Eugenia penduliflora Valdemarin & Mazine

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 : 57

35. Eugenia penduliflora Valdemarin & Mazine (in Valdemarin et al. 2020: 207). ( Fig. 23 )

Trees 4–5 m tall. Twigs pubescent when young, glabrescent; trichomes ochraceous. Young leaves tomentose, glabrescent; trichomes ochraceous. Leaves with petioles 3–7 mm, slightly canaliculate, puberulent; blades 80–135 × 30–58 mm, elliptic or narrow-lanceolate, discolorous when dry, abaxially lighter, puberulent adaxially and pulverulent abaxially; bases obtuse, acute or cuneate; apices acuminate, sometimes slightly falcate; midvein slightly sulcate or plane adaxially and prominent abaxially, puberulent adaxially and pulverulent abaxially; secondary veins 8–11 at each side, slightly raised to plane adaxially and raised abaxially, the first pair confluent with the marginal vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 3–6 mm from the revolute without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous adaxially and slightly raised abaxially. Inflorescences axillary, raceme with late vegetative proliferation, sessile, rachis absent, pubescent; bracts ca. 0.5 mm long, ovate, puberulent, persistent after anthesis; 2 flowers; pedicels 10–23 mm long, pubescent; bracteoles 1–2 mm long, free, ovate or elliptic, apices obtuse or acute, puberulent, not reflexed, deciduous in the fruit; trichomes ochraceous to brownish. Flower buds 2.5–4.5 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, pubescent hypanthium; calyx lobes 4, free, 4–5.5 × 4–4.5 mm, ovate, apices obtuse or rounded, pubescent; petals 4, obovate, oil glands inconspicuous; staminal ring pubescent; stamens with filaments 2.5–3 mm, anthers oblong; style 4.5–5 mm, glabrate or glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2-locular, ovules 22–26 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 20–25 × 12–15 mm, oblong, smooth, pubescent, dark purple when ripe; seeds not seen.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Trilha da Peroba Amarela , localizada no caminho para o pomar de frutas tropicais, 19°08’21.1”S 40°03’53.4”W, 13 December 2016, fl., K.S. Valdemarin & T.B. Flores 440 (ESA!, SORO!) ; ibid., Trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 19°09’13.4”S 40°04’11.2”W, 13 December 2016, fl., K.S. Valdemarin & T.B. Flores 466 (ESA!, SORO!) ; ibid., 27 January 2017, fl., K.S. Valdemarin, T.B. Flores & F.S. Scaravelli 899 (ESA!, SORO!) ; ibid., no locality, 22 August 2012, fr., A. Uhlmann 520 (FURB, HUFSJ!) ; ibid., no locality, 30 June 2015, fr., E.J. Lírio 1120 (RB!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia penduliflora is known from collections from the state of Espírito Santo and probably endemic to the Tabuleiro forest in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. The species was collected so far in the RNV, where it is found in the Mata Alta vegetation understory.

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

Taxonomic comments: —The placement of this species through infrageneric groups is uncertain, but it may be assigned to Eugenia sect. Umbellatae due to its inflorescences as racemes with late vegetative proliferation, and bracteoles deciduous after anthesis. Eugenia penduliflora is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus in RNV by the combination of the indumentum ochraceous/brownish on the entire plant, leaf blades with innermost marginal vein 3–6 mm from the margin, inflorescences in raceme with late vegetative proliferation, always with 2 flowers, and pedicels longer than 10 mm.

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 23. Holotype of Eugenia penduliflora Valdemarin & Mazine.