Eugenia macrantha O. Berg (1857: 301)

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 : 45-47

26. Eugenia macrantha O. Berg (1857: 301) . ( Fig. 19A .)

Trees 10–18 m tall. Twigs tomentose when young, glabrescent; trichomes ochraceous. Young leaves tomentose or glabrous, glabrescent; trichomes ochraceous. Leaves with petioles 6–11 mm long, canaliculate or plane, glabrous; blades 65–130 × 25–50 mm, elliptic, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrous adaxially and puberulent or glabrate abaxially; bases acute, attenuate or obtuse; apices obtuse or acute; midvein sulcate to plane adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrous adaxially and puberulent or glabrate abaxially; secondary veins 8–13 at each side, raised or slightly raised adaxially and raised abaxially, the first pair confluent with the marginal vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 2.5–4.5 mm from the slightly revolute and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous adaxially and raised to slightly raised abaxially. Inflorescences axillary or ramiflorous, fascicles or rarely racemes with late vegetative proliferation, sessile or with peduncle up to 3 mm long, rachis up to 14.5 mm long, tomentose; bracts 1–4 mm long, ovate, puberulent, deciduous at or after anthesis; 2–10 flowers; pedicels 5.5–16.5 mm long, tomentose; bracteoles 1.5–2.5 mm long, completely connate, along two-thirds of the length or at least ca. 1 mm long at the base, ovate or suborbiculate, apices obtuse or rounded, tomentose or puberulent, not reflexed, persistent in the fruit; trichomes ochraceous to ferruginous. Flower buds 5–9 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, tomentose hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free, 3–7 × 3–8 mm, ovate or oblong, apices obtuse or rounded, tomentose, puberulent or glabrous; petals 4, obovate, oil glands evident; staminal ring pubescent; stamens with filaments 4–12 mm, anthers oblong; style 7.5–12.5 mm, puberulent or glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 16–21 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 16.5–22 × 13–20.5 mm, ellipsoid, smooth, tomentose, externally ochraceous to brownish when ripe; seeds 1–2 per fruit, 8–16 × 9.5–12 mm, globose or ellipsoid, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro ao final da estrada flamengo, lado direito, próximo a porteira, 24 January 2017, fl., K.S. Valdemarin 802 (ESA!) ; ibid., lado esquerdo, 24 January 2017, fl., K.S. Valdemarin 811 (ESA!); Estrada Bicuíba , 04 May 2008, fl., D.A. Folli 6013 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Farinha Seca , 01 July 2004, fr., D.A. Folli 4874 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 02 July de 2004, fr., G.S. Siqueira 95 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., 31 October 1983, fl., D.A. Folli 472 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Flamengo, trilha ao esquerdo, próximo a Torre , 24 January 2017, fl., K.S. Valdemarin 806 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Fruta de arara, 27 November 1989, fl., G.L. Farias 345 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Gávea , 11 February 2009, fl., D.A. Folli 6299 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 23 May 1994, fr., D.A. Folli 2311 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 29 November 1993, fl., D.A. Folli 2106 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Mantegueira , 17 November 2003, fl., D.A. Folli 4672 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Municipal Canto Grande , 06 January 1999, fl., D.A. Folli 3327 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Municipal , 14 March 1991, fr., D.A. Folli 1314 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 12 April 2004, fr., D.A. Folli 4817 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 27 January 2017, fl., K.S. Valdemarin 907 (ESA!) ; ibid., Trilha Tatu Canastra , 15 May 1997, fr., D.A. Folli 3009 (CVRD!, SORO!); no locality, 31 January 1972, fl., D. Sucre 8327 (CEPEC!, SP!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia macrantha is known from collections from the state of Bahia to Rio de Janeiro in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta vegetation, reaching in most of the times the canopy.

Phenology: —Flowering in October through February; fruiting in March through July ( Fig. 5 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species can be assigned to Eugenia sect. Umbellatae due to its fasciculate inflorescences and bracteoles persistent after anthesis. There are two groups of specimens of Eugenia macrantha in RNV. One presents twigs tomentose when young (vs. glabrous when young), leaves with inconspicuous oil glands on both surfaces (vs. raised oil glands abaxially) and bracteoles connate at the base (vs. completely connate). Although it is possible to distinguish the groups of specimens, both are here treated as the same entity. Further examination is desirable to clarify whether these morphotypes are a infraspecific variation or a complex to be solved.

Eugenia macrantha is morphologically similar to E. moritziana and E. ochracea due to its fascicle or rare raceme with late vegetative proliferation inflorescence, with tomentose and ochraceous indumentum, and the showy floral structures (pedicels 4–18 mm long, flower buds 5–9.5 mm in diameter, and calyx lobs 3.5–8 × 4–7 mm). However, E. macrantha differs from E. moritziana by its elliptic leaf blades generally shorter, 65–130 mm (vs. narrow-elliptic, oblong, oblanceolate or sometimes elliptic and generally longer, (7.5–) 9–22.5 mm), and bracteoles persistent in the fruit (vs. sometimes deciduous after anthesis). It can be distinguished from Eugenia ochracea by its leaf blades glabrous adaxially and puberulent to glabrate abaxially (vs. leaves floccose to glabrous adaxially and floccose abaxially), bracteoles connate at least on the base and 1.5–2.5 mm long (vs. free and 4.5–9.5 mm long), and ellipsoid fruits (vs. globose). See Table 2 for a summary of the diagnostic feature among these species. The specimens Farias 345 and Folli 2106 were dubbed by the late Graziela Barroso as “ Eugenia menandroana ”, an unpublished name. Barroso also identified under this name other two specimens, Folli 2660 and Souza 647, which are here considered as specimens of Eugenia ochracea .

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 19. A. Flowering branch of Eugenia macrantha (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.), B. Flowering branch of Eugenia macrosperma (K.S. Valdemarin 796), C. Flowering branch of Eugenia melanogyna (K.S. Valdemarin 391), D. Fruiting branch of Eugenia moritziana (G. Siqueira, Vale S.A.).