Punjuba centiflora

Soares, Marcos Vinicius Batista, Guerra, Ethiéne, Morim, Marli Pires & Iganci, João Ricardo Vieira, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the genus Punjuba (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae), Phytotaxa 659 (1), pp. 41-55 : 44-45

2. Punjuba centiflora (BarnEbY & J.W.GrimEs) M.V.B.SOarEs, M.P.MOrim & Iganci (2021, 9) ≡ Abarema centiflora

Barneby & J.W.Grimes (1996: 109).

Type:— BOLIVIA. Depto. Cochambamba, prov. Chapare: El Limbo, [17°09’38”S 65°38’22”W] 2200 m, 25 Nov 1966 (fl.), R.F. Steinbach 538 (holotype: NY!, isotype: F!, GH!, MO!, U!, US!).

Figure 1

Trees 8 m tall; branches with puberulous indumentum. Leaves 1(–2) pairs of pinnae; petiole 7–8 cm, puberulous; nectaries globose to patelliform between the pairs of pinnae and the leaflets; leaflets 4–5 pairs, 4–10 × 2–4 cm, ovate, elliptic to oblong, apex acute to acuminate, base obtuse to rounded, margin plane, concolor, adaxial surface puberulent along central vein only, venation brochidodromous. Inflorescence racemose, peduncles 1.5–4 cm; floral axis 6–10 cm, puberulous. Flowers greenish, puberulent; pedicels ca. 0.1 cm; calyx tubular campanulate, 0.2–0.3 cm; corolla tubular, 0.3–0.5 cm; filaments of the staminal tube white; ovary glabrous, ca. 0.1 cm. Pods unknown.

Distribution and habitat: — Punjuba centiflora is endemic to Bolivia and grows in wet woodlands in the Yungas at 2000–2200 m elevation in the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes in humid montane woodlands ( Duchen and Beck 2012) ( Fig. 1 ).

Phenology: —Flowering in November.

Notes: — Punjuba centiflora is known from two records, all of them from Bolivia. The species resembles both Punjuba racemiflora and P. callejasii in leaf morphology and the long-racemose inflorescences. Punjuba centiflora differs from P. racemiflora by the leaflets with brochidodromous venation (vs. eucamptodromous), puberulous in the central vein of the adaxial surface (vs. glabrous), shorter inflorescence peduncles 1.5–4 cm long (vs. 5.5–11 cm long), and axis 6–10 cm (vs. 12–20 cm long), and flowers with short pedicels ca. 1 mm long (vs. pedicels 0.5–0.7 cm long). Punjuba centiflora differences from P. callejasii are discussed under the later species note. Punjuba centiflora is the only species of the genus occurring in Bolivia and represents the southernmost distribution of the genus.

Conservation status: —The species presents an Area of Occupancy (AOO) of 8 km ². These data was based in only two records, and thus it was not possible to calculate the species EOO. The species was assessed as Vulnerable (VU) by WCMC (1998), with the criterias B1+2c based only in the type collection. Here we confirm the assessment as Vunerable (VU) based on reduced records and population, by presenting only two population fragmented, and Area of Occupancy less than 20 km ². Only the record of Michel et al 624 belongs to a protected area, the Tunquini Biological Station in Bolivia.

Specimens Examined:— BOLIVIA. LA PAZ: Prov. Nor Yungas, Estacion Biológica de Tunquini, Homuni Bajo, primera estacion climática [16°12’S, 67°53’W], 2000 m, 19 Sep 2002, Michel, R. et al. 624 (LPB).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographic distribution of Punjuba Britton & Rose (Leguminosae).