Eugenia neosilvestris Sobral (1995: 36)

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 : 53-55

32. Eugenia neosilvestris Sobral (1995: 36) . ( Fig. 22A .)

Shrubs or trees 1.5–3 m tall. Twigs pubescent when young; cataphylls present and deciduous in young twigs; trichomes brownish. Young leaves pubescent; trichomes brownish. Leaves with petioles 1–3 mm long, canaliculate, pubescent or pilose; blades 20–60 × 10–35 mm, elliptic, rare orbicular, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrate or glabrous adaxially and puberulent abaxially; bases acute or obtuse, rare rounded; apices obtuse, acute or acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, puberulent or glabrate adaxially and pubescent abaxially; secondary veins 10–15 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 0.5–1 mm from the revolute and without thickening margin; oil glands slightly evident adaxially and slightly raised abaxially. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, raceme with late vegetative proliferation, peduncle 2.5–5 mm long, rachis 1.5–4.5 mm long, pubescent; bracts 1–7.5 mm long, oblanceolate, pubescent, deciduous after anthesis; 2–4 flowers; pedicels 5–14 mm long, pubescent; bracteoles 0.5–2 mm long, linear or narrow-lanceolate, apices acute or obtuse, ciliate, not reflexed, persistent in the fruit; trichomes brownish. Flower buds 1–2 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, pubescent or pilose hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free, 2–4 × 1–2 mm, ovate or narrow-ovate, apices obtuse, ciliate; petals 4, obovate, oil glands inconspicuous; staminal ring pubescent; stamens with filaments 3.5–4.5 mm, anthers oblong; style 3–6 mm, puberulent or glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 6–14 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 5–8.5 × 5–10 mm, globose, smooth, pubescent, dark purple when ripe; seeds 1–3 per fruit, 1.5–6.5 × 2–8.5 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Calimã, 14 November 2003, fr., G.S. Siqueira 63 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Aceiro Catelã, próximo à Estrada do Roxinho , 10 December 2016, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 344 (ESA!) ; ibid., próximo à Jueirana , 30 August 2002, fl., D.A. Folli 4339 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., próximo à propriedade de João Pedro, 1 October 2013, fl., G.S. Siqueira 895 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada do Flamengo , km 6, 11 December 2016, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 359, 372 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Macanaíba Pele de Sapo , 27 November 2008, fl., D.A. Folli 6236 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!); no locality, 26 September 1978, fl., H.C. Lima 695 (CEPEC!, INPA!, MBM!, RB!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia neosilvestris is known from collections from the state of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo to São Paulo in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV the species is found in the Muçununga vegetation.

Phenology: —Flowering in August through November; fruiting in November through December ( Fig. 5 ).

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 neosilvestris is morphologically similar to E. sulcata and E. ligustrina due to its leaf blades size and form, which explains the overlapping determinations found among these species. However, Eugenia neosilvestris has smooth and pubescent or pilose hypanthia contrasting with the smooth and glabrous hypanthia in E. ligustrina (see Berg 1857, Faria 2010), and costate and puberulent hypanthia in E. sulcata (see Souza & Morim 2008; Table 3 ). The species is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus in RNV by its raceme with late vegetative proliferation and pubescent inflorescence, and its flowers with smooth and pubescent or pilose hypanthia.

Figures

FIGURE 5. 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 22. Fruiting branch of Eugenia neosilvestris (K.S. Valdemarin 344) B. Flowering branch of Eugenia ochracea (K.S. Valdemarin 467), C. Fruiting branch of Eugenia pachnantha (K.S. Valdemarin 776), D. Flowering branch of Eugenia pisiformis (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.).