Carapichea galbaoensis (Steyerm.) O.Lachenaud & Delprete, 2022

Lachenaud, Olivier & Delprete, Piero, 2022, Revision of Carapichea (Rubiaceae - Psychotrieae) in the Guianas, with two new combinations and transfer of three species to Notopleura, Plant Ecology and Evolution 155 (2), pp. 275-300 : 275

3. Carapichea galbaoensis (Steyerm.) O.Lachenaud & Delprete comb. nov.

Figs 3 , 4

Psychotria galbaoensis Steyerm., Brittonia 33: 387 ( Steyermark 1981)

Type.

FRENCH GUIANA • pente NE des Monts Galbao , à 10 km au SW de Saül; 500-600 m; 11 Mar. 1975; fl.; Granville 2383; holotype: VEN n.v.; isotype: CAY [CAY024926, CAY024927] .

Description.

Shrub 0.5-3.0 m tall, sparsely branched; terminal branchlets terete, 2.0-2.5 mm in diam., glabrous, soon covered with a pale grey corky bark. Stipules triangular, 2-5 × 1.2-4.5 mm, free, entire or shortly bilobed for <0.5(-1) mm, glabrous outside, villose at the base inside, becoming corky and soon damaged. Leaves with petioles 0.6-2.5 cm, glabrous; blades elliptic or slightly oblanceolate, 11-22.5 × 3.5-7.2 cm, long-attenuate and decurrent on the petiole at base, acuminate at apex, subcoriaceous when fresh, papyraceous when dry, entirely glabrous, drying blackish or dark grey; midrib and secondary veins prominent on the upper side; secondary veins 7-10 on each side of the midrib, strongly ascending, arching near the margin (almost reaching it); with 2-3 subsecondary veins between each pair of secondary veins; tertiary veins reticulate, barely visible when fresh, prominent when dry. Inflorescences terminal, involucrate heads, 14-20-flowered; peduncle 1-3 cm long, erect, glabrous; involucre whitish outside and dark green inside, very shortly connate basally, with two decussate pairs of bracts, both pairs with a basal stalk 8-11 × 7-10 mm; the outer pair 27-44 × 9-25 mm, with the medio-distal portion broadly ovate to ovate; the inner pair slightly smaller than the outer bracts, 24-36 × 5-15 mm, with the medio-distal portion broadly to narrowly ovate to lanceolate, acute to obtuse at apex; both pairs entirely glabrous, persistent at fruiting stage. Interfloral bracts much smaller than the involucral ones, narrowly elliptic, obovate to narrowly spathulate, obtuse at apex, gradually decreasing in size towards the center of the inflorescence, the largest ones 10-12 × 1.5-5 mm, glabrous, caducous or sometimes persistent at fruiting stage. Flowers 5-merous, heterostylous, sessile. Hypanthium obovoid, 1.0-1.3 × 0.7-0.8 mm, glabrous. Disk bilobed to the base, cylindrical, 0.7-1.0 mm long. Calyx shortly cupuliform, 0.3-0.4 mm long, truncate or shallowly denticulate, glabrous. Corolla hypocrateriform, white; tube narrowly cylindrical, slightly wider at mouth, (15-)16-19 × 2.0-2.5 mm, glabrous outside, shortly pubescent at stamens insertion inside; lobes oblong-lanceolate, 2.0-3.5 × 1.0-1.2 mm, reflexed, acute at apex, glabrous throughout. Short-styled flowers: stamens inserted at distal 1/4th from the base of the tube; filaments ca 3 mm long; anthers with only the tips exserted, ca 3 × 0.3 mm; style included, ca 13 mm long; style branches 2, linear, ca 2 mm long. Long-styled flowers: stamens inserted just above the middle of the tube; anthers subsessile, fully included, 2.0-2.4 × 0.2 mm; style just reaching the corolla mouth or exserted beyond the mouth, 16-17 mm long; style branches linear, 1.0-1.2 mm long. Fruits ellipsoid, 8-10 × 5.5-6.0 mm when dry, orange to red, turning black at full maturity, glabrous, sessile. Pyrenes planoconvex, narrowly elliptic in outline, 8-9 × 3.5-4.0 mm, dorsal side with 3-4 faint ridges, ventral side with a deep narrow excavation for the whole length, ± C-shaped in cross-section, opening by 4 dorso-basal slits running along the ridges. Seeds entire, C-shaped in cross-section.

Distribution.

This species is found mostly in French Guiana, where it is locally frequent in the interior (occurring in most ranges of the Inini-Camopi chain, and in the Approuague basin north of the Nouragues Mountains) with a single record from the adjacent Brazilian state of Amapá.

Ecology.

This species is locally frequent in the understory of terra firme rainforest, at 100-800 m elevation.

Phenology.

This species flowers during the small dry season (March-early April) and produces fruits from mid-April to September.

Specimens examined.

FRENCH GUIANA • Saül, layon blanc vers Limonade ; 3°37'N, 53°12'E; 3 Aug. 1987; Allorge 311; P • Mont Bakra; 3°18'N, 52°57'W; 475 m; 16 Apr. 1993; fr.; Cremers 13141; CAY [2 sheets], U • Mont Chauve; 3°49'N, 52°44'W; 150 m; 16 Apr. 1997; Cremers & Crozier 15010; CAY • ibid.; 120 m; 21 Apr. 1997; fl.; Cremers & Crozier 15134; CAY • Saül, sur le layon vers La Fumée, 500 m avant le plateau La Douane; 3 Feb. 1981; imm. fr.; Fournet 62; CAY, P • Monts Galbao, à 10 km WNW de Saül; 10 May 1973; Granville 1584; CAY, COL, U • Saül, 1 km environ au S des Monts La Fumee ; 6 Mar. 1975; fl.; Granville 2354; CAY • Saül, layon ORSTOM du plateau La Douane aux Monts La Fumee ; 16 Jan. 1976; fl.; Granville 2664; CAY [2 sheets], P • Saül, antenne est La Fumée /Nouvelle France, pk 1.2; 5 Mar. 1977; fl.; Granville 2806; CAY • Sommet Tabulaire, versant sud; 500 m; 24 Aug. 1980; fr.; Granville 3596; CAY [2 sheets], P • Massif des Emerillons , zone sud; 250 m; 8 Sep. 1980; fr.; Granville 3773; CAY • tracé ORSTOM La Fumée, à 1,2 km environ au N du Plateau La Douane; 3 Apr. 1982; fl.; Granville 5050; CAY • env. 13 km SSW Saül, 2-3 km W of Crique Limonade, Montagne Perinette ; 31 Mar. 1983; fl.; Granville 5435; CAY [2 sheets], P • Montagne Bellevue de l'Inini , zone centrale; 750-800 m; 23 Aug. 1985; fl., fr.; Granville 7761; CAY, INPA, MG, MO n.v., P, U • Station des Nouragues ; 4°03'N, 52°42'W; 100 m; 6 Aug. 1989; fr.; Granville et al. 11071; CAY • Pic Coudreau, Monts Bakra; 3°18'N, 52°57'W; 710 m; 18 Apr. 1993; fl.; Granville & Cremers 11788; CAY • Monts Bakra, 1,5 km à l’ouest du Pic Coudreau; 3°18'N, 52°57'W; 520 m; 16 Jun. 2002; fr.; Granville et al. 14804; CAY • Saül, Monts La Fumee ; 3°40'N, 53°10'W; 200-300 m; 26 Jul. 1987; fr.; Hahn 3634; CAY, U • Piste Sophie, Saül; 11 Sep. 1962; F. Hallé 818; P, U • Station des Nouragues ; 4°03'N, 52°42'W; Jul. 1996; fr.; Hequet 222; CAY • Saül, Les Eaux Claires; 3°39'N, 53°12'W; 200-400 m; 5 Sep. 2000; fr.; Junikka & Nieminen 3031; CAY • Saül, Monts La Fumee ; 17 Mar. 2014; Lachenaud 1689; BR, CAY • Montagne des Nouragues ; 4°03'N, 52°42'W; Jun. 1989; fr.; Larpin 539; CAY [2 sheets] • Commune de Sauel ; 13 Jul. 1977; fr.; Moretti 752; CAY [2 sheets] • Saül, Monts La Fumee ; 3°37'N 53°12'W; 200-400 m; 30 Aug. 1982; fr.; Mori & Boom 14803; CAY, NY • Saül, La Fumée Oeste; 3°37'N, 53°12'W; 200-400 m; 5 Apr. 1983; fl.; Mori & Pipoly 15511; CAY, NY • Saül, La Fumee Mountain ; 3°37'N, 53°12'W; 200-350 m; 22 May 1986; fr.; Mori & Pennington 18097; CAY, P, U • Station des Nouragues; 4°03'N, 52°42'W; 20 Jul. 1989; fr.; Sabatier & Prévost 2547; CAY, U • Station des Nouragues, chemin ouest; 9 Mar. 1996; fl.; Solano K 282; CAY .

BRAZIL - Amapá • Near Cachoeira Macacoara ; 0°53'N, 53°21'W; 27 Aug. 1961; fr.; Egler & Irwin 46695 [ Irwin’s collection number]; U , US.

Notes.

Carapichea galbaoensis is closely related to C. guianensis and has been considered a synonym of the latter ( Delprete 2001, 2003; Boom and Delprete 2002; Taylor and Gereau 2013) but is here reinstated as a distinct species. The two taxa are almost identical in vegetative characters (although C. galbaoensis has usually shorter stipules), fruits, pyrenes, and inflorescence structure, but the shape and dimensions of the involucral bracts differ, as well as the position of the stamens and style, and especially the length of the corolla tube, which is much longer in C. galbaoensis . Differences between them are summarised in Table 2 and illustrated in Figs 3 , 5 .

Figures

Figure 3. Carapichea galbaoensis. A. Stem with leaves, stipules, and inflorescences. B. Nodes with stipules. C. Flower bud and two floral bracts. D. Corolla at anthesis with partially exserted anthers, lateral view. E. Stamens, adaxial and lateral view. F. Infructescence surrounded by bracts, top view. G. Fruit (left) and seed (right). A-E from Mori & Pipoly 15511; F-G from Marshall & Rombold 102. Drawn by Bobbi Angell. Reproduced from Mori et al. (2002: figure 279) with permission.

Figure 4. Carapichea galbaoensis. A. Inflorescence with open flowers, top view. B. Inflorescence with open flowers, side view. C. Flowering branch. D. Habit. A from plant not collected, Monts La Fumee, French Guiana; B-C from plant not collected, Mont Galbao, French Guiana; D from Lachenaud 1689. Photographs by Sebastien Sant (A-C) and Olivier Lachenaud (D).

Figure 5. Carapichea guianensis. A. Habit. B. Detail of lower leaf surface. C. Inflorescence with long-styled flowers. D. Inflorescence with short-styled flowers. E. Infructescence. A from plant not collected, Mont Itoupe, French Guiana; B-C from Lachenaud 1725; D from plant not collected, Camopi, French Guiana; E from plant not collected, Bellevue de Papaichton, French Guiana. Photographs by Sebastien Sant (A, D-E) and Olivier Lachenaud (B-C).