Caraipa caespitosa F.N. Cabral

Cabral, Fernanda Nunes, Bittrich, Volker & Hopkins, Michael John Gilbert, 2017, Clusiaceae s. l. (Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s. s. and Hypericaceae) in the Viruá National Park, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 329 (1), pp. 1-27 : 6-7

2.1 Caraipa caespitosa F.N. Cabral in Cabral et al. (2016b: 248) ( Fig. 2D–F )

Type:— BRAZIL. Roraima: Caracaraí, Parque Nacional do Viruá, igarapé Anauá, 23 March 2008, fr., Ferreira et al. 13082 (holotype: INPA!, barcode 253111).

Shrubs, up to 70 cm tall, with numerous (20–40) sparsely branched stems growing from a mound. Exudate cream or translucid. Leaves distichous, leaf blade 4–7.5 × 1.8–4.5 cm, coriaceous, elliptical to oval, apex rounded to acute or obtuse, base cordate to rounded, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface with minute sessile stellate trichomes or glabrous, with bulliform cells; secondary veins 11–22 pairs, distant 4–6 mm; petiole 2.4–7.6(–10.5) mm long. Panicule, (1–)3–14-flowered, peduncle and pedicels tomentose, pedicel 3–13 mm long. Sepal lobes 2–4 × 2–4 mm. Petals 14–27 × 10–14 mm. Stamens 3–10 mm long, gland at the apex of the thecae. Ovary ca. 2 mm across, style ca. 4 mm long. Fruit 17–26 × 14–19 mm, ovoid to pyramidal, rugulose to smooth, densely covered with sessile and stipitate stellate hairs, exocarp separating from endocarp. Seeds ca. 10 × 8 mm.

Phenology:—Flowering September to December; fruiting January to March.

Distribution and habitat:— Brazil and Venezuela. In Brazil, it occurs in the north region (states of Amazonas and Roraima). Caraipa caespitosa occurs on white-sand vegetation.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Roraima: Caracaraí, Viruá National Park , elevation 62 m, 1º25’32’’N, 60º59’13’’W, 3 December 2009, fl., Cabral et al. 101 ( INPA) ; Ibid. , 1º23’39’’N, 61º13’25’’W, 22 January 2010, fr., Cabral et al. 167 ( INPA) ; Ibid. , 14 September 2010, fl., Cabral et al. 270 ( INPA) ; Ibid. , 12 October 2010, fl., Cabral et al. 294 ( INPA) .

Additional specimens:— BRAZIL. Amazonas: Final da Perimetral 1—Norte da Perimetral Norte (RR210), 25 March 1999, fr., Vicentini 1416 (MO!).

Taxonomic notes:— Caraipa caespitosa is morphologically similar to C. grandifolia and C. longipedicellata . Caraipa caespitosa can be easily distinguished by its habit, which is small shrub with numerous sparsely branched stems growing from a mound, versus trees in C. grandifolia and C. longipedicellata . The species can also be identified by leaf size, number of secondary veins, and inflorescence size, see Cabral et al. (2016b) for more details.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Calophyllum brasiliense (A. Habit; B. Flower; C. Fruit), Caraipa caespitosa (D. Habit; E. Flower; F. Fruit) and Caraipa savannarum (G. Flower; H. Fruit).