Daphnopsis filipedunculata Nevling & Barringer (1993: 335)

Watanabe, Mauricio Takashi Coutinho, Mota, Nara Furtado de Oliveira, Mayara Pastore,, Santos, Fernando Marino Gomes dos & Zappi, Daniela Cristina, 2018, Completing the jigsaw: the first record of the female plant of Daphnopsis filipedunculata (Thymelaeaceae), an endemic species from the Brazilian Amazon, PhytoKeys 109, pp. 93-101 : 95-98

Daphnopsis filipedunculata Nevling & Barringer (1993: 335)

Type.

Brazil. Pará: Serra dos Carajás, 6 km SE of AMZA camp N-1, 6°03'S, 50°16'W, 650 m elev., 19 May 1982, C.R. Sperling et al. 5734 (holotype: F; isotypes: GH, K, MG, MO, NY).

Emended description. Pistillate individuals: Shrubs to treelets to 3 m tall. Leaves alternate, concentrated distally on the branches; petioles 1-3 mm long, green to brownish, tomentose, trichomes erect; leaf blade elliptic, 6-13.5 × 2.5-5.5 cm, sericeous on both surfaces, denser on the primary veins; base cuneate; apex acute to acuminate; primary and secondary veins prominent on both surfaces. Pistillate inflorescence axillary, producing densely pilose, subcapitate 3-5-flowered racemes; bracts absent; primary peduncle elongating greatly during anthesis, when flowers opened 3-7.4 cm long, 0.2-0.5 mm wide at the midpoint. Pistillate flowers 3-5 mm long; hypanthium urceolate, 2-4 mm long, 2-3 mm wide at opening/constriction, pubescent outside, trichomes erect; calyx lobes 4, triangular to rounded, ca. 1 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide, revolute; staminodes absent; disc free, irregularly 6 –8– lobed, the lobes acute, ca. 0.5 mm long; gynoecium 3-4 mm long, style 1-2 mm long, subterminal, stigma discoid, ovary ovoid, unilocular, 1-1.2 mm wide, densely pilose. Fruits berry-like, green to yellow initially, turning dark red when ripe, irregularly globose, 5-15 × 4-12 mm, pilose, trichomes white to greyish, the style and hypanthium often persistent, tearing regularly, longitudinally as fruit matures. Seeds pyriform, 2-3 × 4-5 mm. (Figures 1 , 2 )

Material examined.

Brazil. Pará: Parauapebas, Floresta Nacional de Carajás-Serra dos Carajás, Serra Norte, Plateau N1, mata baixa, 21 June 2012 [staminate fl.], L.C.V. Silva et al. 1263 (MG); Plateau N1, 6°02'46"S, 50°16'06"W, 693 m elev., 26 May 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 392 (MG); Plateau N1, 06°02'46"S, 50°16'06"W, 693 m elev., 31 May 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 393 (MG); Plateau N1, 06°02'45"S, 50°16'06"W, 679 m elev., 30 May 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 394 (MG); Plateau N1, 06°02'46"S, 50°16'06"W, 693 m elev., 31 May 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 396 (MG); Plateau N1, 6°02'43.2"S, 50°14'44.3"W, 8 Aug. 2017 [pistillate fl.], M.T.C. Watanabe et al. 485 (BHCB, MG, RB); Plateau N2, 06°03'38"S, 50°14'46"W, 707 m elev., 24 Aug. 2012 [staminate fl.], A.J. Arruda et al. 1269 (BHCB); Plateau N2, 06°03'09"S, 50°15'21"W, 705 m elev., 26 Jul 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 397 (MG); Plateau N2, 06°03'09"S, 50°15'21"W, 697 m elev., 26 July 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 398 (MG); Plateau N3, 21-31 July 2017 [staminate fl.], L.C.B. Lobato 4298 (MG); Plateau N3, 06°02'44"S, 50°12'35"W, 716 m elev., 30 May 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 395 (MG); Plateau N3, 06°02'45"S, 50°12'29"W, 714 m elev., 30 May 2017 [fruit], F.M.G. Santos et al. 399 (MG); Plateau N3, 06°02'45"S, 50°12'30"W, 714 m elev., 26 June 2017 [pistillate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 400 (MG); Plateau N3, 06°02'47"S, 50°12'28"W, 720-869 m elev., 26 Jun 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 401 (MG); Plateau N3, Floresta ombrófila aberta, 06°02'45"S, 50°12'30"W, 706 m elev., 22 June 2017 [staminate fl.], M.V. Waldir 276 (MG); Plateau N4, 06°06'54"S, 50°11'03"W, 678 m elev., 01 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 402 (MG); Plateau N4, 06°06'55"S, 50°11'02"W, 680 m elev., 1 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 403 (MG); Plateau N5, 06°06'15"S, 50°08'13"W, 706 m elev., 31 May 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 404 (MG); Plateau N5, Lagoa da Mata, 06°02'29"S, 50°05'18"W, 664 m elev., 1 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 408 (MG); Plateau N5, Lagoa da Mata, 06°02'29"S, 50°05'18"W, 664 m elev., 24 March 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 409 (MG); trilha para Lagoa, plateau N5, 06°02'28.5"S, 50°5'15"W, 667 m elev., 21 June 2015 [staminate fl.], R.M. Harley et al. 57246 (MG); Plateau N5, Aug. 2017 [fr], M.T.C. Watanabe et al. 482 (MG) Plateau N5, trilha da mata, 06°03'20"S, 50°05'15"W, 682 m elev., 14 Aug. 2016 [staminate fl.], L.V. Vasconcelos & M.E.L. Lima 933 (MG); Plateau N6, 06°07'33"S, 50°10'44"W, 704 m elev., 1 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 405 (MG); Plateau N7, 06°09'12"S, 50°10'22"W, 677 m elev., 1 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 406 (MG); Plateau N7, 6°09'13"S, 50°10'20"W, 697 m elev., 1 June 2017 [staminate fl.], F.M.G. Santos et al. 407 (MG); Serra dos Carajás, 6 km SE of AMZA camp, 6°03'S, 50°16'W, 650 m elev., 19 May 1982 [staminate fl.], Sperling et al. 5734 (F, GH, K, MG, MO, NY).

Taxonomic notes.

Vegetative parts of pistillate plants of Daphnopsis filipedunculata are very similar to male plants. Staminate flowers have pistillodes and a deeply 4-lobed disc, while the pistillate flowers lack staminodes and the disc is irregularly 6 –8– lobed. The female inflorescences bears three to five flowers, however only one or two of these usually develop into fruit (Figures 1 , 2 ). Figure 1A (adapted from Mota and Giulietti 2016) represents a staminate individual with a floral bract and branched peduncle; however, through analysis of the above-listed material, it was found that only a single duplicate of Harley et al. 57246 (unfortunately the one selected to be drawn) shows these characters. No other specimen had bracts, not even bract scars and none had apically branched peduncles. Therefore, we believe that the bract illustrated in Mota and Giulietti (2016) is an unusual feature uncommonly found in this species.

Populations are formed of isolated clumps of individuals separated by small distances (20-50 m), which makes it difficult to define the limits between adjacent individuals. Within a clump, sometimes individuals are found growing very close together and sometimes found suckering, presenting clonal behaviour that presumably also occurs in other groups of Thymelaeaceae , such as the African and Malagasy Gnidia L. ( Rogers 2009). It is impossible to distinguish morphologically between individuals of different sexes of D. filipedunculata unless they are fertile, but during our studies, we observed that pistillate individuals are normally found at lower frequencies than staminate ones. Fertile specimens were collected between May and August, with occasional fertility in March in both sexes.

Distribution and habitat.

Endemic from the canga of the Serra dos Carajás, this species is restricted to the formation known as Serra Norte, where it grows in low, deciduous forest over ferruginous soil ( Mota and Giulietti 2016) in transitional areas between open canga and ombrophilous forest. It is restricted to the plateau areas, having never been found in open forests on the slope. Populations with individuals from both sexes were found on all iron rock outcrops plateaus from N1 to N7 and an additional population was found only to contain male individuals on a small canga outcrop area known as Lagoa da Mata.

IUCN preliminary conservation assessment.

Daphnopsis filipedunculata has only been recorded within the FLONA Carajás, at the Serra Norte (N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6 and N7). According to the criteria set by IUCN (2012, 2017), the species is assigned a preliminary conservation assessment of Endangered [EN B1ab(i,ii,iii)+2ab(i,ii,iii); D], as it has a restricted distribution with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 159.28 km2 and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 44 km2, based on a cell size of 4 km2. The total population size is estimated as fewer than 250 mature individuals. In addition to being known from a single general site, the species has an inferred and projected decline in both its EOO and AOO and in its quality of habitat that is located adjacent to the mining area within the FLONA Carajás. Conservation proposals are currently being elaborated for this species in the management plan of this sustainable use protected area.

Figures

Figure 1. Daphnopsis filipedunculata Nevling & Barringer, male individual (A-D) and female individual (E-O). A staminate flowering branch B base of leaf blade C detail of inflorescence with staminate flowers D dissected staminate flower with two whorls of stamens and one pistillode E pistillate flowering branch F detail of inflorescence with three pistillate flowers (fresh material) G detail of inflorescence with five pistillate flowers (dry material) H pistillate flower (dry material) I pistillate flower (fresh material) J Pistil with disc K dissected pistil, longitudinal cut of the ovary showing pendulous ovule L details of the lobed disc in female flower M fruit N seed O embryo. Drawn by Joao Silveira (A-D modified from Mota and Giulietti 2016) (E, G-H, J-L, N-O Watanabe et al. 485, F, I, M Santos et al. 395 and 396).

Figure 2. Daphnopsis filipedunculata Nevling & Barringer. A pistillate flowering branch B detail of inflorescence with pistillate flowers C immature fruit with persistent hypanthium D, E mature fruits. Photographs by Fernando M. Santos.