28. Noronhia emarginata (Lam.) Stadtm. ex Thouars., Gen. Nov. Madagasc. 88. 1806 (Fig. 20).

≡ Olea emarginata Lam., Tabl. Encycl. Méthod. 1: 29. 1791.

≡ Noronhia binia Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg. 1: 72. 1817.

≡ Noronhia chartacea Stadtm. ex Hook. in Bot. Misc. 2: 167. 1831.

Lectotypus (designated here): MADAGASCAR [Cultivé à l’Isle de France (=Mauritius)]: sine loc., s.d., Stadtmann s.n. (P-LA [P00356884, P00356885] images seen; isolecto-: G [G00439907] image seen) . Syntypi: MADAGASCAR: cultivé à l’Ile de France, s.d., Martin s.n. (G [G00439908, G00439909] images seen) . MADAGASCAR: sine loc., Noroña s.n. (G [G00188773] image seen, P [P03558859, P03558865]! probable syntypes) .

Description

Trees to 15 m tall, trunk to 30 cm diameter; young twigs cylindrical, 2-8 mm diameter, glabrous; bark gray to brownish, smooth, with scattered lenticels. Leaves opposite, persistent; bud scales persistent; blades dark green above, lighter below, obovate, 5.5-12 3 3-7.5 cm, very coriaceous, glabrous, domatia absent, base rounded, margin slightly revolute and undulate, apex obcordate to rounded (rarely mucronulate), the mucro 0-2 mm long, midrib flat above, distinctly raised below, secondary veins conspicuous, 5-11 per side, 10-21 mm apart, looping 1.5-4 mm from the margin; petiole dark gray to brown, 5-11 3 1.8-4.3 mm, entirely woody, glabrous. Thyrses geminate to fasciculate, pauciflorous, diffuse; peduncle 5-20 mm long, glabrescent; pedicel 4.5-12 mm long, glabrescent; calyx sparsely pubescent outside, glabrous inside, lobes triangular, 0.7-2 3 0.9-2 mm; corolla yellow, cupuliform to subrotate, 5-8 mm long, glabrous on both sides, the tube 2-4.5 mm long, lobes widely ovate, apex obtuse; corona present, 1.5-2.5 mm long, undivided; stamens 2.5-2.8 mm long, anthers widely oblong, 2-2.4 mm long; pistil 2.5-3 mm long, stigma capitate. Fruiting pedicel 75-14 3 1.5-3 mm; young fruits greenish, purplish black when mature, oblong, 24.5-37 3 17.5- 27 mm, smooth, sometimes covered with a white pellicle, apex flat to bluntly pointed or rostellate; dry pericarp 1.7-4.6 mm thick; endocarp woody; seed 14-25 3 8.5-15 mm.

Distribution, ecology and phenology

Noronhia emarginata occurs mostly in littoral to mid-elevation humid forests in the east, from Sambava to Fort-Dauphin (Fig. 19). It produces flowers and fruits all year long except in April and May.

Conservation status

With 34 collections representing 34 localities, the assessment indicated an EOO of 97,176 km 2, an AOO of 120 km 2, and 28 subpopulations representing 19 locations, of which 12 occur within protected areas (Agnalazaha, Ambohidena, Antetezana, Betampona, Loky-Manambato, Mandena, Manombo, Masoala, Petriky, Ste Luce, Vohibola, and Zahamena). Although the habitat in which N. emarginata is found exhibits some types of degradation, there is little likelihood that they will cause substantial decline in the near future. Therefore, N. emarginata is assigned a preliminary status of “Least Concern”.

Notes

Noronhia emarginata can be recognized by its coriaceous, obovate leaf blades, long-pedunculate inflorescences with yellow flowers, and large, oblong fruits with a thick pericarp. PERRIER DE LA BâTHIE (1949) indicated that the type specimen [P03558857] was collected by Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in eastern Madagascar. However, du Petit-Thouars returned from the island with his herbarium in 1802 (ALLORGE, 2003), which certainly postdates Lamarck’s description in 1791. Moreover, LAMARCK (1791: 29) clearly referred to a specimen collected by Joseph Martin (1788-1826), a French botanist from French Guiana, who also collected on Martinique and Mauritius (STAFLEU & COWAN, 1976-1988: 320), as “ex Insula Madagascar”. A thorough search of type specimens at G and P revealed several interesting collections. In particular, one of two specimens kept in the P-LA herbarium [P00356884, P00356885] bears the name Radtmann, which is undoubtedly a mistake for Jean Frédéric Stadtmann (1762-1807), who worked extensively in South Africa and the Malagasy Floristic Region (i.e. Madagascar, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes). Another collection found at G [G00439907] has the same handwriting and was annotated as “Noronhia Stadtman en l’honneur d’un naturaliste espagnol” (Fig. 20), which should thus be considered as a duplicate of the P-LA collection. Furthermore, two of Joseph Martin’s collections were found at G [G00439908, G00439909] bearing a different handwriting and with only part of the same annotation as the P-LA material [P00356884]. These collections should also be considered as type material. The specimen Stadtmann s.n. (as Radtmann s.n. in P-LA) is here designated as the lectotype since it is housed in Lamarck’s original herbarium, and is thus certainly the one he used to describe the species. The specimens Martin s.n. are here considered as syntypes. It is also interesting to note that one collection at G [G00188773] was made by Francisco Noroña (c. 1748-1788), which explains why Jean Frédéric Stadtmann chose to name this new genus after his Spanish botanist friend, who died in Mauritius shortly after he visited Madagascar (ALLORGE, 2003). During his visit to the Big Island, Noroña collected material that was later acquired by Delessert and is now kept at G (GUILLEMIN, 1833; S TAFLEU & COWAN, 1976-1988: 773). Some of Noroña’s duplicates are also housed at P, where they have been incorporated in various historical collections, and two collections from the Desfontaines herbarium at P may represent duplicates of the G sheet [P03558859, P03558865]. Noroña was very likely the first to collect N. emarginata in Madagascar and to bring the seeds back to the Jardin de Pamplemousse in Mauritius, where cultivated plants were subsequently sampled by various botanists such as Stadtmann and Martin. The cultivated plant sampled was used by LAMARCK (1791) as the type material for Olea emarginata before du Petit-Thouars validated the genus Noronhia in 1806.

Additional selected specimens examined

MADAGASCAR. Prov. Antsiranana: Sambava, [14°16’S 50°10’E], 9.IV.1967, Service Forestier 27697 (MO, P, TEF). Prov. Fianarantsoa: Mananjary, [21°13’S 48°21’E], III-IV.1909, Geay 7934 (P); Bassin inférieur de Matitana, X.1911, Perrier de la Bâthie 2382 (P); Nosy Varika, Ambahy, 20°46’57”S 48°28’54”E, 17.XI.2003, Rabevohitra et al. 4829 (MO, P, TEF); Manombo RS, 23°03’46”S 47°46’15”E, 14 m, 24.IX.2005, Rakotonirina et al. 464 (MO, P, TAN). Prov. Toamasina: Maroantsetra, Anjahana, Andranofotsy, 15°26’08”S 49°49’14”E, 10 m, 16.VII.2002, Antilahimena 1188 (G, MO); between Anantoraka and Manambia, 15°30’S 49°39’E, 10 m, 12.X.1997, Birkinshaw et al. 506 (MO, P, TAN); Sainte-Marie, [16°53’S 49°53’E], V.1847, Boivin 1776 (P); 1 km S of Ambila-Lemaitso, 18°48’S 49°09’E, 0-5 m, 7.XI.1988, Miller 3646 (K, MO, P, TAN); Sainte Marie, Lokintsy, forêt d’Ambohidena, 16°51’11”S 49°57’10”E, 1.VI.2004, Rabehevitra et al. 1206 (G, MO, P, TEF); Masoala PN, Antalavia, 15°47’S 50°02’E, 0 m, 20.XI.1994, Rahajasoa et al. 948 (MO, P, TAN); 6-10 km S of Ambila-Lemaitso, 18°54’S 49°08’E, 0-20 m, 6.III.1988, Schatz et al. 1942 (MO, P, TAN); Brickaville, Ambila, Andranokoditra, [18°36’S 49°15’E], 24.XI.1983, Service Forestier 32510 (TEF); Andrafetana, Mahatsara, 17°38’S 49°29’E, 5.VI.1991, Service Forestier 34304 (MO, TEF). Prov. Toliara: Fort-Dauphin, Eoala, 25°04’S 46°57’E, 0-10 m, 10.III.1989, Dumetz et al. 551 (MO, P, TAN, TEF); Fort-Dauphin, entre le pic St Louis et la mer, 1-5 m, 20.IX-6.X.1928, Humbert 5977bis (P); ibid. loc., 16.II.1955, Humbert 28962 (P); Petriky, 25°05’S 46°52’E, 10 m, 22.I.1990, McPherson et al. 14856 (G, MO, P, TAN, TEF); Mandena forest, 24°57’S 47°00’E, 2-15 m, 23.I.1990, McPherson et al. 14870D (MO); Ste. Luce, 24°46’S 47°09’E, 0-10 m, 17-18.I.1990, Rabevohitra 2162 (K, MO, P, TAN, TEF); Fort-Dauphin, Scott-Elliot 3050 (E, K, P); Manafiafy, 24°47’S 47°11’E, 17.I.1990, Service Forestier 33391 (TEF) .