Operculicarya capuronii, Randrianasolo & Lowry Ii, 2006

Randrianasolo, Armand & Lowry Ii, Porter P., 2006, Operculicarya (Anacardiaceae) revisited: an updated taxonomic treatment for Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, with descriptions of two new species, Adansonia (3) 28 (2), pp. 359-371 : 364

2. Operculicarya capuronii

Randrian. & Lowry, sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

Haec species quoad rhachim foliarem alatam Operculicaryae boreali, O. hirtusissimae, O. decaryi , O. pachypodi et O. hyphaenoidi similis, sed ab eis foliis foliolisque majoribus atque fructibus plerumque duobus vel tribus (nec solitario) in quaque infructescentia portatis distinguitur.

TYPUS. — Madagascar. Prov. Toliara, versant S du plateau sommital du massif granitique du Vohitsiandriana (au S de Ranopiso ), [25°10’S, 46°39’E], 8.XII.1968, fr., Service Forestier (Capuron) 28571 (holo-, P!; iso-, MO!, P!, TEF) .

PARATYPES. — Madagascar. Prov. Toliara, pentes inférieures du massif du Vohitsiandriana, au SW de Fort- Dauphin, [25°10’S, 46°39’E], 100-330 m, 11.I.1963, fr., Service Forestier (Capuron) 22376 (G, K, MO, P [2 sheets], TEF); Vohitsiandriana, without additional label data, ster., Service Forestier (Capuron) s.n. (P) .

DESCRIPTION

Small to medium-sized tree 2-8 m tall, trunk more or less swollen; branches waxy, grayish to brown, short shoots 1-3 cm long, puberulous toward the apex, glabrous toward the base. Leaves imparipinnate, regularly alternate on long branches and clustered at the apex of short shoots, 2.5- 9 cm long; leaflets 7-9, opposite to subopposite, sessile, subcoriaceous, obovate, 1-3 × 0.5-1.8 cm, lower ones progressively smaller, chocolate brown, glabrous but sparsely puberulous when young, venation impressed, craspedodromous, more visible on lower surface, apex rounded or sometimes slightly emarginate, margin entire, base attenuate; rachis winged, glabrous; petiole 1-2 cm long, glabrous, canaliculate above. Flowers unknown. Fruits 2-3 per infructescence, sometimes solitary, 0.7-1 × 0.5-0.7 cm; pedicel short, 1-2 mm long, glabrous, subtended by triangular bracts; endocarp stony, operculum 1, oval.

REMARKS

Operculicarya capuronii is known from only three collections, all made on granitic substrate on the slopes of Mt. Vohitsiandriana to the SW of Fort Dauphin in extreme SE Madagascar (Fig.3). Among the species with a winged rachis, O. capuronii differs by having larger leaves and leaflets, and fruits that are usually borne 2-3 per infructescence (rather than solitary).

ETYMOLOGY

The species epithet honours René Capuron, who personally collected all eight species of Operculicarya , and who made a unique and lasting contribution to our knowledge of Madagascar’s remarkable woody flora.

CONSERVATION STATUS

With both an EOO and AOO of no more than 100 km 2 and a single unprotected subpopulation, Operculicarya capuronii is assigned a preliminary status of Critically Endangered (CR B1ab(ii,iii)) by application of the IUCN Red List threat criteria ( IUCN 2001).

Figures

FIG. 2. — Operculicarya capuronii: A, fruiting branch; B, detail of fruit. Service Forestier (Capuron) 28571. Scale bars: A, 1 cm; B, 6 mm.