Rochefortia barloventensis Irimia & Gottschling

Irimia, Ramona-Elena & Gottschling, Marc, 2016, Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales), Biodiversity Data Journal 4, pp. 7720-7720 : 7720

Rochefortia barloventensis Irimia & Gottschling

Rochefortia barloventensis

Rochefortia barloventensis Irimia & Gottschling, Phytotaxa 236: 63-68, figs 1-2, tab. 1. 2015.-TYPE: Caribbean, Lesser Antilles, Leeward Islands, France. Guadeloupe, Marie Galante: Fréchy district, near Grelin, on wooded hillside, 15 º57’ N, 61 º17’ W [retroactively inferred], elev. 65-125 m (May 25, 1960): G.R. Proctor 21020 (♀ fl, fr) (holotype A! isotype: US-1111601!)

Description

Shrubs or small trees 1.5-10.0 m tall, branches spreading, galls absent; indument glabrescent, slightly pubescent when immature, trichomes simple; bark greyish white, longitudinally fissured; thorns 0.5-0.7 cm long, slender, acute, simple, scattered, axillary, alternate, glabrescent. Leaves fasciculate; petiole 0.4-1.5 cm long, glabrescent; blade 1.9 –3.4(– 6.0) cm long, 1.2-3.0 cm wide, obovate, sometimes circular, coriaceous, primary veins prominent, lateral veins in pairs of 4-5, arching, tertiary veins absent; base cuneate; apex rounded or slightly emarginate; adaxial surface with cystolith-like structures in epidermal cells, mostly glabrous, but sometimes also with scattered, simple, bent trichomes, abaxial surface with scattered trichomes on the midrib, immature leaves sometimes barbellate. Inflorescence axillary and terminal, branching sympodial, branches slender, glabrescent, pedicel 0.20-0.40 cm long. Calyx 0.35-0.45 cm long, coriaceous, hirsute outside, glabrous inside, sometimes with a few clustered trichomes on distal part, lobes 0.30-0.35 cm long, 0.32-0.35 cm wide, obovate, apex rounded to slightly acute, margin strigose. Corolla 0.35-0.40 cm long, yellow through light orange, occasionally greenish (Liogier et al. 32280: MO! US!), membranaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, very rarely with scattered trichomes at distal lobes, tube 0.10-0.20 cm long, funnel-shaped, lobes usually 5 (rarely 4 or 6), 0.30-0.40 cm long, obovate, with 5-6 parallel veins and few glandular trichomes distally. Anthers of male flower 0.30-0.40 cm long, oblong, filaments 0.30-0.33 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for further 0.05-0.08 cm, pollen present, tricolporate; anthers of female flower 0.12-0.14 cm long, filaments 0.05-0.08 cm long, adnate to corolla tube for further 0.10-0.12 cm, pollen absent. Ovary of male flower subglobose, 0.14-0.20 cm long, stylodia 2, 0.10-0.12 cm long, distally setose, ovules absent; ovary of female flower globose, 0.25-0.30 cm long, style bifid, united for 0.03-0.10 cm at the base, branches 0.25-0.30 cm long, sometimes slightly unequal, stigmas 2, extensively capitate. Fruit 0.50-0.60 cm tall, 0.60-0.70 cm wide, globose, deep orange through vermillion, turning blackish brown at maturity; style accrescent, occasionally persistent; pyrene 0.40-0.43 cm tall, 0.30-0.35 cm wide, 0.20-0.25 cm deep, ovoid, abaxial surface reticulate.

Distribution

Restricted to islands of the Lesser Antilles (Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Montserrat, Martinique) and eastern Puerto Rico (symbol "●" in Fig. 3), in arid coastal forests, on wooded hillsides and mesophyll forests at low altitudes (sea level up to 125 m).

Ecology

Flowering Apr–May, Jul, Sep–Oct, Dec; fruiting Dec–Jan, May–Jun.

Taxon discussion

Rochefortia barloventensis was discovered as a species new to science in the course of the present revision of Rochefortia ( Irimia and Gottschling 2015). With respect to leaf shapes and sizes, it is a morphologically variable species and is intermediate between R. bahamensis and R. cuneata exhibiting mature leaves size greater than 3.5 cm (and up to 6.0 cm) long in some specimens from Guadeloupe, Martinique and Puerto Rico. Molecular data indicate the distinctiveness of this new species, whose closest relative is R. acanthophora from adjacent Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The two species can be reliably distinguished based on inflorescence morphology (many- versus few-flowered) and leaf shape (frequently circular versus predominantly obovate). Overall similarity, however, is great with R. bahamensis from The Bahamas archipelago and also with R. cuneata from Jamaica, but molecular data indicate that these species are not closely related ( Irimia et al. 2015). The geographical disjunctions provides further evidence for the distinctiveness of all such species. A collection from eastern Puerto Rico has leaves similar in size of R. cuneata or even larger (i.e., 3.5-5.0 cm), but molecular data indicate the correct determination as R. barloventensis ( Irimia et al. 2015), though morphologically unusual.

Notes

Representative specimens examined. - PUERTO RICO. Fajardo: in forest, El Convento, 18°19'N, 65°37'W [retroactively inferred], 15 Sep 1981 (fl), Liogier et al. 32280 (MO! US!). - FRANCE. Guadeloupe: Grande–Terre, Porte D’Enfer, 16°29'N, 61°26'W [retroactively inferred], 19 Jul 1982 (♀ fl), Barrier 3747 (G! P! P! US!); Îles des Saintes, Terre-de-Bas, 15°51'N, 61°38'W [retroactively inferred], 22 Nov 1986 (♀ fl, fr), Sastre 8265 (P! P!); Martinique: Caravelle, Château Dubuc, 14°46'N, 60°53'W [retroactively inferred], 9 Apr 1998 (♂ fl), Sastre 9747 (P!).

Common names

"bois vert" in Martinique (noted on Jussieu s.n.: P!), "espino" in Puerto Rico ( Liogier de Sereys Allut and Martorell 1999).