Eugenia sudestis Sobral, 2018

Sobral, Marcos & Souza, Marcelo Costa, 2018, Two new Brazilian Atlantic Forest Eugenia (Myrtaceae), Phytotaxa 382 (2), pp. 221-226 : 224

2. Eugenia sudestis Sobral , sp. nov.

Type:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Santa Teresa, Nova Lombardia , Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi , divisa trilha da Tronqueira , 04 September 2000, R.R. Vervloet, E. Bausen & W. Pizziolo 809 (holotype MBML!; isotype HUFSJ!) . Figure 2 .

Diagnosis:—This species is morphologically related to Eugenia persicifolia O.Berg (1857–1857: 226), from which it can be distinguished by its glabrous young blades (versus subsericeous in E. persicifolia ), adult blades with midvein adaxially raised or rarely plane (vs. sulcate), lateral veins and higher order venation clearly visible and raised adaxially (vs. not raised and scarcely visible adaxially), flowers developing from auxotelic inflorescences, not axillary (vs. inflorescences not auxotelic, the flowers solitary and axillary) and flowers with glabrous calyx lobes (vs. adaxially puberulous).

Description:—Tree 8– 14 m. Twigs grey when dry, slightly quadrangular, with white scattered simple trichomes to 0.2 mm, these falling with age. Leaves opposite, with petioles 7–10 × 1–1.2 mm, adaxially applanate or sulcate; blades narrowly elliptic to elliptic-oblong, 58–115 × 24–45 mm, 1.6–3.8 times longer than wide, glabrous, discolorous when dry, dark dull green adaxially, lighter abaxially; glandular dots to 0.1 mm in diameter, 10 to 15/mm², usually better viewed when backlit, occasionally visible on both faces, darker than the surface; base acute; apex acute to acuminate in 7–10 mm; primary vein raised or biconvex, rarely plane, adaxially and markedly raised abaxially; secondary veins 8 to 16 at each side, visible and raised on both sides, leaving the primary vein at angles 50–60°; intramarginal veins two, the innermost 2–4 and the outermost 1–1.5 mm from the margin, the margin itself plane or slightly revolute and with a yellowish thickening to 0.1 mm wide. Inflorescences auxotelic, when young with a racemiform appearance, with internodes to 1 mm, these extending as long as the other internodes and originating adult leaves distally, with 4 to 8 flowers; bracts not seen; pedicels 10–25 × 0.2–0.4 mm, glabrous; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, 1–1.2 × 0.3–0.4 mm, glabrous, deciduous at anthesis; flower buds elliptic to obovate, 4–6 × 3 mm; calyx lobes 4, about the same size, triangular, 1–3.5 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous on both faces; petals 4, obovate, 3–4 × 2.5 mm, glabrous; staminal ring to 2 mm in diameter, glabrous, sometimes subquadrate; stamens with filaments 3–4 mm and the anthers elliptic, 0.4–0.6 × 0.3 mm, apparently eglandular; hypanthium tube absent; style 6–7 mm, glabrous, the stigma punctiform; ovary with two glabrous locules and 6 to 8 ovules per locule. Fruits globose, to 20 mm in diameter, orange when ripe (according to collection Pereira & Joel s.n.), glabrous; seeds not examined.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:—This species is presently known from montane rainforests at 700–840 m elev. from the southeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo (municipalities of Santa Maria do Jetibá and Santa Teresa) and from coastal forests (“restingas”) in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Armação de Búzios); flowers were collected in September and fruits in October, December and February.

Conservation:—The area encompassed by the municipalities of Santa Maria do Jetibá, Santa Teresa and Armação de Búzios are about 1,000 km ² (estimate via Geocat); if this area is considered as the Extent Of Occurrence of the species (EOO; see IUCN 2017), it would point to the conservation status of Endangered (EN); nevertheless, since additional information on other environmental data is wanting, it seems adequate to score this species presently as DD (Data Deficient) according to IUCN conservation criteria ( IUCN 2017).

Affinities:—This species is related to Eugenia persicifolia (type image: W 66042), a species presently known from rainforests of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, from which it is distinguished by the characters given in the diagnosis. The records of E. persicifolia for the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro ( INCT 2018) are indeed the species described here. This species, due to its inflorescence structure, can be possibly assigned to Eugenia section Umbellatae (for sectional arrangement, see Mazine et al. 2018).

Etymology:—The epithet is allusive to southeastern Brazil, where the species occur.

Paratypes:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Santa Maria do Jetibá, Rio das Pedras, terreno de Paulo Kuzanki (área 2), 700 m, 10 December 2002, L. Kollmann, M.V.S. Berger & S.M.G. Casagranda 5842 ( BHCB!, MBML!) ; Santa Teresa, Estação Biológica de Santa Lúcia , 22 October 1992, L.D. Thomaz 1430 ( BHCB!, ESAL, MBML!). Rio de Janeiro: Armação dos Búzios, Baía Formosa , Sítio Rancho Dez , próximo à praia de Jose Gonçalves , 25 February 2003, T. Pereira & Joel s.n. ( RB 388324 !) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Eugenia sudestis (isotype at HUFSJ; scale: 50 mm).