Eugenia cataphyllea M.C.Souza & Sobral

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 : 27-30

14. Eugenia cataphyllea M.C.Souza & Sobral (in Sobral & Souza 2015: 442). ( Fig. 11A .)

Shrubs to trees 1.2–5 m tall. Twigs pubescent when young, glabrescent; cataphylls present and generally persistent until mature twigs; trichomes brownish. Young leaves strigose, glabrescent; trichomes brownish. Leaves with petioles 0.5–3.5 mm long, terete to slightly canaliculate adaxially, strigose; blades 50–110 × 20–45 mm, elliptic or oblong, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrous strigose to glabrous adaxially and strigose abaxially; bases cordate, rarely sub-cordate; apices acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, puberulent to glabrous adaxially and strigose abaxially; secondary veins 13–18 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 2–4 mm from the revolute and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, raceme with vegetative late proliferation, peduncle 2–3.5 mm long, rachis up to 3 mm long, pubescent; bracts 2.5–6.5 mm long, oblanceolate, pubescent, persistent; 2–6 flowers; pedicels 5–15 mm long, pubescent; bracteoles 3–6 mm long, free, elliptic, narrow-elliptic or linear, apices obtuse, pubescent, not reflexed, persistent in the fruit; trichomes brownish. Flower buds 1.5–2 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, pubescent hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 2–5 × 2–4 mm, ovate, apices obtuse, ciliate; petals 4, obovate or oblong, oil glands slightly evident; staminal ring pubescent; stamens with filaments 2.5–7 mm, anthers suborbicular; style 3–6 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform and papillose; ovary 2–locular, ovules 8–10 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 7.5–13 × 9–12 mm, wide-ellipsoid or globose, smooth, pubescent, dark red when ripe; seeds 1–3 per fruit, 5–9.5 × 3–7 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale, Aceiro Bobbio , 20 October 2008, fl., D.A. Folli 6217 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!) ; ibid., Antiga estrada do MME, 23 October 2008, fl., G.S. Siqueira 447 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, RB!, UB!) ; ibid., 28 August 2015, fl., G.S. Siqueira 1089 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Flamengo , 24 January 2017, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 792 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Gávea , 11 November 2013, fr., D.A. Folli 7142 (CVRD!, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Mantegueira , 24 October 2010, fl., T.B. Flores 925 (CVRD!, ESA!, RB!, SORO!, UB!, VIES!) ; ibid., 24 October 2010, fl. and fr., T.B. Flores 927 (CVRD!, ESA!, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., 4 October 2016, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 208 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Municipal do MME, 24 October 2001, fl., D.A. Folli 4068 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, UB!) ; ibid., Trilha Peroba Amarela , 13 December 2016, st., K.S. Valdemarin 442 (ESA!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia cataphyllea is known from collections from the state of Espírito Santo and probably endemic to the Tabuleiro forest in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta vegetation, growing in the understory.

Phenology: —Flowering in August through October; fruiting in October through January ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species can be assigned to Eugenia sect. Eugenia due to its racemose inflorescences subtended by long oblong bracts and with vegetative late proliferation and cataphylls in young twigs. Eugenia cataphyllea is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus in the studied area by its cordate, rarely rounded, leaves base, and the presence of cataphylls in young twigs which are generally persistent until mature.

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 11. A. Flowering branch of Eugenia cataphyllea (G. Siqueira 1089, Vale S.A.), B. Flowering branch of Eugenia copacabanensis (K.S. Valdemarin 1047), C. Flowering branch of Eugenia disperma (K.S. Valdemarin 790), D. Fruiting branch of Eugenia excelsa (K.S. Valdemarin 408).