Magnolia cochranei A.Vázquez, Recursos Forest. Occid.

Vázquez-García, J. Antonio, Kelly, Daniel L., Mejía-Valdivieso, Darío A., Morales, Wilson, Dahua-Machoa, Alex, Vega-Rodríguez, Hermes, Peña, Alondra Salomé Ortega, Padilla-Lepe, Jesús & Muñiz-Castro, Miguel Á., 2022, Magnolia (Magnoliaceae) in Honduras: a synopsis with six new taxa, Phytotaxa 570 (2), pp. 109-149 : 119-121

Magnolia cochranei A.Vázquez, Recursos Forest. Occid. México 1: 96–97, f. 1.5.3. 2012 [as “ cochranii ”]. ( Fig. 7 ).

Type:— HONDURAS. Depto. Cortés: around Visitor Center, 18 km W of San Pedro Sula, Cusuco National Park , 1640 m, 15°30’N, 88°13’W, 21 Mar 1993 (fl bud, fl), Mejía 356 (holotype: MO!; isotypes: EAP!, HEH!, IBUG!, TEFH!, WIS!) .

Trees 4–6 (–20) m tall; 16.0–34.0 cm dbh; bark slightly rough, whitish, aromatic, slash creamy orange, twig internodes 0.3–1.9 × 0.25–0.35 cm, yellowish green, glabrous, stipules adnate to the petiole, covering the entire length of the adaxial surface. Leaves petiolate, petioles 2.40–8.30 × 0.20–0.35 cm, glabrous; laminas 8–24 × 6–15 cm, ovate to broadly elliptic, occasionally lanceolate, obtuse to acute at the apex, usually obtuse at the base, glabrous, 7–10 secondary veins per side, aroma sweetish. Flowers creamy white, fragrant, 10–12.5 cm in diameter, trimerous, multiwhorled, hypsophylls 4–5, broadly ovoid, glabrous, peduncular internodes 4, peduncle 0.3–1.0 × 0.2–0.4 cm, glabrous, flower buds 1.9–3.2 × 1.8–2.5 cm, pale green, becoming dark, sepals 3, creamy white, 6.0–7.0 × 2.4–2.6 cm, spatulate, reflexed in male phase, concave, outer petals 3, creamy white, 6.8–7.0 × 2.5–3.2 cm, spatulate, concave in the upper third of their length, inner petals 3, creamy white, 4.5–5 × 1.8–2 cm, spatulate, concave in the upper third, alternating in arrangement with the outer petals, stamens 72–82; gynoecium ellipsoid, acute at base and apex, with 7–11(–12) carpels, creamy white at anthesis. Fruit ovoid (from the label, not seen) most likely narrowly ellipsoid and acute at the base and apex (inferred from the flower), carpels glabrous, seeds red (from the label, not seen).

Distribution, habitat and phenology: —Endemic to Honduras, frequent at 1300–2000 m ( Fig. 1 ; Table 2 ), in cloud forest or Pinus-Liquidambar styraciflua forest. Flower buds February–May, flowering March possibly through June, fruiting August, possibly through October.

Etymology and ethnobotany: —Honouring Theodore S. Cochrane, a true scholar of botany and long-time, meticulous curator of the University of Wisconsin Herbarium (WIS), who has collaborated with the first author of this paper for many years in many botanical endeavours. Magnolia cochranei is locally known as brotón [meaning shootproducer] (Kelly & Dietzsch BC1/SS7/8482; Dietzsch BA4/SS3/556), orquídea de árbol [orchid tree] (Kelly 11750), aguacatillo amarillo [little yellow avocado tree] (Kelly CO5/MS/945), hoja ancha [broadleaf] (Fritch GU1/MS/886) and amargoso [very bitter] (Lennkh et al. 12/292).

Notes: — Magnolia cochranei belongs to M. section Talauma subsect. Talauma . It differs from all other Honduran magnolias in having fewer carpels (7–11). Magnolia cochranei is similar to M. quetzal Vázquez, Véliz & Tribouillier in Vázquez-García et al. (2013b: 1) from Guatemala; however, it differs in having more numerous stamens (72– 82 vs. 40–45), and larger flowers (10–12.5 vs. 8–9 cm in diam.). Magnolia cochranei was first collected in Depto. Comayagua in 1956 by Molina-Rositto, who thought that this was M. yoroconte . Later and independently, MolinaRositto, Burger and Vázquez annotated unpublished names on herbarium specimens of this species. Molina considered this taxon related to Talauma gloriensis Pittier (1910: 94) [ M. gloriensis ], whereas Burger suggested a relationship to Talauma mexicana [ M. mexicana ]; however, the two species have more numerous carpels than this taxon (four and five times). Vázquez-García (2012a) formally published this taxon as M. cochranei [as M. cochranii ] from scarce material, including a minute flower that opened from a flower bud, and this mislead the author into treating this species as similar to M. morii ( Lozano-Contreras 1994: 13) Frodin & Govaerts (1996: 71) ( Vázquez-García et al. 2012a). Now, with flower material and pictures available, it is clear that M. cochranei is more similar to M. quetzal than to any other species of M. sect. Talauma subsect. Talauma . This species deserves further study since its mature fruits (either closed or dehiscent) are still unknown. Additionally, differences between populations from Cusuco (broadly ovate to broadly elliptic leaves) and Comayagua and Yoro (lanceolate leaves) may require taxonomic recognition.

Conservation status: —Endangered (EN), IUCN criterion B1ab(ii, iii). As this endemic species to Honduras is only known from a few localities in the Departments of Comayagua, Cortés, and Yoro, it must be a target for conservation and research efforts. The estimated known extent of occurrence (EOO) is 4,134 km 2 ( Rivers et al. 2016), the deforestation rate is high, its habitat is severely fragmented and there is an ongoing decline in area of occupancy (AOO) and quality of habitat ( Table 1 ).

Additional specimens examined: — HONDURAS. Depto. Comayagua: El Cedral, Cordillera Montecillos , 1600 m, 24 May 1956 (fl bud, fl), Molina-R. 7196 ( EAP, F!) ; Quebrada El Rincón, 15 km S of Siguatepeque, path to Jesus de Otoro , 1500 m, 6 Apr 1957 (fl bud), Molina-R. 7997 ( BIGUA, EAP) ; Base of south to east slopes of Cerro Cuchilla Alta, Reserva Biológica Cordillera de Montecillos , 11 km straight line SSE of Siguatepeque, 14°30’00”N, 88°52’30”W, 1860 m, 9 Feb 1993 (fl bud), Evans 1121 ( MO, WIS!) . Depto. Cortés: Cusuco Mountain, Cordillera de Idalfonso [San Ildefonso], 1500–2000 m, 26 May 1956 (fl bud), Molina-R. 7268 (fl bud) ( BIGUA, EAP) ; Cusuco, Cordillera de Idalfonso [San Ildefonso], N of Cofradía, 1600 m, 16–17 Apr 1957 (fl bud), Molina-R. 8194 ( BIGUA, EAP) ; Overhanging trail BC4 (sendero El Jardín), ca. 0.8 km W of Base Camp / Campamento Parque Nacional Cusuco, Sierra del Merendón , W of San Pedro Sula , 1640 m, 2 Jul 2006 (fl), Kelly 11750 ( TEFH, IBUG, TCD, BM) ; Plot BC 1/ SS7, on low ridge, along La Ines [La Inez] Trail, N of Base Camp / Campamento Parque Nacional Cusuco , Sierra del Merendón , W of San Pedro Sula, 1690 m, 11 Jun 2011 (fl), Kelly & Dietzsch. BC 1/SS7/8482 ( EAP, MO, TCD) ; Trail BC 1 River transect near Río de Cusuco, near Base Camp , Campamento Parque Nacional Cusuco , Sierra del Merendón , W of San Pedro Sula, 7 Jul 2019 (fl) Ward & Mullen CUBC2019-02 ( IBUG) ; La Lupe, Jungle training camp near Base Camp / Campamento Parque Nacional Cusuco , Sierra del Merendón , W of San Pedro Sula, 1 Jul 2019 (fl) Ward CUBC2019-01 ( IBUG) . Depto. Yoro: Around campamento Río Pijol , 6.2 km SE of Nueva Esperanza, Parque Nacional Pico Pijol , 15°12’N, 87°35’W, 1300 m, 28 May 1993 (fl bud), Mejía-Darío 453 ( EAP, HEH, MO, TEFH, WIS!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographic distribution of Honduran Magnoliaceae.

FIGURE 7. Magnolia cochranei A. Leaf variation. B. Flower at the male phase of protogyny. C. Fruit axis with seeds, from the type. D. Flower showing reflexed sepals at male phase and mature leaves. E–F. Developing fruits. B and D from Kelly & Dietzsch BC1/SS7/8482 (TCD). Photograph A by C. Lennkh, B and D by A. C. Dietzsch, 11 June 2011, C by A. Vázquez, E–F by W. Morales, September 2022.