Neobertiera montedouradensis Delprete, 2019

Delprete, Piero G., 2019, Additional studies in Neobertiera (Rubiaceae, Sipaneeae): a new species from the state of Pará, Brazilian Amazon, and a new combination for a species from French Guiana, Phytotaxa 392 (3), pp. 225-231 : 226-229

1. Neobertiera montedouradensis Delprete , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Type:— BRAZIL. Pará: Mun. Almeirim, Monte Dourado, Estrada Perimetral, mata de terra firme, solo argiloso, [ca. 0°52’S, 52°33’W], 27 November 1978 (fl), M.R. Santos 414 (holotype, MG [Acc. No. 72269]).

Neobertiera montedouradensis Delprete is most similar to N. pakaraimensis by the leaf blades chartaceous, with 8–10 secondary veins on each side of the midvein, and inflorescences compoundly cymose during anthesis; the former differs from the latter by the narrowly triangular, entire stipules (vs. ovate to broadly ovate, bifid in N. pakaraimensis ), leaf blades broadly ovate, 3.5–4.5 × 1.9–2.5 cm, round to obtuse at base, acuminate at apex (vs. narrowly elliptic, lanceolate to narrowly oblong-elliptic, 4–10 × 0.7–2.5 cm, acute-decurrent at base, acute and acuminate at apex), hypanthium with hairs basally tuberculate (vs. with hairs not basally tuberculate), corollas 14–15.5 mm long, with tube 9.5–10.5 mm long, and lobes ovate, 4.5–5 × 2.5–2.7 mm, acute at apex (vs. 7–7.7 mm long, with tube 4–4.5 mm long, lobes oblong, 3–3.2 × 1.1–1.2 mm, round to obtuse at apex).

Shrub, 1 m tall; branches sparsely appressed golden-pubescent. Stipules narrowly triangular, 2.5–4.5 × 1.7–2 mm, entire (not lobed), acute at apex, appressed-strigose outside, glabrous and with a raw of golden hairs and a raw of colleters at base inside, margins golden-pubescent. Leaves petiolate; petioles 7–12 mm long, densely appressed golden-pubescent; blades broadly ovate, 3.5–4.5 × 1.9–2.5 cm, round to obtuse at base, acuminate at apex, chartaceous, drying dark brown above and rust-brown below, sparsely appressed strigose above and below, midvein and secondary veins densely appressed golden-pubescent below; secondary veins 8–9 each side of midrib, complanar or slightly depressed above, prominent below. Inflorescence densely cymose at initial stage of anthesis, expanding to compound laxly cymose during anthesis; peduncles initially 2 cm long and expanding to 4.7 cm long during final stage of anthesis; rachis stout, sparsely appressed golden-pubescent, 15.5 cm long when fully expanded, lateral branches 3 times dichomously divided, with one sessile to subsessile flower at the base of each bifurcation, ultimate branchlets scorpiod when fully expanded, 7–10-flowered; bracts subtending secondary and tertiary branches linear-lanceolate, 2.7–4 × 0.3–0.4 mm, sparsely appressed-pubescent; bracteoles opposite to the insertion of each flower, linear-lanceolate, 1.7–2.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm, sparsely appressed-pubescent. Flowers 5-merous, subpedicellate; pedicels 0.3–0.4 mm long, appressed strigose. Hypanthium globose to obovoid, ca. 0.8 mm in diam., densely appressed strigose; hairs basally tuberculate, basal tubercules multicellular. Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, frequently unequal, 2.2–2.6 × 0.3–0.5 mm, sparsely appressed strigose outside. Corolla hypocrateriform, “orange” [“flor alaranjada” fide specimen label], 14–15.5 mm long; tube narrowly cylindrical, slightly wider at medio-distal portion, 9.5–10.5 mm long, sparsely appressed-pubescent outside, glabrous at base, densely spreading pubescent at portion surrounding stamens and sparsely appressed-pubescent at distal portion inside, glabrous at mouth; lobes 5, ovate, 4.5–5 × 2.5–2.7 mm, acute at apex, glabrous outside, papillose inside. Long-styled flowers: stamens inserted 3 mm from the base of corolla tube; filaments 0.6 mm long; anthers linear, 1.8 × 0.2 mm, acute at both ends; ovary 2-locular, placenta stalked, inserted at medio-basal portion of the septum; ovules many, inserted on the placental extension; style slightly longer than the corolla tube, ca. 13 mm long, glabrous, style branches almost completely exserted, linear, 1.5–1.8 mm long, acute at apex, densely papillose when receptive. Short-styled flowers: unknown. Fruits and seeds unknown.

Distribution and ecology:—Known only from the type specimen, collected near the town of Monte Dourado, in terra firme forest on clay soil, ca. 0°52’S, 52°33’W, near the Jarí River, a river running between the Brazilian states of Pará and Amapá. This is the first report of Neobertiera for Brazil, and a considerable range extension for the genus, although this locality is within the Guiana Shield ( Funk & Berry 2005).

Phenology:—The single flowering specimen was collected in November.

Suggested conservation status:—Critically Endangered (CR). This species is known by a single specimen collected near the town of Monte Dourado [ca. 0°53’S, 52°36’W], in terra firme forest, near the Jarí River, state of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. This is a region botanically poorly collected. The precise location and the number of individuals are not reported in the specimen label. An expedition to the town of Monte Dourado was made during the first week of November 2018 to search for this species. Although a considerable portion of the forests surroundings this town were destroyed and replaced by eucalyptus plantations, several patches of well-preserved forests are still present in a radius of several kilometers from the town. Intensive searches for this species were realized, paying particular attention to the undercanopy vegetation of forests bordering slow-running streams or surrounding seasonally flooded areas, as all other species of this genus were found in this kind of environment. Nevertheless, after three days of extensive searches in numerous primary and secondary forests of this region, the species was not found. Taking into account the aggressive forest destruction still ongoing around the town of Monte Dourado, it is difficult to predict how long this forest stands will last. Therefore, this species is here treated as Critically Endangered (CR) following IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2012, 2017).

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to Monte Dourado, as this species was collected in the surroundings of this town.

Notes: — Neobertiera montedouradensis Delprete is unique within the genus by having hypanthium with hairs basally tuberculate ( Fig. 1E–F ), which is a new character for Neobertiera . Hypanthia and fruits with basally tuberculate hairs are present in a few species of Sipanea , e.g., S. stahelii Bremekamp (1934: 258) , and S. wilson-brownei Cowan (1952: 412) .

In the specimen label of M.R. Santos 414 is reported that the flowers of N. montedouradensis are orange [“flor alaranjada”]; however, most likely the corollas of this species are white during anthesis, as all other species of the genus. Probably the collector referred to the corolla color after anthesis, as sometimes corollas tend to change color in later stages; a possible alternative is that the corolla color reported in the label is erroneous. Nevertheless, these are simple assumptions, because this color is not found in any taxon of the tribe Sipaneeae . Observations of fresh material are needed to check the corolla color of this species.

2. Neobertiera palustris (A. Richard) Delprete , comb. nov. - Bertiera palustris A. Richard , in A.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 4: 392. [September] 1830 (A. Richard, Mem. Fam. Rubiacées 174. [December] 1830; reimpr. Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 5: 254. 1834). Sipanea palustris (A. Richard) J.H. Kirkbride , nom. illeg., Brittonia 49: 360. 1997; non Sipanea palustris Seemann (1854: 136) . Type. French Guiana. “In paludosis, rivis sylvarum, inter Conana et Ynéri, mayo et junio floreus, augusto fructif.,” s.d. [1781–1785], L.C.M. Richard s.n. (holotype, P [P02273205, with two fragmentary inflorescences]; photo at F [with two well-preserved inflorescences])

Neobertiera glomerata Delprete, Phytotaxa 206: 124, figs. 2–4. 2015, syn. nov. Type : French Guiana. Commune de Montsinery , Route D- 5, trail to Bagne des Annamites, ca. 1 km from Route D-5, forest seasonally flooded, plants growing at the edge of trail, 4°50’03”N, 52°31’02”W, 10 m, 18 April 2012 (fl), P.G. Delprete & G. Quenette 11860 (holotype, CAY; isotypes, K, L, MG, MO, NY, P, RB, US).

For species description and illustrations, see Delprete (2015: 214–215, figs. 2–4).

Notes: —Achille Richard described Bertiera palustris A. Richard (in A.P. de Candolle, September 1830: 392; A. Richard, December 1830: 174; reimpr.A. Richard, 1834: 254) based on a collection made by his father, L.C.M. Richard, in French Guiana. Steyermark (1967: 321–322) excluded this taxon from Bertiera Aublet (1775: 180) and explained “I have examined a sheet in the Paris Herbarium corresponding to the type specimen from Richard’s Herbarium. This specimen has crustaceous capsules and globose non-angled seeds. Furthermore, the inflorescence is regularly branched and does not have a secondly arranged dichasial flowering axis as occurs in the other species of the genus. The specimen obviously pertains to another genus, but at the present time I am unable to assign it to a definite genus. The bifid stipules and herbaceous habit are, likewise, extraneous to the genus Bertiera .”

Robbrecht et al. (1994) in a survey of Bertiera excluded B. palustris from the genus with the comment “doubtful, see Steyermark, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 17: 321 (1967).”

Kirkbride (1997) treated Bertiera palustris and Sipanea wilson-brownei as conspecific, and proposed the new combination Sipanea palustris (A. Richard) J.H. Kirkbride (1997: 360) . However, the binomial Sipanea palustris was already published by Seemann (1853) [ Sipanea palustris Seemann (1854: 136) = Limnosipanea palustris (Seemann) J.D. Hooker (1868: 38) ], which renders Kirkbride’s combination illegitimate. He cited the type of Bertiera palustris as “(holotype: P-n.v. [Field Museum of Natural History Photograph 37285]),” which corresponds with the sheet with barcode P02273205 at P. A photograph of this sheet, Field Museum of Natural History Photograph Negative No. 37285, taken before WWII, shows a specimen with two well-preserved inflorescences with flowers and fruits. The same specimen nowadays has two fragmentary inflorescences, one of them only with fruits, and the flowers are no longer present. A stamp on the bottom of the sheet reports that it was sent out on loan on January 1964. Steyermark in 1967 stated that he directly examined the specimen, and at that time he worked at the Instituto Botanico of Caracas, Venezuela. It is possible that some damage to the specimen might have occurred during that shipment. A close examination of this specimen allows to conclude that all the features correspond to the recently described Neobertiera glomerata Delprete (2015: 124 , figs. 2–4). In addition, both Steyermark and Kirkbride did not notice that this specimen has indehiscent fruits that fall off as dispersal units ( Delprete 2015). This character excludes this taxon from Sipanea , which has persistent dehiscent capsules, and place it in Neobertiera instead. Therefore, this species is here transferred to Neobertiera and the new combination N. palustris (A. Richard) Delprete is here proposed.

Distribution and ecology: —Known by a few collections in French Guiana, in coastal forests, mostly in sites along Route National 2, and one collection near the Tampak village (Commune de Camopi), Camopi River, Upper Oyapock River Basin; in the undercanopy of primary forest, near standing water or slowly running creeks, at 10–90 m altitude.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes of Neobertiera glomerata ):—FRENCH GUIANA: Commune de Montsinery , Route D-5, trail to Bagne des Annamites, ca. 1 km from Route D-5, 4°50’03”N, 52°31’02”W, 10 m, 19 February 2014 (fl buds), P.G. Delprete & J.C. da Silva 12293 (CAY, NY, U) ; Commune de Camopi , near the village of Tampak, base of Montagne Couronné, 3°10’03”N, 52°32’16”W, 100 m, 25 February 2014 (fl buds), P.G. Delprete, G. Odonne, D. Davy, & S. Gonzalez 12310 (CAY, K, MG, NY, P, US) ; Route Nationale 2, P.K. 58, 4°35’N, 52°20’W, bord de piste forestiere, 25 March 1986 (fl), C. Feuillet 3635 (CAY, MO, P) ; Montagne Maripa , Route Nationale 2, P.K. 75, 10 May 1979 (fl, fr), J.J. de Granville 2888 (CAY, NY, U, UB) ; Commune de Montsinery , along the trail between D-5 and Bagne des Annamites, 8 June 2008 (fl), J.J. de Granville & M. Rome 17592 (CAY, K, MO, P, NY, US) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neobertiera montedouradensis. A. Branch with a young, unexpanded inflorescence. B. Branch with a fully expanded inflorescence. C. Node with stipule. D. Dissected long-styled flower, with stamens inserted at lower portion of the corolla tube. E. Longitudinal section of flower, with corolla removed; note stalked placenta and hypanthium with basally tuberculate hairs. F. Basal portion of one hypanthium hair, longitudinal section. Drawn from M.R. Santos 414 (MG). Illustration by Piero G. Delprete.