Curarea cuatrecasasii Barneby & Krukoff, 1971

Ortiz, Rosa del C., 2018, A taxonomic revision of Curarea Barneby & Krukoff (Menispermaceae), PhytoKeys 100, pp. 9-89 : 33-36

4. Curarea cuatrecasasii Barneby & Krukoff Figs 17 , 18

Curarea cuatrecasasii Barneby & Krukoff, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 22(2): 14. 1971. Type: Colombia. Antioquia: Rain forest of Villa Agraria, Las Caucheras, basin of Río León o Bacubá, 95 m, 2 Oct 1961, ([imm?] fr), Cuatrecasas & Willard 26168 (holotype: COL!, NY neg. 8433; isotypes: NY! [NY00008325, frag.], US! [US00104020]).

Description.

Medium-sized understory lianas about 5-10 m tall; older stem more or less terete to weakly irregularly flattened, 0.5-1.5 cm wide; bark dark brown, with shallow lengthwise fissures and conspicuously tuberculate-lenticellate; branchlets densely brownish to silvery strigillose-tomentellous to glabrate. Leaves: blades 9-26 × 4.3-13.5 cm, ovate to elliptic, chartaceous at all stages, base obtuse to rounded, apex acuminate, cuspidate when juvenile; surfaces discolorous, lustrous and glabrous adaxially, indumentum finely silvery strigillose-tomentellous abaxially, rarely confined to the areoles with age; 3(5) palmati- or plinerved, innermost pair of main veins acrodromous imperfect at all stages, midrib and lateral nerves slightly raised above, conspicuously raised abaxially, secondary veins 2(3) pairs, veinlets slightly prominent adaxially in both juvenile and mature leaves, raised abaxially; petioles (2.9-)6.2-18 cm long, ridged, rugulose, brownish or silvey strigillose-tomentellous to glabrate, distal pulvinus rugulose. Staminate inflorescences fascicled, cauliflorous, lax thyrsi (Fig. 17B-C ), densely silvery or brownish strigillose-tomentellous; axes 2.2-8 cm long; primary branches 1.8-6.2 cm long, filiform, with several (2-)4-5 branching orders; bracts 0.4-1.1 mm long, lanceolate to narrow ovate, concave, fleshy, indumentum as on inflorescence.

Pistillate inflorescences unknown. Staminate flowers 1.2-1.6 mm long, green, greenish or brownish; pedicels 0.4-2.8 mm long, terete, sometimes ridged, indumentum as on the axis; bracteoles 2-3, 0.2-0.6 × 0.1-0.4 mm, ovate-lanceolate, oblong or ovate-rhombic, fleshy, glabrous adaxially, light brown tomentellous abaxially; sepals 6, glabrous adaxially, light brown to silvery tomentellous abaxially; outer sepals 0.8-1 × 0.5-0.8 mm, ovate-lanceolate, ovate or obovate, base and apex obtuse; inner sepals 1.2-1.7 × 0.6-1.1 mm, obovate or elliptic, sometimes oblong or ovate-rhombic, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse, tip of inner sepals erect to strongly reflexed past anthesis; petals (5)6, 0.5-0.9 × 0.2-0.5 mm, inner ones slightly longer, narrowly obovate-trilobed or spatulate, weakly concave, membranous, glabrous adaxially, glabrous to sparsely silvery tomentellous abaxially, weakly to strongly recurved above the cuneate base, lateral margins inflexed, partially clasping the filaments, apex acute, sometimes obtuse; stamens (3-)6; filaments 0.3-0.7 mm long, inner ones slightly longer clavate to clavate-sigmoid, moderately thick, free or connate at base, glabrous; anthers 0.2-0.3 mm long, erect, connective thicker adaxially and forming (or not) a protruding keel at the base of the anther, sometimes apically overgrowing thecae and forming a hump adaxially when older (Fig. 17H-I ). Pistillate flowers unknown. Infructescences axes 1.3-4 × 0.2-0.7 cm, bark exfoliating, cauliflorous, lax thyrsi, with simple dichasia as primary branches, brownish strigillose-tomentellous; fruiting pedicels (1.2-)6.5 mm long, terete to weakly clavate; carpophores 2.4-4.5 mm long, elongate, weakly terete to claviform, truncate or convex at apex, velutinous. Drupelets 1.9-3.2 × 1.2-1.8 cm, yellow or pale orange when ripe, oblongoid or ellipsoid (Fig. 18B ), (weakly reniform), weakly to strongly eccentrically attached, base truncate, obtuse to cuneate (gradually narrowed toward the base in a short (3-3.5 mm) stipe; stylar scar conspicuous; exocarp 1.2-1.9 mm thick, surface rugulose or muriculate, velutinous, granular when dried; mesocarp thin, mucilaginous; endocarp 1.5-2.4 × 0.9-1 cm, chartaceous, surface smooth. Seeds with embryo 3.8-4.8 cm long, crustaceous, cotyledons sometimes unequal.

Distribution and ecology.

From Costa Rica throughout Panama to northwestern Colombia (Fig. 9 ), at elevations of 10-650(-1100) m. In wet tropical lowland to pre-montane forests. Staminate flowering specimens were collected in March, April, May, June and September; pistillate flowering specimens are unknown; fruiting specimens were collected in January, March and July-December.

Common names and uses.

Costa Rica: edible fruits (Morales et al. 3243, mat fr). Colombia: used as magic plant by the Waunana (Forero 666, st).

Eponymy.

As per Barneby and Krukoff (1971), "the specific epithet honors Dr. José Cuatrecasas, who contributed greatly to the knowledge of the Colombian Flora and was a co-collector of the holotype".

Conservation status.

The calculated Extent of Occurrence (EOO) based on 26 collections representing 25 localities is 184,445 km2, whereas the Area of Occupancy (AOO) is estimated as 100 km2. Of the 23 subpopulations, 12 occurred in protected areas in Panama and Costa Rica and, although the species is not abundant where it occurs, it has a broad distribution. Hence, C. cuatrecasasii is assigned a preliminary category of "Least Concern" (LC).

Discussion.

Curarea cuatrecasasii is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of slender staminate inflorescences bearing filiform primary branches, petals weakly to strongly recurved shortly above the base, connectives forming an adaxial hump at the apex of thecae when older and ovate or ovate-elliptic, 3-5-veined leaves with silvery strigillose-tomentellous indumentum on the abaxial surface. The staminate inflorescence of this species resembles those of C. gentryana and is discussed under the latter species.

In fruit, C. cuatrecasasii is indistinguishable from C. iquitana , C. tomentocarpa and C. toxicofera and they all share elongate carpophores, but they can be separated geographically: C. cuatrecasasii is restricted to the Pacific side of the Andes from North Eastern Colombia to Costa Rica and the other species are known only from the eastern side of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.

The vessels width of C. cuatrecasasii is like that of C. tecunarum and C. barnebyana in being, on average, larger than the remaining species in group II (Table 5 ).

Selected specimens examined.

COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce, Aguabuena, Sector Norte , [08°42'20 ’’ N; 083°28'30 ’’ W], 50-150 m, 21 Nov 1991, (imm fr), Aguilar 682 (MO!); Parque Nacional Corcovado , Sirena , Corcovado basin trail, [08°29'N; 083°35'W], 50 m, 30 May 1989 (♂ fl), Kernan & Phillips 1147 (CR!, F [2]!, INB!, MO!) . San José: Puriscal, Z.P. La Cangreja, faja Costeña del Valle de Parrita, Mastatal de Puriscal, bosque primario en la cuenca del Rio Negro , por La Ceiba , 09°41'24"N; 084°23'24"W, 300 m, 25 Nov 1994, (mat fr), Morales et al. 3243 (CR!, MO!) .

PANAMA. Canal Zone: Along Rio Mendoza and small tributary, 1/2- 1 km upstream from Pipeline Road bridge, 8 km NW of Gamboa, Premontane wet forest, 100 m, 1 Nov 1973, (imm fr), Nee 7731 (COL!, F n.v., MO-2035834 , US!. Coclé: Along Llano Grande to Coclesito road above Cascajal , near divide, forest, 08°42'N; 080°28'W, 500 m, 11 Jan 1986, (imm fr), McPherson 7956 (MO!) . Colón: Rio Guanche, ca. 2.5 km upriver from bridge on road to Portobelo , [09°30'N; 079°39'W], 10-100 m, 14 Dec 1974, (imm fr), Mori & Kallunki 3695 (MO!) . Darien: Area from below the Rancho Frio to near ridgetop of Pirre Chain , [07°49'N; 077°43'W], 600-1100 m, 15 Nov 1977, (imm fr), Folsom et al. 6357 (MO!, NY!) . Panama: Pipeline road, premontane wet forest, [09°14'42N; 079°48'53"W - 09°07'26"N; 079°42'33"W], 50-120 m, 11 Mar 1983, (♂ fl), Gentry & Hamilton 41126 (MO!); Primary forest, along road between El Llano and Carti-Tupile road, from 12 miles above Pan American Hwy to continental Divide, [09°18'N; 078°56'W - 09°19'N; 078°57'W], 200-500 m, 30 Mar 1973, (imm fr), Liesner 1325 (MO-2035837); Pipeline Road , ca. 12 km NW of Gamboa, Tropical wet forest, [09°10'N; 079°45'W], 100 m, 26 Aug 1975, (imm fr), Mori 7946 (MO!) . San Blas: Quebrada E of town of Puerto Obaldia , upriver from the dam (represa), [08°40'N; 077°24'W], 0-50 m, 18 Apr 1982, (♂ fl), Knapp & Mallet 4706 (MO!) .

COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Mpio. Taraza, corregimiento "El Doce", Hacienda Las Mercedes, La Quebradona, 200 m NE de Medellin , 650 m, 3 Jul 1980, (imm fr), Callejas 1183 (NY!); Mpio. Chigorodó, vereda Bohios , Finca La Cabana , 30 m, 4 Apr 1985, (♂ fl.), Renteria 3754 (JAUM n.v., MO!) . Bolivar: Mpio. Achi, Inspeccion de La Raya , 100 m, 6 May 1987, (♂ fl), Cuadros & Gentry 3606, (JBGP n.v., MO!, NY!) . Chocó: Mpio. de Riosucio, Zona de Urabá, Cerros del Cuchillo , Sector Cuchillo Negro , 10-30 m, 7 Sep 1987, (imm fr), Cárdenas 374, (JAUM n.v., MO!); Mpio. Bahia Solano , Corregimiento El Valle, trocha El Valle-Boro Boro, 06°21'N; 076°26'W, 17 Apr 1989, (♂ fl), Espina et al. 2645 (MO!) .

Figures

Figure 9. Geographic distribution of Curarea barnebyana, C. candicans, C. crassa, C. cuatrecasasii and C. gentryana.

Figure 17. Curarea cuatrecasasii staminate plant: A habit B inflorescence C inflorescence detail D flower bud E inner sepal, adaxial surface F-G outer and inner petals, abaxial and lateral surfaces H-I outer stamens, adaxial and abaxial surfaces (based on Aguilar 3303).

Figure 18. Curarea cuatrecasasii pistillate plant: A habit B infructescence (A, based on Cuatrecasas & Willard 26168; B based on Marin 246).