Symplocos vatteri 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

32. Symplocos vatteri Standley & Steyermark (1947: 222) . Type:— GUATEMALA. Huehuetenango: moist cool mixed cloud forest with Pinus ayacahuite and Abies guatemalensis , around Rancho de Teja, 3 mi W of San Mateo Ixtatán, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, 3330 m, [15°49′30″N, 91°30′04″W], 9 July 1942, J. A. Steyermark 48463 (holotype F-2!, isotype US!)

Trees 5–20 m tall; juvenile branchlets and vegetative buds densely sericeous to pilose, trichomes 1.5–2 mm long, appressed to spreading, creamy white to brownish. Petioles 0.7–1.5 cm long; leaf blades bicolorous, elliptic-oblong, 7–17 × 3.5–7.2 cm, membranaceous, abaxially densely sericeous to appressed-pilose, adaxially glabrous to sparsely appressed-pilose, secondary veins not adaxially impressed, base obtuse to rounded, margins entire, apex acuminate to rarely obtuse. Inflorescences 1-flowered, peduncles 2–3.8 cm long, densely sericeous to pilose, trichomes 1.5–2 mm long, appressed to spreading; bracts absent; bracteoles caducous (not seen), 3–5 (evident from scars). Hypanthium densely sericeous laterally. Calyx lobes 5, broadly rotund, 4–5 × 5–6 mm, densely cottony-sericeous, margins densely sericeous. Corolla pink, 5-lobed, 1.5–2 cm long; tube 7–8 mm long; lobes adnate to filament tube for 9–10 mm, oblong, densely cottony-sericeous. Stamens ± 4-seriate; filament tube ca. 11 mm long; distinct portions of filaments 4–5 × 0.75–1 mm. Disk densely pilose; style 13–15 mm long, glabrous; stigma conspicuously and irregularly lobed. Fruits green maturing to dark bluish purple, broadly ellipsoid, 2–2.5 × 1.2–1.5 cm, strigillose, apex truncate to base of incurved-appressed calyx lobes; disk convex, enclosed within calyx lobes; endocarp 5-locular, perimeter rounded to slightly undulate.

Vernacular name —None.

Illustration — Figure 38 .

Phenology —Flowering June, August, and November; fruiting January and February.

Distribution and habitat — Guatemala, in cloud forests at 2400–3500 m elev. Figure 36 .

Conservation status — Symplocos vatteri is restricted to the mountains of western Guatemala where it is known from six populations, none of which occur in a protected area. The EOO is 1080 km ² and the AOO is 24 km ². Deforestation threats indicate a projected decline in area, extent, and quality of habitat. Based on these data, we assign a classification of Endangered (EN): B1ab(iii) to this species.

Discussion — Symplocos vatteri is distinguished by its combination of large, solitary flowers with densely cottony-sericeous sepals and petals.

The holotype consists of two sheets, which are labeled in Steyermark’s handwriting as “1 st sht” and “2 nd sht.”

Additional specimens examined — GUATEMALA. Huehuetenango: San Mateo Ixtatán, 3 mi SW of San Mateo Ixtatán along rd to San Pedro Soloma, 9600 ft, [15°49′30″N, 91°30′04″W], 6 February 1965, Breedlove 8628 (DS!, F!, US!); San Juan Ixcoy , 5 mi S of San Juan Ixcoy along rd to Huehuetenango, 9200 ft, [15°33′21″N, 91°30′09″W], 4 February 1965, Breedlove 8517 (DS!, F!); San Juan Ixcoy , 5 m S of San Juan Ixcoy along rd to Huehuetenango, 9200 ft, 5 August 1965, Breedlove 11503 (DS!, F!, US!); Sierra Cuchumatanes to San Juan Ixcoy ,

A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF SYMPLOCOS

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3500 m, [15°36′N, 91°27′W], 12–23 January 1966, Molina R. et al. 16580 (F!, NY!, US!); Sierra Cuchumantes Rd to San Juan Ixcoy , 3000 m, 18 November 1969, Molina R. 21301 (F!, GH!, NY!); Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, between Paquix and San Juan Ixcoy , 3000–3350 m, [15°30′36″N, 91°29′41″W], 8 January 1974, Molina R. et al. 30019 (F!, MO!); Mpio. Barillas , Aldea Nucá , 2500 m, [15°48′14″N, 91°18′54″W], 16 February 2005, Véliz 15748 ( MO!). Quiché: ca. 8 km W of Nebaj , 7800 ft, [15°24′30″N, 91°08′50″W], 19 June 1964, Contreras 5054 (DS!, MO!, NY!, S!); ca. 9 km SW of Nebaj , 7800 ft, [15°24′30″N, 91°08′50″W], 20 June 1964, Contreras 5074 (DS!, S!) .

Figures

FIGURE 36. Geographic distribution of Symplocos speciosa and S. vatteri.

FIGURE 38. Symplocos vatteri. a. Branchlet with flowers. b. Close-up of (a) showing pubescence of abaxial leaf blade surface. c. Flower bud. d. Flower. e. Corolla opened with attached stamens. f. Tope of disk, style, and stigma. g. Fruit. h. Fruit, cross section. (a, b, d–f drawn from E. Contreras 5074, DS; c drawn from D. E. Breedlove 11503, DS; g, h drawn from D. E. Breedlove 8517, DS.)