Ficus gigantosyce Dugand (1942: 47)

Pederneiras, Leandro Cardoso, Mansano, Vidal De Freitas & Romaniuc-Neto, Sergio, 2017, Taxonomic synopsis of the Ficus sect. Pharmacosycea (Moraceae) from Colombia, Phytotaxa 313 (1), pp. 1-22 : 7-8

8. Ficus gigantosyce Dugand (1942: 47) .

Type:— COLOMBIA. Cundinamarca: Cordillera Oriental, carretera entre Facatativa y Anolaima, km 52, 29 May 1941, H. García-Barriga 10421 & R. Jaramillo (lectotype designated here: COL-3916! isolectotypes: COL-3915! COL-407615! F! US!).

Terrestrial trees, 15–30 m tall. Leaf blade 20–32 cm long, 8.5–13.5 cm wide, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, base generally cordate, apex acute, puberulent on both surfaces; secondary veins 26–33 pairs; petiole 4.0–9.0 cm long, puberulent, periderm persistent; stipules caducous, 1.2–20 cm long, puberulent. Syconia solitary; peduncle 10–17 mm long, glabrous; lateral bracts sometimes presents; receptacle 3.5–5.0 cm in diam. when dry, glabrous, apex rounded ( Fig. 4C ).

Distribution and habitat in Colombia: — Boyaca, Cundinamarca, Nariño, Quíndio, Risaralda, and Santander, in montane rainforests at elevations of 2000–2900 m ( Fig. 5 ).

Selected specimens: — COLOMBIA. Goudot s.n. (P). BOYACA: Villa de Leyva y San Pedro de Iguaque, Fernández 19976 (COL); Moniquirá y Gachantivá, Rangel 13264 (COL).— CUNDINAMARCA: Agua Bonita, carretera a Fusagasuga, Jaramillo s.n. (COL); Adelante de Zupatá, ca 6 km antes de Pacho, Galeano 566 (COL); Pacho, Vereda la Esmeralda, García-Barriga 18047 (COL, US); San Francisco, Vereda Sabaneta, Uribe 6062 (COL); Sasaima, Vereda La Victoria, hacienda Gualivá, García-Barriga 15335 (COL, US); Sasaíma, entre Vereda La Victoria y hacienda Gualiva. García-Barriga 15344 (COL); Cabeceras del Río Subia, cerca de Granada, Jaramillo-Mejia 466 (COL); entre Corrales e Pasca, Jaramillo-Mejia 262 (COL).— NARIÑO: La Florida, Río Barrancos, Díaz 1064 (COL).— QUINDÍO: Salento, Carretera Salento-La Ceja, Arbeláez 1843 (COL).— RISARALDA: Pereira, Parque Nacional Regional Ucumarí, Franco 2870 (COL).— SANTANDER: Vélez, Vereda Salento, km 11 vía Landázuri, Medina 136 (COL).

Notes:— There are three specimens of Ficus gigantosyce labelled as type in the Herbario Nacional Colombiano; i.e. COL 3915, COL 3916, COL 407615. Since Dugand (1942) did not label these specimens as being part of the same specimens they are considered as duplicates and a lectotype must be chosen (Art. 9.1 and 9.2). We chose the specimen COL 3916 because it has stipules and a syconium, which are informative characters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Twigs with syconia and stipules. A, B. Ficus dulciaria (Barbosa 8557, Correa 1286). C. F. gigantosyce (Garcia-Barriga 15335). D. F. insipida (Zarucchi 5028).

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Ficus gigantosyce, F. insipida, F. macrosyce, F. maxima, F. mexicana, F. mutisii and F. pulchella in Colombia based on herbarium specimens.