Symplocos culminicola Standley & Steyermark (1947: 222)

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

1. Symplocos culminicola Standley & Steyermark (1947: 222) . Type:— GUATEMALA. Chiquimula: summit of Volcán de Quezaltepeque , ca. 2000 m, [14°38′08″N, 89°26′29″W], 8 November 1939, J. A. Steyermark 31489 (holotype F!)

A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF SYMPLOCOS

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Trees 7–12 m (35 m fide T. Hawkins 583) tall; juvenile branchlets and vegetative buds glabrous; mature current-year branchlets brown. Petioles 5–11 mm long; leaf blades concolorous, elliptic-oblong, 8–14 × 2.5–6.2 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, secondary veins not adaxially impressed, base rounded to cuneate or obtuse and decurrent on the petiole, margins entire, ± revolute, apex broadly rounded. Inflorescences racemose cymes 5.5–22.5 cm long, 2–5-flowered; peduncle 0.4–2 cm long, 0.9–2.4 mm wide; rachis 2.5–18.5 cm long, glabrous; bracts caducous (not seen); bracteoles caducous (not seen), 2 or 3 (evident from scars); pedicels absent. Hypanthium glabrous or densely to irregularly covered with ferruginous vesicular trichomes. Calyx lobes 5, rounded, 2.8–4.5 × 3.9–5 mm, glabrous to rarely sparsely sericeous, margins ciliate. Corolla white, 5-lobed, 1.2–1.4 cm long; tube ca. 2 mm long, adnate to filaments for ca. 1 mm; lobes oblong, glabrous or distally sericeous. Stamens multiseriate, filaments 8–14 × 0.25 mm, distinct or connate for ca. 1 mm, filiform. Disk glabrous; style 8–9 mm long, glabrous; stigma inconspicuously lobed. Fruits green maturing to dark bluish purple, ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5–3.3 cm × 1.2–1.4 cm, glabrous, apex gradually narrowed to base of irregularly spreading calyx lobes; disk ± flat, apex barely visible, surpassed but not covered by calyx; endocarp 1-locular, perimeter 5-fluted.

Vernacular name —None.

Illustration — Figure 3 .

Phenology —Flowering May and June; fruiting February, March, and November.

Distribution and habitat — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, in cloud forests at 1700–3350 m elev. Figure 4 .

Conservation status —This species is known from eight populations, only two of which are protected (Parque Nacional Montecristo in El Salvador and Parque Nacional Cerro Azul Meámbar in Honduras). Thus the area, extent, and quality of habitat is projected to decline. The EOO is 10,358 km ² and the AOO is 28 km ². Based on these data, we assign a classification of Endangered (EN): B2ab(iii) to this species.

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Discussion — Symplocos culminicola has the largest inflorescences of any species in this revision. Remnant branches of the inflorescences often persist on the plants after flowering and fruiting, and these can be useful for vegetative identification of this species.

Additional specimens examined — GUATEMALA. Baja Verapaz: Unión Barrios on Salama/Cobán rd on top of hill ca. 3 km W, [15°11′01″N, 90°12′16″W], 8 February 1975, Lundell & Contreras 18969 (LL-2!); Niño Perdido, Quebrada Seca in high forest, 6 km N, [15°08′15″N, 90°10′40″W], 31 May 1977, Lundell & Contreras 21048 (LL!); Niño Perdido, Cerro Verde, [15°08′15″N, 90°10′40″W], 13 June 1977, Lundell & Contreras 21092 (CAS!, LL-2!). El Progreso: San Agustín Acasaguastlán, Albores, Finca Las Nubes, 2385 m, [14°57′N, 89°58′W], 29 March 1994, Oliva 29 M-2 (MEXU!); San Agustín Acasaguastlán, Albores, Finca Las Nubes, 2385 m, 26 March 1994, Oliva 74 (MEXU!); N of Finca Piamonte, between Finca Piamonte and summit of Volcán Santa Luisa, 2400–3333 m, 5 February 1942, Steyermark 43504 (F!, US-2!); Sierra de Las Minas, summit of Montaña Canahui, 1600 –2300 m, 10 February 1942, Steyermark 43808 (F!).

HONDURAS. Comayagua: Cerro Azul de Meámbar, 1700 m, [14°50′15″N, 87°53′43″W], 11 August 1974, Hazlett 1904 ( CR!); ridge leading to Cerro Azul peak, 10.5 km E of Lago Yojoa, 1870 m, 14°48′N, 87°53′W, 12 March 1993, Hawkins et al. 583 (CAS!, MO!) .

EL SALVADOR. Santa Ana: P. N. Montecristo, Transecto 1, entrada al Plan de Los Helechos, 2400 m, 13°21′N, 89°24′W, 29 October 2007, Flores & Carranza s.n. (LAGU, photo!); P. N. Montecristo, Municipio Metapán, Plan del Aguacate , 2400 m, 14°21′N, 89°24′W, 28 November 2007, Rodríguez et al. 1103 (LAGU, photo!) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Symplocos culminicola. a. Branchlet with inflorescences. b. Flower bud. c. Close-up of (b) showing ciliate calyx lobe margin. d. Flower. e. Style and stigma. f. Fruit. g. Fruit, cross section. (a–e drawn from C. L. Lundell & E. Contreras et al. 21092, CAS; f, g drawn from T. Hawkins 583, CAS.)

FIGURE 4. Geographic distribution of Symplocos culminicola and S. longipes.