Cremastosperma magdalenae Pirie

Pirie, Michael D., Chatrou, Lars W. & Maas, Paul J. M., 2018, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical genus Cremastosperma (Annonaceae), including five new species, PhytoKeys 112, pp. 1-141 : 1

18. Cremastosperma magdalenae Pirie Fig. 27 , Map 3

Cremastosperma magdalenae Pirie, Blumea 50: 53, f. 6. 2005.

Type.

COLOMBIA, Antioquia: San Luis, Medellín-Bogotá highway, 8.1 km E of bridge over Río Caldera, 13 Mar 1983, Escobar, L.A. de & Folsom, J.P. 3309 (holotype: NY!, 2 sheets [NY00759135, NY00759134]; isotypes: HUA! [HUA0000058], U! [U0012249]).

Description.

Tree 3-7 m tall; young twigs glabrous. Leaves: petioles 6-14 mm long, 2-3 mm diam.; lamina narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 20-28 by 7-9 cm (index 2.5-3.1), chartaceous to subcoriaceous, olive to more lime green or brown above, darker below, glabrous on both sides, base obtuse to acute, apex acuminate (acumen 5-10 mm long), primary vein deeply grooved in basal 1/2 - 3/4, occasionally verrucose below, ca. 2 mm wide at widest point, glabrous, secondary veins 9-14, often 2 or 3 intersecondary veins, distance between from 4-5 mm at the base to 20-35 mm closer to the apex, angles with primary vein from 40-50° at the base to 70-80° closer to the apex, occasionally branching, occasionally forming more or less indistinct loops in the apical half, smallest distance between loops and margin 2-4 mm, tertiary veins rather reticulate. Inflorescences of single flowers, solitary or clustered in groups of two, axillary on leafy twigs; peduncles 2-3 by ca. 2 mm (in fruit); pedicels ca. 7 by 1 mm at the base, 1.5 mm at the apex (in flower), 16-20 by 1.5-2 mm at the base, ca. 3 mm at the apex (in fruit), peduncles and pedicels glabrous, two lower bracts, the apical one depressed triangular, ca. 1.5 by 2 mm, acute, persistent, glabrous, upper bract attached around midway along pedicel, broadly ovate to deltate, 0.5-2.5 by 1-2.5 mm, actute to obtuse, glabrous; closed flower buds not seen; flowers in vivo immature light green, black in sicco, sepals and petals glabrous; sepals fused for basal 1 mm, broadly to very broadly ovate, appressed, (2-) 5-7 by (2 –)– 5 mm, acute, mostly persistent, outer petals elliptic, ca. 12 by 7 mm, inner petals narrowly elliptic, ca. 12 by 5 m; androecium 2.5-2.7 mm diam., stamens ca. 0.7 mm long, connective appendage 0.3-0.4 mm wide. Monocarps 20-30, globose, symmetrical, 12-13 by 12-13 mm, green maturing to red in vivo, black in sicco, with a slightly excentric, 0.25 mm long apicule; stipes (immature) 9-10 by 1-1.5 mm; fruiting receptacle depressed ovoid, 7-9 mm diam. (only immature fruits seen); monocarps, stipes and receptacle glabrous. Seeds globose, shallowly pitted with a papery outer layer, ca. 13 by 11 mm, orange-brown, raphe neither raised nor sunken, regular.

Distribution.

Colombia (Antioquia, west side of the Magdalena valley).

Habitat and ecology.

Disturbed primary or secondary forest. At elevations of 670-1200 m. Flowering and fruiting: March.

Note.

Cremastosperma magdalenae can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the combination of globose monocarps and large sepals which mostly persist into fruiting (one slightly differing collection, Cárdenas 2899, displays immature fuits with smaller sepals only persistent on one of the two duplicates studied). Also noteworthy are the relatively short pedicels and the absence of indument on all parts. The absence of hairs on fruits and flowers reveals the blackish colour typical of specimens of Cremastosperma upon drying. Both C. panamense and C. pacificum (a species found on the Pacific coast of Colombia) also lack indument, but, amongst other differences, the sepals of both species are much smaller and do not persist into fruiting.

Preliminary conservation status.

Cremastosperma magdalenae is known from just four collections representing similar non-protected localities, three close to the highway between Medellín and Bogotá. Endangered [EN] (Table 1 ).

Other specimens examined

. COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Al Prodigio, 6°06'N, 74°48'W, 350 m a.s.l., 26 Jun 1990, Cárdenas et al. 2899 (COL, MO); Mun. San Luis, Medellín-Bogotá road, Río Samaná, 6°00'N, 74°50'W, 670 m a.s.l., 19 Mar 1982, Hernandez 251 (COL, HUA); Mun. San Luis, Medellín-Bogotá road, Río Caldera, 6°00'N, 74°50'W, 1000 m a.s.l., 13 Mar 1983, Juncosa et al. 736 (MO).

Figures

Map 3. Distribution of Cremastosperma awaense Pirie, C. dolichocarpum Pirie, C. magdalenae Pirie, C. napoense Pirie, C. pacificum R. E. Fr. and C. westrae Pirie

Figure 27. Cremastosperma magdalenae Pirie. a flower b fruiting twig and cross section of seed (a Hernandez 251 b Escobar & Folsom 3309).