Eugenia brasiliensis Lamarck (1789: 203)

Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Mazine, Fiorella F. & Souza, Vinicius Castro, 2024, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, a center of plant endemism in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Phytotaxa 651 (1), pp. 1-79 : 23-25

10. Eugenia brasiliensis Lamarck (1789: 203) . ( Fig. 9B .)

Trees 2–13 m tall. Twigs pubescent when young, glabrescent; cataphylls present and deciduous in young twigs; trichomes brownish. Young leaves pubescent, glabrescent; trichomes brownish. Leaves with petioles 1–13 mm long, canaliculate adaxially, glabrous; blades 50–130 × 25–75 mm, oblong, narrow-ovate or obovate, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrous on both surfaces; bases acute or attenuate; apices obtuse or acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrous on both surfaces; secondary veins 10–17 at each side, raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 2–5 mm from the revolute and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous adaxially and raised abaxially. Inflorescences terminal, raceme with vegetative late proliferation, peduncle 2–6 mm long, rachis 10–47.5 mm long, puberulent or glabrate; bracts 5–24 mm long, oblanceolate, puberulent and ciliate, deciduous after anthesis; 4–10 flowers; pedicels 10–35 mm long, puberulent; bracteoles 0.5–1 mm long, free, ovate or oblanceolate, apices obtuse, puberulent, not reflexed, deciduous after anthesis; trichomes light brown. Flower buds 2.5–4 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, pubescent or pilose hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 5–12 × 3.5–5.5 mm, oblong, apices obtuse or rounded, ciliate; petals 4, oblong, oil glands inconspicuous; staminal ring puberulent; stamens with filaments 3–9 mm, anthers oblong or suborbicular; style 4–8.5 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 20–24 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 5–12 × 6–12 mm, globose, smooth or slightly costate, canescent, purple when ripe; seed 1 per fruit, 4–9 × 4.5–8.5 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Mun. Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Lasa , 20 September 2004, fl., D.A. Folli 4939 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!, UB!) ; ibid., Estrada Caingá , 18 November 2003, fr., D.A. Folli 4674 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Córrego Dourado, Aceiro Lasa com Sta. Terezinha , 05 September 2002, fl., D.A. Folli 4343 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Gávea , 11 November 2013, fr., D.A. Folli 7143 (CVRD!, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Paraju , 20 September 1986, fl., D.A. Folli 461 (CEPEC!, CVRD!, HUFSJ!, ICN, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., 24 November 2011, fr., D.A. Folli 6810 (CVRD!, SORO!, SPSF!) ; ibid., 31 October 1983, fr., D.A. Folli 473 (CEPEC!, CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia brasiliensis is known from collections from the state of Bahia to Santa Catarina in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. The species is called popularly as “ grumixama ”, well-known and widely cultivated for fruit purpose in backyards. In the RNV, Eugenia brasiliensis is found in the Mata Alta vegetation.

Phenology: —Flowering in September; fruiting in October through November ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species is assigned to Eugenia sect. Eugenia . Eugenia brasiliensis is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus that occur in RNV by its raceme with late proliferation inflorescences with more than 10 mm long (considering the sum of the peduncle and rachis length) with bracts with more than 9 mm long and deciduous after anthesis, and flowers with calyx lobs 5–12 × 3.5–5.5 mm. Although the specimens D.A. Folli 4674 and D.A. Folli 7143 present fruits with a slightly costate surface, nonother discontinuous features were found to support their segregation – a possibility is that this character state could occur due to the drying procedure.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phenological diagram of Eugenia species from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Flowering periods are represented by dark red border triangles, fruiting in grey filled triangles, and “n” is the number of observations.

FIGURE 9. A. Fruiting branch of Eugenia beaurepairiana (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.), B. Fruiting branch of Eugenia brasiliensis (K. S. Valdemarin s.n.), C. Fruiting branch of Eugenia brejoensis (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.), D. Eugenia bunchosiifolia (K.S. Valdemarin 761).