Eugenia soteriana Giaretta & Valdemarin

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 : 72

46. Eugenia soteriana Giaretta & Valdemarin (in Valdemarin et al. 2019a: 105). ( Fig. 29 .)

Shrubs or trees 1.5–2.5 m tall. Twigs puberulent or glabrous when young; trichomes whitish. Young leaves puberulent or glabrate; trichomes whitish. Leaves with petioles 4–7 mm long, terete or canaliculate, puberulent; blades 70–105 × 23–40 mm, elliptic, narrow-ovate or lanceolate, discolorous when dry, lighter abaxially, not glaucous and glabrate or glabrous on both surfaces; bases obtuse or attenuate; apices acuminate or caudate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrous adaxially and puberulent abaxially; secondary veins 14–18 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 1.5–3 mm from the slightly revolute, and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous adaxially and raised abaxially. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, fascicle or raceme with late vegetative proliferation, sessile or with peduncle up to 1 mm long, rachis 1–15 mm long, puberulent; bracts 1–5 mm long, narrow-ovate or narrow-lanceolate, puberulent or glabrous, deciduous after anthesis; 4–6 flowers; pedicels 11–27 mm long, puberulent; bracteoles 4–6 mm long, free, narrow-elliptic or lanceolate, apices acute or acuminate, pubescent or puberulent, not reflexed, deciduous at anthesis; trichomes light brownish or whitish. Flower buds 2–3.5 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, pubescent hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, fused along the first third of the bud length, 2.5–3 × 1.5–3 mm, ovate, narrow-ovate or triangular, apices obtuse, puberulent; petals 4, obovate, oil glands evident; staminal ring puberulent; stamens with filaments 3–4 mm, anthers oblong; style 4.5–6 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 6–10 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 10–15 × 8–10.5 mm, ellipsoid, smooth, puberulent, purple when ripe; seeds 1–2 per fruit, 4–8.5 × 2.5–6.5 mm, ellipsoid, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Estrada Municipal Canto Grande , 14 September 2004, fl., D.A. Folli 4930 (CVRD!, SORO!, K!) ; ibid., 30 August 2006, fl., D.A. Folli 5348 (CVRD!, K!, SORO!) ; ibid., 13 December 2012, fl. and fr., G.S. Siqueira 850 (CVRD!, RB!, SORO!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia soteriana is known from the states of Bahia and Espírito Santo and is probably endemic to the Tabuleiro forest in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Muçununga vegetation, growing mainly in the understory.

Phenology: —Flowering in August through September; fruiting in December ( Fig. 5 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species can be assigned to Eugenia sect. Schizocalomyrtus due to its fasciculate inflorescences, calyx lobes fused in the first third of the bug length, and bracteoles deciduous at anthesis. Eugenia soteriana is morphologically similar to E. arvensis by its leaf blades elliptic or lanceolate with acuminate or caudate apex, midvein sulcate adaxially, and inflorescences in fascicles or raceme with late vegetative proliferation. However, it can be distinguished by its inflorescence with rachis of 1–15 mm long, flower bud 2–3.5 mm in diameter, and bracteoles 4–6 mm long and narrow-elliptic or lanceolate (vs. inflorescence with rachis up to 0.5 mm long, flower bud 4–5.5 mm in diameter, and bracteoles 1.5–2 mm long and ovate in E. arvensis ). Further discussion can be found in Valdemarin et al. (2019a).

Figures

FIGURE 5. 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 29. Dry specimen of Eugenia soteriana.