Key to the Genera of Myrtaceae of Boyacá

The following key is heavily based on the works of Lucas et al., (submitted) and Landrum and Kawasaki (1997); Myrteola and Ugni are distinguished using characters presented in Landrum (1988).

1a. Fruits fleshy, adult leaves opposite..................................................................................................................................................... 2

2a. Stamens folded in the bud, testa membranous, cotyledons leafy and folded with hypocotyl encircling the cotyledons or swollen and starchy, hypocotyl reduced ................................................................................................................................................................. 3

3a. Flowers c. 10 mm diameter, in terminal or sub-terminal fascicles, stamens white or pink, fruits more than 15 mm diameter, strongly fragrant, cotyledons free, white or cream, enlarged and homogenous, hypocotyl not evident ............................................ Syzygium

3b. Flowers less than 7 mm diameter, in sub-terminal or axillary panicles, stamens white, fruits less than 12 mm diameter, not markedly fragrant, cotyledons green, free, leafy and folded, surrounded by the hypocotyl .................................................................... Myrcia

2b. Stamens straight in the bud, testa membranous or bony, cotyledons swollen and starchy or free and c-shaped or greatly reduced, never leafy and folded, hypocotyl never encircling the cotyledons ................................................................................................... 4

4a. Shrubs exclusive to altitudes over 1,600 m., calyx lobes acutely pointed, leaves less than 2 cm long; flowers solitary; cotyledons and hypocotyl of about equal length .................................................................................................................................................. 5

5a. Flowers erect; stamens exserted, anthers sub-globose, not glandular, as long as the filaments; placentation biseriate ....... Myrteola

5b. Flowers hanging; stamens included, anthers sagittate, glandular, as long as or shorter than the filaments; placentation usually multiseriate .................................................................................................................................................................................. Ugni

4b. Shrubs or trees of any altitude, calyx lobes usually ovate, leaves longer than 2 cm; inflorescence cymose, sometimes compound, racemose or flowers solitary............................................................................................................................................................... 6

6a. Flowers 4-merous, seed testa membranaceous, cotyledons swollen and starchy, hypocotyl reduced, usually fewer than 3 seeds per fruit; ovules emerging from the septum from a central placenta........................................................................................................ 7

7a. Individuals usually from altitudes over 1,400 m, flowers solitary or inflorescence of simple or complex dichasia, cotyledons swollen and homogenous, free ........................................................................................................................................ Myrcianthes

7b. Individuals from any altitude, flowers solitary, in fascicles or racemes, cotyledons swollen and homogenous, fused......... Eugenia

6b. Flowers (4)5-merous; seed testa bony; usually many seeds per fruit; placentation various but not emerging from a central placenta............................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

8a. Flowers 4 or 5-merous, calyx lobes not extended, style capitate, locules 1–5(-18), placentation usually in one or more series along an often-well-developed placenta, seeds numerous ........................................................................................................................... 9

9a. Petals and stamens white, mature fruits globose, as long as wide, often yellow or purple, not densely covered in lanate trichomes .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

10a. Leaves with widely looping lateral veins and no clear marginal vein, flowers with free calyx lobes, testa membranous or cartilaginous, .............................................................................................................................................................. Campomanesia

10b. Leaves usually with a distinct marginal vein, flowers with free or and tearing calyx lobes, testa bony................................ Psidium

9b. Petals and stamens red, mature fruits green, twice as long as wide, covered in white, lanate trichomes ................................... Acca

8b. Flowers 5-merous, calyx lobes with long apical leafy appendages, style simple, locules 2–6, placentation usually around a protruding, peltate placenta, seeds usually fewer than 10 ................................................................................................. Calycolpus

1b. Fruits capsular, adult leaves alternate or whorled to sub-opposite................................................................................................... 11

11a. Leaves distinctly whorled, linear, needle-shaped, calyx and corolla free. ......................................................................... Melaleuca

11b. Leaves lanceolate, more than 6 cm long and 1 cm wide, calyx and corolla fused into an operculum that is dehiscent at anthesis 12

12a. Inflorescence in compound corymbs, stamens red.............................................................................................................. Corymbia

12b. Inflorescence in simple corymbs, stamens white .............................................................................................................. Eucalyptus

Checklist of the Myrtaceae of Boyacá (Table 6)

New record for Boyacá

For the Myrtaceae 10 new species records are registered for Boyacá, none are endemic to the department.

New species records: Acca sellowiana, Calycolpus moritzianus, Corymbia ficifolia, Eucalyptus resinifera, Eugenia coffeifolia, E. linaresii, E. punicifolia, Myrcia bracteata, M. paivae, Myrcianthes rhopaloides .