Conostegia ombrophila (Gleason) Kriebel, 2016

Kriebel, Ricardo, 2016, A Monograph of Conostegia (Melastomataceae, Miconieae), PhytoKeys 67, pp. 1-326 : 198-201

Conostegia ombrophila (Gleason) Kriebel comb. nov. Fig. 176

Conostegia ombrophila (Gleason) Kriebel. Basionym: Clidemia ombrophila Gleason, Brittonia 3(2): 138-139. 1939. Type: Panama: Foothills of Garagará, Sambú basin, southern Darien, alt. 30-500 m, February 1912, H. Pittier 5610 (holotype: US!, F!).

Description.

Shrub to small tree 1.5-3.5 m tall with terete, caducously furfurate-lepidote branches; the nodal line not evident. Petiole 0.2-2.1 cm. Leaves of a pair equal to unequal in size. Leaf blades 4.5-17.7 × 1-5.8 cm, 3-5-plinerved, with the innermost pair of primary veins arising about 1-2 cm above the base and usually diverging from each other at their point of origin, elliptic, cuneate, apex caudate-acuminate, the margin entire, pocket like domatia absent or usually present at the base abaxially where the innermost pair of veins divere from the midvein, adaxially glabrous, abaxially glabrous or caducously lepidote. Inflorescence a pseudolateral paniculiform cyme divaricately branching from the base with slender branches, 2.2-5 cm long, triangular to subulate and fused basally to forma a persistent, shallow amplexicaul collar, 1-1.5 × 0.5-1 mm, persistent. Flowers sessile or subsessile, 4-merous, not calyptrate or evidently fused in bud, flower buds 3-4 × 1.5-2 mm, the hypanthium 2.25-2.75 × 1.25-1.75 mm, subglobose, calyx lobes broadly triangular ovate, 0.5-1 mm long, calyx teeth subulate, 0.5 mm long. Petals 4.75-5 × 2.25-2.75 mm, translucent white, elliptic to oblong, spreading to reflexed, glabrous, rounded to emarginate. Stamens 8, 2.5-4 mm long, erect and radially arranged around the style, the filament 1.5-2.6 mm with a geniculation near the apex, translucent white, anthers 1-1.5 × 0.5-1 mm, elliptic-ovate and laterally compressed, yellow, the pore truncate to dorsally inclined, ca. 0.19 mm wide. Ovary 4-locular, inferior, glabrous. Style 6.5-7 mm, straight to slightly curving, vertical distance of the anthers from the stigma 2.25-2.75 mm, horizontal distance absent, stigma punctiform, 0.35-0.5 mm wide. Berry 4-5 × 4-5 mm, dark purple to black. Seeds 0.4-0.9 mm long, ruminate to tuberculate, smooth.

Distribution

(Fig. 177 ). Nicaragua, Costa Rica (including Cocos Island) and Panama, at 0-1800 m.

Conostegia ombrophila can be recognized by its almost entire glabrosity, relatively small plinerved leaves with caudate apices and pocket domatia usually present at the base of the lamina abaxially. It also has pseudolateral, divaricately branched and wiry inflorescences with persistent bracteoles fused at the base to form a small collar. Its anthers are laterally compressed and their shape is unusual in that they are somewhat ovate and conspicuously flatted at an angle towards the apex. Conostegia ombrophila in general is a very uniform species morphologically but two morphotypes of the species are recognizable. The common morphotype occurs more commonly at middle elevation cloud forests and has leaf domatia at the base of the blade abaxially. The lowland morphotype which occurs for example at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica does not tend to have domatia. Suprisingly, the two morphotypes did not form a sister pair in the molecular phylogeny. Further morphological studies should be made and more populations collected for genetic analyses. The non domatia bearing morphotype can also resemble Conostegia grayumii in places where they are sympatric like in the Sarapiquí area in Costa Rica. The latter can be distinguished by the more glabrous and smaller leaves of Conostegia grayumii as well as the five merous flowers and seeds with tubercles on the edges in the latter. In the lowlands, it is not uncommon to find several fruit with galls.

Specimens examined.

COSTA RICA. Cartago: Paraíso, Kiri Lodge, sendero a la catarata, Kriebel et al. 5468 (INB, NY); loc. cit, Kriebel and Solano 3120 (INB, NY); Pejibaye, R. V. S. La Marta, Kriebel and Soto 4887 (INB, NY); Turrialba, P.N. Barbilla, Sector Quebrada San Miguel, Camino a Moravia de Chirripo , Mora and Rojas 1519 (CAS, CR, INB, NY); Turrialba, El Humo, Albergue El Copal, Santamaría and González 6407 (INB, NY) . Guanacaste: Cordillera de Tilarán, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve along the sendero El Valle, Almeda and Anderson 5441 (CAS, CR, NY) . Heredia: Sarapiquí, La Tirimbina, Kriebel and González 5396 (INB, NY) . Limón: Talamanca, P.N. La Amistad, Bratsi, sendero Transtalamanca, entre Ujarrás y San José Cabécar, alrededores del Rio Coen , Rodríguez et al. 10911 (INB, NY); R. B. Bosque Lluvioso, Sendero derecho, Vargas, Blanco and Umaña 3528 (INB, NY). San José: P. N. Braulio Carrillo, cerca del tú nel, Kriebel 4896 (INB, NY); Dota, estribaciones sureste del Cerro Lira, Martén and Herrera 745 (CR, NY) .

NICARAGUA. Zelaya: along new road to Mina Nueva America (leading more or less westward from 14.3 km N of El Empalme on main road to Rosita), ca. 7.7 km from main road, Stevens and Krukoff 12706 (CAS).

PANAMA. Bocas del Toro: on Chiriqui trail E slope of La Zorra to Divide, Kirkbride and Duke 828 (NY) . Coclé: Along river leading up mountain to Alto Calvario and trout stream from La Junta near Limon, Folsom 5886 (MO, NY) . Panama: Cerro Campana, McDaniel 6885 (NY) . Veraguas: 5 km w of Santa Fé on road past Escuela Agrícola Alto Piedra on Pacific side of the divide, Croat 22987 (MO, NY); Primary forest on Caribbean slope above Rio Primero Brazo 5 mi nw of Santa Fé, Croat 23207 (MO, NY); Valley of Rio Dos Bocas along road between Escuela Agrícola Alto Piedra and Calovebora 15.6 km northwest of Santa Fe , Croat 27626 (MO, NY); Along the Santa Fé to Colevebora road beyond Escuela Agricola Alto Piedra along first mayor stream ca. 3 mi from the fork in the road at the school, Croat 49008 (MO, NY) .

Figures

Figure 176. Conostegia ombrophila. A Flowering branch. Note marsupiform domatia B Flower C Leaf abaxial surface D Fruits E Flower at early anthesis with stamens still inflexed F Pickled flower at anthesis G Longitudinal section of a flower at anthesis with the style removed H Petal I Stamen J Style K Stigma. Photos A-B, E-K of specimen vouchered R. Kriebel 3120, and C-D from specimen vouchered R. Kriebel 5396.

Figure 177. Distribution of Conostegia ombrophila.