Operculicarya multijuga, 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 : 369

7. Operculicarya multijuga

Randrian. & Lowry, sp. nov. ( Fig. 4 )

Haec species ad Operculicaryam gummiferam maxime accedit, sed ab ambabus foliolis multioribus crebris subsessilibusque atque fructu solitario differt.

TYPUS. — Madagascar. Prov. Antsiranana, lisière supérieure de la forêt d’Andranomadiro (rebord S du plateau de Sahafary, entre les bassins de la Saharenana et de Rodo), [12°37’S, 49°25’E], c. 300 m, 27.X.1963, fr., Service Forestier (Capuron) 23059 (holo-, P!; iso-, K!, MO!, P!, TEF) .

DESCRIPTION

Tree, twigs waxy, short shoots apparently absent. Leaves imparipinnate, clustered at the apex of branches, 5-12 cm long; leaflets 9-21, opposite to subopposite, subsessile (petiolule, 0.5 mm long), chartaceous, ovate, asymmetric especially at the base (except the terminal one), 0.5-2.5 × 0.3-0.8 cm, lower ones progressively smaller, villous on the mar- gins midrib and base, venation impressed, cladodromous, visible on both surfaces, apex acute, margin entire, base attenuate; rachis villous, not winged; petiole 1-2 cm long, very slightly flattened above, villous. Flowers unknown. Fruits solitary, 0.7 × 0.7(-0.8) cm, globose, subsessile; endocarp stony, compressed, lenticular, operculum 1, oval.

REMARKS This new species, like O. gummifera , has leaves with an unwinged rachis and lacks short shoots, but can readily be distinguished by its smaller leaves, more numerous and subsessile leaflets, and solitary fruits. Operculicarya multijuga is known from a single collection made along the southern edge of the Sahafary Plateau, SSE of Antsiranana (Fig. 3), in the same general area as the type locality for O. borealis .

CONSERVATION STATUS

Operculicarya multijuga has an EOO and AOO of less than 100 km 2, and is known from a single unprotected subpopulation, where it was collected only once more than 40 years ago. Application of the IUCN Red List threat criteria ( IUCN 2001) therefore results in it being assigned a preliminary status of Critically Endangered (CR B1ab(ii,iii)).

Figures

FIG. 4. — Operculicarya multijuga: A, fruiting branch; B, detail of fruit. Service Forestier (Capuron) 23059. Scale bars: A, 1 cm; B, 7 mm.