Myrcia tomentosa (Aubl.) De Candolle (1828: 245)

Amorim, Gabriela Dos Santos, Barbosa, Maria Regina De Vasconcellos, Jr, Eduardo Bezerra De Almeida & Thomas, William Wayt, 2022, Taxonomic study of Myrtaceae in forest fragments in Amazonian Maranhão, Brazil, Phytotaxa 568 (1), pp. 27-60 : 54

33. Myrcia tomentosa (Aubl.) De Candolle (1828: 245) .

Basionym:— Eugenia tomentosa Aublet (1775: 504) .

Type:— FRENCH GUIANA. “ Habitat ad ripam fluvii Sinemariensis tribus milliaribus à maris littore ”, 1775, Aublet s.n. (holotype: BM [000953642]) .

Trees 1.5– 8 m. Twigs glabrous or densely pubescent, the indumentum yellowish. Leaves with petioles 8–17 mm long, densely pubescent, unchanneled; blades elliptic to broadly so, lanceolate or oblong, 6.8–10.1 × 3–4.1 cm, glabrescent or sparsely pubescent adaxially and densely pubescent abaxially, the indumentum yellowish, membranaceous or chartaceous, discolorous; glands inconspicuous; base cuneate or attenuate; apex acute, rarely acuminate; midvein adaxially impressed; lateral veins visible and prominent abaxially, arched, 6 to 10 pairs; intra-marginal vein absent, margin flat. Inflorescence terminal or subterminal, pyramidal panicle, flowers congested, the axis 4.7–10 cm long, densely pubescent, the indumentum yellowish, the first branching 0.7–1.1 cm long; bracts lanceolate, 5 × 5 mm, pubescent, caducous after anthesis; pedicels absent; bracteoles linear 0.2 × 0.2 mm, pubescent, caducous after anthesis; flower buds ovate, 2–2.5 × 1.5 mm, constricted above ovary; calyx-lobes free, five, pubescent, ovate or triangular, 0.5 × 0.5 mm, reflexed; ovary 2-locular. Immature fruit globose, 0.3 × 0.4 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, surface with glands marked.

Note:— Myrcia tomentosa may be recognized by its midvein, which is abaxially densely pubescent and an adaxially impressed; the arched lateral veins; and the densely pubescent panicle with ovate flower buds. This species is morphologically related to M. selloi , from which it is distinguished by its discolorous leaves, which are glabrescent or sparsely pubescent adaxially and densely pubescent abaxially (vs. glabrescent and concolorous); the unchanneled petiole (vs. channeled); the sessile flowers (vs. pedicelate); and the pubescent calyx-lobes (vs. glabrous).

Distribution and habitat:— Known from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panamá, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago and Venezuela and widely distributed in Brazil (POWO 2020, Flora do Brasil 2020). In Amazonian Maranhão, M. tomentosa was found growing in secondary forest.

Phenology:— Flowering in February and November.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Maranhão: São José de Ribamar, Sítio Aguagy , 2°38’47” S, 44°09’05” W, 02 February 2018 (fl.), G.S. Amorim 434 ( MAR!) . São Luís, Alumar , 2°41’30” S, 44°19’44” W, 13 November 1995 (fl.), K.B. Ferreira & E. C. Girnos s.n ( MAR!) .

Additional specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Amazonas: Southern ridge of Pico Rondon, perimetral norte highway km 211, 700 m, 1°31’48” N, 62°48’ W, 03 February 1984 (fr.), G.T. Prance 28776 ( NY!). Maranhão: Estreito, Margem direita do rio Tocantins (área de mata úmida próximo à sua foz), 06 December 2008 (fr.), G.P. Silva 13888 (CEN, image) .