Eugenia bunchosiifolia Niedenzu (1893: 82)

Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Mazine, Fiorella F. & Souza, Vinicius Castro, 2024, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, a center of plant endemism in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Phytotaxa 651 (1), pp. 1-79 : 26

12. Eugenia bunchosiifolia Niedenzu (1893: 82) . ( Fig. 9D .)

Trees 2.5–18 m tall. Twigs puberulent when young, glabrescent; trichomes brownish or whitish. Young leaves puberulent, glabrescent; trichomes brownish or whitish. Leaves with petioles 6–12 mm long, strongly canaliculate, glabrate or glabrous; blades 65–105 × 25–50 mm, elliptic, discolorous when dry, lighter abaxially, not glaucous and glabrate to glabrous on both surfaces; bases obtuse, sometimes rounded; apices obtuse or slightly acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrate to glabrous adaxially and puberulent or glabrate abaxially; secondary veins 9–14 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 4–6 mm from the revolute and with a yellow thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous adaxially and slightly raised abaxially. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, raceme with vegetative late proliferation, peduncle 1–4 mm long, rachis 4–14 mm long, puberulent; bracts 1–4 mm long, ovate, elliptic or oblanceolate, puberulent, deciduous at anthesis; 2–6 flowers; pedicels 5–11.5 mm long, puberulent; bracteoles 2–4.5 mm long, free, linear, apices acute, not reflexed, generally deciduous before anthesis; trichomes brownish or whitish. Flower buds 2.5–5 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, puberulent hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 3–6.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, elliptic or oblong, apices acute or obtuse, puberulent to glabrous; petals 4, oblong or obovate, oil glands inconspicuous; staminal ring puberulent; stamens with filaments 5–7 mm, anthers oblong or globose; style 5–7 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 10–13 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 17–21 × 14–21 mm, ellipsoid or globose, slightly glandular, glabrous, orange when ripe; seed 1 per fruit, 12–18.5 × 11–18 mm, ellipsoid or globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Mun. Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Catelã com João Pedro , 14 November 2009, fl., D.A. Folli 6467 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 27 December 1988, fr., G.L. Farias 251 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Alameda 04, 06 February 1991, fr., G.L. Farias 405 (BHCB!, CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!); 16 September 1991, fl., D.A. Folli 1411 (BHCB!, CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Caingá , 02 December 2013, fr., D.A. Folli 7148 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., 30 December 2003, fr., D.A. Folli 4725 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Flamengo , 08 October 2013, fl., L. P. Vieira 4 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., 10 November 1999, fl., D.A. Folli 3509 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 17 August 1978, fl., D.A. Folli 31 (BHCB!, CVRD!, HUFSJ!, ICN, RBR!, RR!, SORO!) ; ibid., próximo à saída da trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 06 February 2015, fr., G.S. Siqueira 1057 (CVRD!, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., próximo à saída da trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 23 March 2010, fr., G.S. Siqueira 534 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Mantegueira , próximo à entrada da Flamengo, 23 January 2017, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 761 (ESA!) ; ibid., estrada para o Hotel , 10 February, 2007, fr., J.R. Stehmann 5878 (BHCB!) , ibid., Trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 30 March 2012, fr., J.E.Q. Faria 2513 (BHCB!, CVRD!, UB!, SORO!); no locality, 25 January 2006, fr., R. Tsuji 1517 (HPL!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia bunchosiifolia is known from collections from the state of Espírito Santo to Paraná in the Atlantic rainforest of southeastern Brazil. In the RNV, the species is mainly found in the Muçununga vegetation, but also occurring in the Mata Alta.

Phenology: —Flowering in August through November; fruiting in December through March ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species is assigned to Eugenia sect. Speciosae . Eugenia bunchosiifolia is morphologically similar to E. involucrata and E. puberula due to its raceme with vegetative late proliferation inflorescences, foliaceous calyx lobes (longer than 3 mm in length) but can be distinguished from both by its linear bracteoles which are deciduous before anthesis (vs. bracteoles deltoid or wide-ovate and deciduous at or after anthesis). Eugenia bunchosiifolia is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus in RNV by its leaves with a yellow thickening margin. It is worth mention that these material were determined in herbaria as Eugenia dichroma O. Berg (1857: 290) , however, the type of E. dichroma does not present reproductive structures and as far as we are able to see it is a Eugenia sect. Umbellatae species, being morphologically distinct from the entity in RNV.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phenological diagram of Eugenia species from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Flowering periods are represented by dark red border triangles, fruiting in grey filled triangles, and “n” is the number of observations.

FIGURE 9. A. Fruiting branch of Eugenia beaurepairiana (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.), B. Fruiting branch of Eugenia brasiliensis (K. S. Valdemarin s.n.), C. Fruiting branch of Eugenia brejoensis (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.), D. Eugenia bunchosiifolia (K.S. Valdemarin 761).