Symplocos sousae Almeda (1982b: 255)

Kelly, Lawrence M., Almeda, Frank & Fritsch, Peter W., 2016, A taxonomic revision of Mexican and Central American Symplocos (Symplocaceae), Phytotaxa 264 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

27. Symplocos sousae Almeda (1982b: 255) . Type:— MEXICO. Jalisco: SE of El Chante and Aserradero along rd near El Guisar , an abandoned lumber mill, 2743 m, [20°17′N, 103°24′W], 24 November 1968, F. Boutin & F. H. Brandt 2562 (holotype CAS!, isotypes HNT!, MEXU-2!)

Shrubs 1–3 m tall or trees 5–10 m tall; juvenile branchlets and vegetative buds sericeous or strigose to glabrous, trichomes 0.2–0.8 mm long, white to brown. Petioles 3–8 mm long; leaf blades concolorous, elliptic to elliptic-ovate or elliptic-obovate, 5–11 × 2.3–5.8 cm, coriaceous, abaxially sparsely to densely strigose or strigillose, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins not adaxially impressed, base rounded or rarely obtuse or acute, margins entire or often serrulate distally, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences 1-flowered; peduncles absent or to 1 mm long; bracts and bracteoles not readily distinguishable, persistent, 5–9, distributed from the base of the flower and further down along peduncle, lowermost suborbicular to reniform, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–3 mm, uppermost broadly deltoid, 3–4.5 × 3.5–5 mm, glabrous, margins ciliate. Hypanthium glabrous. Calyx lobes 5, ovate, 3.5–5 × 3–4.5 mm, glabrous,

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margins ciliate. Corolla pink or red (Hinton 14226 and 14228), 5-lobed, 1.2–1.6 cm long; tube 2–3 mm long; lobes adnate to filament tube for 4–6 mm, oblong to obovate, glabrous. Stamens multiseriate; filament tube 5–7 mm long; distinct portions of filaments 3–6 mm long. Disk strigillose to subglabrous; style 7–11 mm long, glabrous; stigma deeply 5-lobed. Fruits green maturing to dark bluish purple, ovoid to ellipsoid, 1.6–2.4 × 1.2–1.9 cm, glabrous, apex gradually narrowed to base of erect or irregularly spreading calyx lobes; disk conical, apex partly visible, surpassed by calyx lobes; endocarp 4-locular, perimeter repand.

Vernacular name —None.

Illustration — Almeda (1982b: 256).

Phenology —Flowering November through February; fruiting April, August, and November.

Distribution and habitat — Mexico (western Oaxaca, western Guerrero, Jalisco [Sierra de Manantlán]), in Quercus - Pinus - Abies forests at 2490–3025 m elev. Figure 29 .

Conservation status —This Mexican endemic is known from 16 collections representing eight populations. Most of the collections were made in Oaxaca, with one from a nearby locality in Guerrero along its southern border with Oaxaca and three others from Jalisco, two of which are protected in the Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Manantlán. The EOO is 68,277 km ² and the AOO is 32 km ². Deforestation threats in many of its known localities indicate a projected decline in area, extent, and quality of habitat. Based on these data and coupled with its fragmented population structure, we assign a classification of Endangered (EN): B1ab(iii) to this species.

Discussion — Symplocos sousae can be distinguished by the combination of solitary, sessile or subsessile flowers; persistent, glabrous floral bracts; basally auriculate, glabrous calyx lobes; and large, glabrous fruits. Prior to its description, this species was confused with S. coccinea , which also has solitary flowers and large fruits. See the discussion under S. coccinea for a comparison of these two species.

Additional specimens examined — MEXICO. Guerrero: Dist. Galeana, Piedra Ancha , 3025 m, [16°35′N, 98°22′W], 5 March 1939, Hinton et al. 14226 ( NY!) ; Dist. Galeana, Piedra Ancha , 3025 m, [16°35′N, 98°22′W], 5 March 1939, Hinton et al. 14228 ( NY!) . Jalisco: NW-facing, steep rocky wooded arroyo near top of Sierra de Manantlán Oriental, along lumber rd to Cerro Las Cumbres 0.5 km due WNW of Cerro las Capillas , 18.5 km SSE of El Chante, 2760 m, 19°33′20″N, 104°09′15″W, 6 January 1980, Iltis et al. 2358 (CAS!, GH!, MEXU!, MO!, NY!, WIS) . Oaxaca: ridge just N of Chicahauxtla , 2470 m, [17°09′29″N, 97°50′11″W], 5 November 1983, Breedlove & Almeda 59741 (C!, CAS!, GH!, MEXU!, NY!) ; ridge just N of Chicahauxtla , 2470 m, 5 November 1983, Breedlove & Almeda 59746 (CAS!, MEXU!, MO!) ; 2 km N of San Isidro Chicahuaxtla on side rd to San Martin Donjioso, 2440 m, 27 October 1986, Breedlove 65485 ( CAS!) ; Mpio. San Andrés Chicahuaxtla, above Santo Domingo Chicahuaxtla , 2440 m, [17°10′22″N, 97°50′28″W], 26 October 1991, Breedlove & Mahoney 72239 ( CAS!) ; Santiago Juxtlahuaca, San Martín Peras, 1 km de la desviación al poblado de Escopeta, Km 24 carretera de San Sebastián Tecomoxtlahuaca, 2655 m, 17°17′N, 98°09′W, [17°17′36″N, 98°10′05″W] 30 November 1994, Calzada 19587 ( MEXU!) ; Santiago Juxtlahuaca, San Martín Peras, 1 km de la desviación al poblado de Escopeta , carretera Coicoyan de las Flores–Santiago Juxtlahuaca , 2655 m, 17°17′N, 98°99′W, [17°17′36″N, 98°10′05″W] 31 August 1995, Calzada & Clevinger 20144 ( MEXU!) ; Mpio. San Andrés Chicahuaxtla , 1 km al E de San Andrés Chicahuaxtla, carretera A Tlaxiaco, 17°12′N, 97°53′W, 2 December 1992, Campos V. et al. 4834 ( CAS!) ; San Andrés Chicahuaxtla between Nochixtlán and Putla, Cerro Zarzamora, 5000 ft, [17°09′24″N, 97°50′20″W], 28 January 1968, MacDougall & Carlson 3937 (F!); Cerro Zarzamora, San Andrés Chicahuaxtla , [17°09′24″N, 97°50′20″W], 15 April 1962, MacDougall s.n. (CAS!, MEXU!) ; Cerro Zarzamora, San Andrés Chicahuaxtla , December 1966, MacDougall s.n. (CAS-2!, MEXU!) ; Cerro Zarzamora, San Andrés Chicahuaxtla , 8000 ft, 28 January 1968, MacDougall s.n. (MEXU!, NY!) ; 1 km N de Chicahuaxtla , 2490 m, [17°09′55″N, 97°49′43″W], 8 February 1976, Sousa S. et al. 5163 (CAS!, MEXU-3!) .

Figures

FIGURE 29. Geographic distribution of Symplocos pycnantha and S. sousae.