Myrcia hypophaea Sobral, 2015

Sobral, Marcos, Faria Jr, Jair E. Q., Ibrahim, Marla U., Lucas, Eve J., Rigueira, Dary, Stadnik, Aline & Dcnat-Ufsj, Daniel Villaroel, 2015, Thirteen new Myrtaceae from Bahia, Brazil, Phytotaxa 224 (3), pp. 201-231 : 216-218

8. Myrcia hypophaea Sobral , sp. nov. Type:— BRAZIL. Alagoas: mun. Satuba, APA do Catolé , 22 September 2004, G. Araújo, M. Bonfim & J. Cláudio 14 (holotype RB!; isotypes HUEFS, MAC). Figure 9 .

This species is apparently related to Myrcia decorticans , from which it is distinguished through its subsessile leaves (mostly petioles to 3 mm versus up to 10 mm in M. decorticans , the ratio blade length / petiole length 25–30:1 versus 10–20:1, although occasionally they overlap) with wider blades (up to 1.8 times longer than wide versus 2–3 times), these abaxially darker (vs. usually adaxially darker) and with rounded apex (vs. acuminate) and larger inflorescences (with about 200 flowers vs. less than 100 flowers).

Tree 5– 12 m. Plants glabrous except for simple erect grey or rufescent trichomes to 0.1 mm uniformly scattered along the inflorescences axes. Twigs light grey to brown, terete, sometimes exfoliating; internodes 10–30 × 3–4 mm. Leaves with petioles 1.5–3 × 2–2.3 mm, adaxially sulcate, darker than the blades when dry; blades rounded to widely elliptic or slightly obovate, 45–74 × 35–60 mm, 1–1.8 times longer than wide, markedly discolorous when dry, adaxially light dull brown and abaxially dark brown; glandular dots smaller than 0.05 mm in diameter, up to 10/mm², visible abaxially; apex obtuse to rounded; base rounded, cordate above the petiole and occasionally concealing it when viewed adaxially; midvein sulcate or flat adaxially and strongly raised abaxially; lateral veins 9 to 13 each side, leaving the midvein at angles of 70–80°, visible adaxially and moderately raised abaxially, the secondary lateral also moderately visible on both sides; marginal vein 2.5–4 mm from the margin, the margin itself plain to strongly revolute. Inflorescences three to five, axillary or at the apex of branches, not subtended by leaves, with more than 200 flowers, the main axis 80–100 × 80 mm, triangular in profile, with up to five branches arising from the main axis, these smaller toward the apex, the proximal ones up to 45 mm and the distal ones to 5 mm; bracts not seen; flowers sessile; bracteoles deciduous early before anthesis, apparently one per flower, narrowly triangular, to 0.7 × 0.2–0.3 mm, sometimes displaced and inserted directly on the ovary, with one to three linear colleters to 0.3 × 0.1 mm at their adaxial base; flower buds obovate, 1.5–1.8 × 1.3–1.5 mm; calyx lobes four to five, clearly distinct from each other, widely rounded, slightly unequal between them, 0.3–0.6 × 0.6–1 mm, reflexed at anthesis; petals four to five, white, rounded, 1–1.5 × 1.5 mm; stamens about 50, to 4 mm, the anthers globose, to 0.2 × 0.2 mm, eglandular; staminal ring 1.2–1.3 mm wide, glabrous; calyx tube 0.4–0.6 mm deep; style to 4 mm, the stigma punctiform; ovary bilocular, with two ovules per locule. Fruits immature, oblate, to 4 × 5 mm, crowned by the calyx lobes; seeds two, reniform, to 4 × 2.5 mm, with shining brown testa; embryos destroyed by insects in the examined fruits.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:—This species in presently known from coastal rainforests of northeastern Brazil, since the municipality of Esplanada, in the state of Bahia, to João Pessoa, in the state of Paraíba; flowers were collected in January, July, September, October and November and fruits in March.

Conservation:— Myrcia hypophaea was collected along a considerable extension in northeastern Brazil; the distance between the northernmost and the southernmost collection is of about 800 km, what could point to a conservation status of less concern. Nevertheless, although the relatively large occurrence area, it is known that coastal ecosystems in Brazil are frequently under intense anthropic pressures such as urbanization and agriculture; considering the lack of additional information on these topics, it seems adequate to score this species as DD (Data Deficient) according to the IUCN conservation criteria ( IUCN 2001).

Affinities:—This species presents characters such as paniculiform inflorescence, glabrous staminal ring, discrete calyx lobes, calyx tube present and bilocular ovary, that match the characters considered by Lucas et al. (2011) as diagnostic of their informal “group 9”, which comprises most species of the former genus Aulomyrcia O.Berg ( Berg 1855 –1856: 35). Myrcia hypophaea is apparently related to Myrcia decorticans De Candolle ( De Candolle 1828: 252; type image: M barcode 0136900), a laxly defined species presently considered to occur in northeastern Brazil, Amazonia and West Indies that possibly encompasses more than one entity (see discussion in McVaugh 1969: 83), with which it is compared in the diagnosis.

Etymology:—The epithet is derived from the Greek words for “dark on the underside”, alluding to the color of the dry blades.

Paratypes:— BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Cardeal da Silva, Fazenda Azevedo , 12º00’ S, 37º08’ W, 27 July 1990, M. C. Ferreira 267 ( HRB!, HUEFS!, INPA!) ; mun. Esplanada, Fazenda do Bu, Mata do Fundão , trilha 1, 12º01’22” S, 43º00’22” W, 06 October 1995, M. C. Ferreira & L. N. Silva 801 ( ALCB!, CEPEC, HRB!, HUEFS!, IPA, RB!) ; idem, idem, Mata do Bonito , 12º02”26” S, 37º42’26” W, 13 December 1995, T. Jost et al. 161 ( HRB!, IPA, RB!) ; idem, ca. 11 km E da BR-101, na estrada Esplanada-Conde ( BA –233), no rio Itariri, 28 August 1996, L. P. Queiroz & N. S. Nascimento 4677 ( HUEFS!, HUFSJ!). Paraíba: mun. João Pessoa, rio Jacarapé , 08 September 1991, M. R. Barbosa 1242 ( JPB, RB!) ; idem, Mangabeira VII, 30 November 1992, O. T. Moura 895 ( JPB, RB!). Pernambuco: mun. Igarassu , Refúgio Ecológico Charles Darwin , 29 September 1995, L. Figueiredo 271 ( PEUFR!) ; idem, Usina São José, Mata da Zambana , 07º42’58” S, 34º59’26” W, 18 October 2007, A. Alves-Araújo, D. Sotero & N. Albuquerque 623 ( BHCB!, IPA!) ; idem, Usina São José, na borda da Mata da Chave , 07º49’12,66” S, 35º00’35,92” W, alt. 100 m, 08 September 2008, T. N. F. Guerra 139 ( RB!) .