Miconia cubacinerea Majure & Judd, J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7: 268. 2013.

Majure, Lucas C., Becquer, Eldis R. & Judd, Walter S., 2016, Revision of the Lima clade (Miconia sect. Lima, Miconieae, Melastomataceae) of the Greater Antilles, PhytoKeys 72, pp. 1-99 : 22-23

3. Miconia cubacinerea Majure & Judd, J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7: 268. 2013. Fig. 6A

Clidemia cinerea Griseb., Cat. Pl. Cub. [Grisebach] 97. 1866. Type: CUBA. [ Guantánamo]. Yunque de Baracoa, 11 Jun 1860-1864, C. Wright 2483 (holotype: GOET! [GOET007034]; isotypes: BM! [BM000884493], BR! [BR0000005185191], G! [G00353604], GDC! [G00316293], GH! [GH00072059], K! [K000535607], MO! [MO-2049513], YU! [YU065014]).

Oxymeris cinerea (Griseb.) Triana, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 28: 92. 1871. Type: Based on Clidemia cinerea Griseb.

Leandra cinerea (Griseb.) Cogn., Fl. Bras. (Martius) 14: 71. 1886. Type: Based on Clidemia cinerea Griseb.

Maieta cinerea (Griseb.) M. Gómez, Anales Hist. Nat. 23: 71. 1894. Type: Based on Clidemia cinerea Griseb.

Type.

Based on Clidemia cinerea Griseb. (non Miconia cinerea Cogn. in Mart., Fl. Bras. (Martius) 14, pt. 4: 290. 1887).

Description.

Evergreen shrub, 2 m tall; stems round in cross section, not ridged, the internodes 0.4-2.4 cm long, stem indumentum of spreading, bulla-based hairs to 1.7 mm long; nodal line absent. Leaves opposite, decussate, elliptic, 3.9-7.2 × 1.7-3.6 cm, slightly anisophyllous, apex acute to obtuse, base acute to rounded, venation acrodromous, 5-veined, the midvein and 2 pairs of arching secondary veins, secondary veins mostly suprabasal, the innermost pair produced 0.4-0.8 mm from leaf base, positioned 0.25-0.6 mm in from margin at widest point of blade, tertiary veins percurrent, more or less perpendicular to midvein, 0.2-0.48 mm apart at midleaf, impressed and inconspicuous on the upper leaf surface, intertertiary veins present, conspicuous on lower leaf surface, tertiary veins often joined by quaternary veins; adaxial leaf surface covered in poorly developed, bulla-based hairs, widest hair bases to 0.5 mm, apices of bulla-based hairs mostly recurved, young leaf adaxial surface producing long-stemmed, clavate-dentritic hairs at the leaf base and apex, sessile, glandular hairs produced throughout the lamina between the bulla-based hairs; abaxial leaf surface sparsely covered in poorly developed bulla-based hairs, these erect, those along the primary, secondary, and tertiary veins larger than hairs produced throughout the lamina, the lamina easily visible, sessile, glandular hairs produced throughout the lamina between the bulla-based hairs; domatia of multicellular, elongate hairs prominent in the axils of the primary and secondary and primary and tertiary veins; petioles 0.3-1.1 cm long, covered in spreading, bulla-based hairs on both surfaces. Inflorescences terminal, 1-3 flowered, flowers produced in glomerulate clusters, 0.8-1.2 × 1-1.4 cm, the peduncle absent to 0.1 cm long, pedicels absent; bracts elliptic to rotund, 3-6.5 mm long; bracteoles elliptic to rotund, 3-4 × 2-2.4 mm, covered abaxially in bulla-based hairs, mostly glabrous abaxially but with bulla-based hairs produced at the base. Flowers 5-merous, sessile; hypanthium ca. 3.4 mm long, oblong, unlobed, barely constricted below the torus, free portion of the hypanthium ca. 1.7 mm long, abaxial surface covered in bulla-based hairs to 3.2 mm long; adaxial surface (i.e., free portion) covered in small, bulla-based hairs; calyx teeth 5, 5.7-6.2 × 0.6-0.7 mm, spreading, covered in bulla-based hairs, as well as a few clavate-dendritic hairs; calyx lobes triangular, apex rounded, ca. 0.6 × 1.5 mm, covered in bulla-based hairs abaxially and filiform hairs at the apex adaxially; calyx tube not tearing, ca. 0.3 mm long with bulla-based hairs abaxially and filiform hairs at the apex adaxially; petals 5, size at anthesis unknown, only seen in bud, white (according to Wright 2483), with one slightly bulla-based hair produced abaxially, subapically, hairs to 0.4 mm long; stamens 10; filaments (immature) ca. 2.5 mm long, anthers (immature) ovate, 2-2.1 mm long, with one apically oriented pore, anther thecae 1.7-1.9 mm long, anthers lacking dorso-basal appendage; style (immature) ca. 3.5 mm long, glabrous, only slightly dilated in the middle, collar absent, style subtended by multicellular, linear (needle-like) hairs, which are the same as the hairs of the ovary apex, stigma punctate; ovary ca. 2.3 × 2.2 mm, apex convex, pubescent with linear hairs, placentation axile with shallowly intruded placenta, 3-locular; berries globose, 3.8 mm long (immature and including calyx tube), 7 mm wide; seeds not seen.

Phenology.

The type collection of Miconia cubacinerea was gathered in bud in June.

Distribution

(Fig. 4 ). Miconia cubacinerea is only known from the Elemento Natural Destacado Yunque de Baracoa region of Cuba, based upon the type gathering and one other collection from that area.

Ecology.

Little information is available regarding the ecology of this species. However, the vegetation of Yunque de Baracoa is primarily evergreen sclerophylous shrubland over limestone. Miconia cubacinerea likely forms part of the very humid interior karstic formation of Yunque de Baracoa, according to Alain & Acuña 7538. Associated melastomes include Clidemia wrightii Griseb., Conostegia lindenii Cogn., Miconia yunquensis Judd, Bécquer & Majure and Miconia heterophylla (Naudin) M. Gómez.

Conservation status.

This species in only known from the type specimen and one other gathering from 1960, thus we consider that is it data deficient, as it has not been collected from the Yunque de Baracoa area since that time. More fieldwork will be necessary to fully evaluate the conservation status of Miconia cubacinerea .

Discussion.

Miconia cubacinerea is most phenetically similar to Miconia hirtistyla , but the two species differ in leaf indumentum, the degree of pitting on the abaixal leaf surface, calyx teeth length, petal form (i.e., non-clawed in Miconia cubacinerea ), and style indumentum (i.e., glabrous in Miconia cubacinerea ); see also discussion under Miconia hisrtistyla .

Specimens examined.

CUBA. Prov. Guantánamo: Interior del Yunque de Baracoa, Yunque de Baracoa , 500 m, 14 Jan 1960, Alain & Acuña 7538 (HAC, HAJB) .

Figures

Figure 4. Distribution map of Miconia hirtistyla (closed circles), Miconia jashaferi (closed stars), Miconia cubacinerea (open circle), and Miconia tentaculicapitata (open stars).

Figure 6. Illustration of Miconia cubacinerea (A) and Miconia tentaculicapitata (B-F). A Habit of Miconia cubacinerea from the type specimen (Wright 2483) B habit of Miconia tentaculicapitata (Ekman 14823) C petal (Hioram 7218) D stamen (Hioram 7218) E fruit longitudinal section (Hioram 7218), and F seed (Leon LS- 12337).