Stamens with filaments ca. 2.5 mm long, anthers ca. 1 mm long, rounded, lobes divaricate, dorsifixed. Ovary ca. 1 mm long, ovoid to subpiriform; style ca. 1.5 mm long; stigmatic branches ca. 0.5 mm long, stigmas ca. 0.5 mm long, clavate. Drupe 3–5 mm long, globose, red, almost completely enveloped by the calyx; seed not seen.

Notes:— The species may be recognized by the narrowly to widely elliptic leaf blades, rarely ovate to obovate, with an attenuated or obtuse base, the campanulate corolla, and the ovoid to subpiriform ovary. Illustrations of this species can be found in Taroda (1984) as Cordia multispicata Cham.

Geographic distribution:— Distributed in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil ( Flora do Brasil 2020 under construction). C7, D7.

Habitat:— Mangrove and riparian forests, edge areas of the Atlantic Forest.

Phenology:— Collected in flower and fruit from February to April.

Selected material examined:— BRAZIL. Rio Grande do Norte: Parnamirim, April 2006, fl. fr., A. Ribeiro & J. Silva 188 (MOSS). Vila Flor, 06º19’00”S, 35º02’30”W, February 1981, fl. fr., O.F. Oliveira 1688 (MOSS).

Heliotropiaceae Schrader (1819: 192) .

Herbs and subshrubs, erect, scandents, semiprostrate or decumbent; hermaphrodite; indument of simple, unicellular, eglandular trichomes, sometimes with glandular cells. Leaves alternate, petiolate or sessile, exstipulate; lamine with different shapes, margin usually entire, sometimes revolute; apex mostly acute or acuminate; base cuneate or decurrent. Inflorescences thyrsoids, terminal or axillary; partial inflorescences scorpioids cymes. Flowers perfect, actinomorphic, sessile or shortly pedicellate; calyx tube usually short, presenting lobe often unequal; corolla gamopetalous, lobes presenting different formats and sometimes with lobules (e.g., E. paradoxa ); androecium haplostemonous, stamens antesepalous and borne on corolla tube, usually included, filaments short, linear; anthers dorsifixed; gynoecium superior, syncarpous, bicarpellate, usually 4–loculate with one ovule in each locule; ovule anatropous to hemitropous; style terminal with a conical stigmatic head with a basal ring-shaped stigma and a sterile, sometimes two-lobed apex; nectary disk at the base of the ovary. Fruit dry or fleshy, falling apart into 1–4 mericarpids with 1–2 seed each. Embryo minute, straight to curve (adapted from Diane et al. 2016).

Four genera with ca. 450 species in the tropical, subtropical and temperate zones of all continents, most diverse in seasonally habitats ( Diane et al. 2016). In Brazil, this family is represented by three genera ( Euploca , Heliotropium (including Tournefortia ), and Myriopus ) and 45 species distributed along the country in all phytogeographical domains especially in the xeric corridor (Caatinga and Cerrado). In the studied area, Heliotropiaceae encompasses ten species in three genera: Euploca (five species), Heliotropium (two species), and Myriopus (three species).