Myrcia pseudovenulosa Stadnik&Sobral, 2015

Sobral, Marcos, Faria Jr, Jair E. Q., Ibrahim, Marla U., Lucas, Eve J., Rigueira, Dary, Stadnik, Aline & Dcnat-Ufsj, Daniel Villaroel, 2015, Thirteen new Myrtaceae from Bahia, Brazil, Phytotaxa 224 (3), pp. 201-231 : 220-222

10. Myrcia pseudovenulosa Stadnik&Sobral , sp.nov. Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia:mun.Palmeiras,Pai Inácio, 12°27’22’’S, 41°28’34’’W, 27 December 2002, M.L. Guedes et al., Projeto Chapada Diamantina (PCD) 1403 (holotype ALCB!, isotypes CEPEC!, RB!). Figure 11 .

This species is apparently related to Myrcia venulosa , from which it differs through its more rounded blades (blades to 95 × 55 mm, 1.1–2 times longer than wide versus to 90 × 25 mm, 2.2–4 times longer than wide in M. venulosa ), stouter inflorescences (axis to 2 mm wide below the first branching vs. up to 1 mm wide), uniformly pilose flowers (vs. calyx lobes visibly less pilose than the ovary) and bilocular ovaries (vs. trilocular ovaries).

Shrubs to 2 m. Twigs complanate, sometimes slightly longitudinally sulcate, the internodes 20–50 mm × 2 mm, when young densely covered with white or brown arachnoid trichomes to 0.3 mm. Leaves with petioles 4–9 × 2 mm, adaxially applanate; blades elliptic-oblong, ovate or suborbicular, 45–90 × 30–55 mm, 1.1–2 times longer than wide, markedly discolorous when dry, adaxially green and abaxially brown, yellow or grey, the adaxial side in young leaves with trichomes to 0.2 mm, the abaxial side with more densely distributed brown to grey trichomes; glandular dots smaller than 0.1 mm in diameter, about 10 per mm 2, barely visible on both faces, visible against light; apex obtuse to rounded; base rounded; midvein sulcate adaxially and prominent abaxially, sometimes apically excurrent; lateral veins 15 to 20 at each side, scarcely visible to prominent adaxially and strongly prominent abaxially, leaving the midvein at angles 70–80 degrees; marginal vein 0.5–2.5 mm from the margin, the margin itself revolute. Inflorescences axillary or at the apex of branches, not subtended by leaves terminal, paniculiform, pilose as the twigs, the main axis 50–80 × 1.8–2 mm, with 50 to 80 flowers, branched two to three times, the secondary and tertiary branches 6–10 and 3–5 mm; pedicels absent; bracts not seen; bracteoles triangular, 0.8–1.2 × 0.8 mm, deciduous at anthesis, with simple brown trichomes to 0.2 mm; flower buds globose to obovate, to 4 × 3 mm, uniformly covered by brown trichomes 0.2–0.3 mm; calyx lobes five, somewhat unequal between them, 1–1.2 × 1.8–2 mm, pilose on both faces; petals obovate, to 4 × 3 mm, with sparse brown trichomes abaxially; stamens about 60, to 5 mm, the anthers oblong, 0.7 × 0.3 mm, the thecae subglobose, 0.4 x 0.3–0.4 mm, sometimes slightly asymmetrical and with one apical gland; staminal ring to 3 mm in diameter, pilose as the calyx lobes; calyx tube 0.5 mm deep; style 6–7 mm, the stigma punctiform; ovary with two locules and two ovules per locule. Fruits globose, 5–6 mm in diameter, immature; seeds not examined.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:—This species was collected along rocky fields (“campos rupestres”) in the Chapada Diamantina region, at about 1,100 m elev.; flowers were collected in November and December and fruits in December.

Conservation:—Although this species was collected in two contiguous central Bahian municipalities with a relatively high collection average, Lençóis with 1,277 km 2 and 16,315 collections and Palmeiras with 657 km 2 and 11,828 collections (area data from IBGE 2015 and collections data from CRIA 2015), with 12 and 18 collections/km² respectively, this species is apparently scarcely represented in herbaria, what may be an indicative of its rareness. Nevertheless, considering the absence of additional environmental data, the information available allow us to score this species as DD (Data Deficient) according to IUCN conservation criteria ( IUCN 2001).

Affinities:— Myrcia pseudovenulosa is related to Myrcia venulosa De Candolle (1828: 250 ; type image: M barcode 0136978), a widespread species occurring from Bahian savannas to southern Brazil ( Sobral et al. 2015), from which it is distinguished through the characters given in the diagnosis.

Etymology:—The epithet is allusive to the resemblance of this species with Myrcia venulosa .

Paratypes:— BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Lençóis, Mucugezinho, km 220 da rod. BR–242, 21 December 1981, A.M. Carvalho et al. 1059 (CEPEC!); idem, Morro da Chapadinha, 12°27’24’’S, 41°27’10’’W, 22 November 1994, E. Melo et al., Projeto Chapada Diamantina (PCD) 1251 (CEPEC!, HUEFS!, RB!); idem, Parque Municipal de Lençóis, caminho para poço Halley, 12°33’78” S, 41°23’95” W, 4 December 2013, N. Roque 4025 (ALCB, MBM!).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Myrcia pseudovenulosa. Isotype at CEPEC.