Croton stellatoferrugineus Caruzo & Cordeiro (2010a: 28)

Caruzo, Maria Beatriz Rossi & Cordeiro, Inês, 2013, Taxonomic revision of Croton section Cleodora (Euphorbiaceae), Phytotaxa 121 (1), pp. 1-41 : 20

9. Croton stellatoferrugineus Caruzo & Cordeiro (2010a: 28) ( Fig. 8A–E ). Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Santo Antônio do Itambé, Estrada para as cachoeiras e para a ponte de pedra, próximo a ponte, 18°27’16,2’’S e 43°18’29,4’’W, 750 m, fl., 25 June 2008, M.B.R. Caruzo, L.R. Lima, S.E. Martins & A.L. Santos 120 (holotype SP!, isotypes K!, MICH!, MO!, NY!, SPF!) .

Shrubs 1–3 m tall; latex clear; indument ferrugineous, stellate and multiradiate trichomes; branchlets flattened, striate, floccose, stellate and multiradiate trichomes. Leaves slightly discolorous, with a pair of sessile basilaminar globose brownish glands; lamina 3–11.5 × 1–4.5 cm, narrowly ovate to ovate-elliptic, apex narrowly acute, base slightly cordate, margin entire, upper surface pubescent, covered by stellate trichomes, usually with a long central erect ray, lower surface densely pubescent, covered by multiradiate trichomes; venation pinnate, brochidodromous; petiole 0.5–2 cm long; stipules ca. 5 mm long, entire, linear. Inflorescences 5–20 cm long, terminal, lax, pendant; inflorescence axis flattened, striate, floccose, stellate and multiradiate trichomes; proximal cymules pistillate, with a single pistillate flower, distal cymules staminate, with 1–2 staminate flowers; bracts from 0.4 cm long in terminal and youngest cymules, up to 2 cm long in the basal and oldest ones, foliaceous, with a pair of glands at the base, prophylls 1–3 mm long, linear. Staminate flowers 5 mm long, campanulate; pedicels 2 mm long; calyx ca. 2 mm long, pubescent externally, ferrugineous, covered by stellate and multiradiate trichomes, glabrate internally; calyx lobes 5, valvate, united up to half their length, then free for 1 mm long, entire, equal, ovate, apex acute; petals 5, ca. 2 mm long, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, apex acute to rounded, reflexed; disk 5-segmented; stamens 15, filaments subulate, glabrate; receptacle villose with simple trichomes. Pistillate flowers 5 mm long, campanulate; sessile; calyx ca. 4 mm long, pubescent externally, ferrugineous, covered by stellate and multiradiate trichomes, glabrate internally; calyx lobes 5, quincuncial, united up to half of their length, then free for ca. 3 mm, equal, ovatelanceolate to rhomboidal, slightly fleshy, apex acute, covered by ferrugineous trichomes, pale trichomes extending up to the central part of the calyx lobes, margins villose; petals absent; disk 5-segmented; ovary globose, pubescent; styles 3, multifid, connate into a short column at the base, then branching into 24–30 terminal arms about 1/3 the way up the style. Fruits 0.7–1 cm long, globose, pubescent, calyx inconspicuously accrescent, not inflated; seeds 4–5 mm long, subglobose, smooth.

Distribution and habitat: —The species is endemic to “Pico do Itambé”, in the Espinhaço range, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It grows in seasonally dry forests, at 700–900 m elevation ( Caruzo et al. 2010a).

Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting in February and June.

Taxonomic notes: — Croton stellatoferrugineus can be recognized in the field by its densely ferrugineous indumentum and the foliaceous bracts with glands similar to those found at the base of the leaves ( Caruzo et al. 2010a).

Among other species of Croton section Cleodora , C. stellatoferrugineus is most similar to C. sphaerogynus , differing from it in several features as already commented on taxonomic notes under C. sphaerogynus . Besides these morphological differences, C. stellatoferrugineus occurs in seasonally dry forests, whereas C. sphaerogynus occurs in moist forests, in seashore plains (“restinga” forests) or slopes of Serra do Mar.

Another species similar to Croton stellatoferrugineus is C. heterocalyx , however they can be distinguished from each other in several features already discussed above (see comments under C. heterocalyx ).

Selected specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Serra do Espinhaço, south-eastern drainage of Pico do Itambé, about 5km directly west and north of Santo Antônio do Itambé , fl., fr., 9 February 1972, W .R. Anderson et al. 35673 (MBM, NY, UB, US, VEN) .

Figures

FIGURE 8. A–E. Croton stellatoferrugineus. A. Flowering branch. B. Floral bract, dorsal and ventral views. C. Pistillate flower. D. Gynoecium. E. Seed, dorsal view; A–E. (Cordeiro et al. 303). F–J. Croton sphaerogynus. F. Flowering branch. G. Floral bract, dorsal view. H. Pistillate flower. I. Gynoecium. J. Seed, dorsal view; F–J. (Caruzo & Lima 121; illustration from Caruzo et al. 2010a).