Clusia goscinnyi J.E. Nascim. & Bittrich, 2017

Do Nascimento-Jr, José E., Bittrich, Volker & Amaral, Maria Do Carmo E., 2017, Clusia goscinnyi, a new species of Clusia section Oedematopus (Clusiaceae), Phytotaxa 309 (1), pp. 85-89 : 86-88

Clusia goscinnyi J.E. Nascim. & Bittrich , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1A–I ).

Vegetatively similar to Clusia trochiformis Vesque (1893: 49) but differing in its staminate flowers with stamens fused at the base (vs. free stamens), and pistillate flowers with sepals and staminodes persistent until complete fruit development (vs. sepals and staminodes early deciduous. Similar to Clusia cylindrica Hammel (1986: 112) but differing in its leaves with secretory canals appearing discontinuous (vs. secretory canals continuous), inframarginal vein not visible in sicco (vs. inframarginal vein visible in sicco), petals ca. 5.5 × 4.5 mm (vs. ca. 3 × 3.5 mm) and globose shape of sub-mature fruits (vs. cylindrical shape).

Type:— PERU, Amazonas: Bagua Province, Distrito Imaza. Comunidad Aguaruna Putuim (anexo Yamayakat). Zona de colinas altas 24SW de Putuim. Suelos rocosos con abundante materia orgánica a modo de colchón (“CAMPOU”), 25 September 1994, C. Díaz, A. Peña & P. Atamain 7241, fl. ♂, (holotype: MO!, barcode MO-2181091).

Hemi-epiphytic shrub with cream exudate and tetrangular, flattened young branches, epidermis not peeling in rings. Petiole 8.0–12(–20) × 2.0–3.0 mm; leaf blade coriaceous, elliptic or obovate, 8.0–12 × 3.0–5.0(–7.0) cm, dull on both side (in sicco), with tiny pale dots slightly visible on the abaxial side, not visible on the adaxial side; base acute, decurrent or not; apex obtuse to rounded, rarely with a tiny acumen; margin slightly revolute; midrib prominent on both sides, generally visible up to the apex only on the abaxial side; secondary veins slightly or not visible on both sides, distant of each other ca. 1.3–2.2 mm, forming a 55° angle with the midrib in the central region of the leaf; infra-marginal vein not visible in sicco; secretory canals discontinuous, visible and prominent on the adaxial side and less visible to sometimes prominent on the abaxial side, distant of each other ca. 0.8–1.0 mm. Inflorescence erect or slightly pendent, staminate ca. 3.5–7.5 × 6.0– 10 cm, with 29–38(–62) flowers, and pistillate ca. 2.5–3.0 × 2.0– 2.5 cm, lax, with ca. 13 flowers; peduncle cylindric or slightly flattened, 3.0–5.0 mm long; bracts semi–orbicular, ca. 2.2–2.3 × 2.0 mm, carinate; pedicels ca. 1.0–3.0 mm long, flattened; bracteoles 2, semi-orbicular, ca. 1.7 × 1.5 mm; calicular bracts 2, semi-orbicular, 1.6 × 1.4 mm, fused at base. Floral bud globose, cream to greenish. Flower at anthesis ca. 5.0–6.0 mm in diameter; sepals 4, green, semiorbicular, the two external 3.0–4.0 × 3.0– 4.5 mm, and the two internal ca. 6.0 × 5.0 mm; petals 4, cream to yellowish, decussate, oblong, ca. 5.5 × 4.5 mm, fleshy and erect; staminate flower: pistillode invisible, stamens ca. 14–31, erect, ca. 2.0–3.0 mm long, free part of the filaments ca. 0.6–0.8 × 0.1 mm, wider at base, fused into a column of ca. 1.0 × 2.5 mm, anthers ca. 1.1–1.2 × 0.3 mm, oblong or slightly wider at the apex than at the base, obtuse to truncate at the apex, thecae longer than the connective; pistillate flower with 8–10 staminodes, ca. 2.3–2.5 mm long, sometimes bifurcated and with two antherodes, filaments ca. 1.0– 1.5 mm long, ca. 0.2 mm wide below the antherode, wider and briefly united at base, antherodes well-developed, ca. 0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm, oblong, truncate at the apex; ovary of 4 carpels, ca. 3.7 × 2.3 mm, oblong, subtetrangular; stigmas 4, ca. 1.5 × 1.2 mm, subsessile, rhomboid, finely papillose, terminal, converging in sicco. Immature fruit green, globose, ca. 1.5 × 1.0 cm, frequently with longitudinal striae when dried, forming compact infructescence, stigmas persistent, 1.0– 1.5 mm apart from each other and from the fruit apex. Calicular bracts, sepals and staminodes persistent, petals deciduous.

Etymology: —The epithet is in honour to René Goscinny, a great French comic scriptwriter. Goscinny was born in Paris in August 1926 and died in November 1977, also in Paris. He worked with many illustrators throughout his career, but his most outstanding works are Lucky Luke, in collaboration with Morris ( Maurice De Bevere), Le Petit Nicolas, with Jean-Jacques Sempé, and especially Astérix in partnership with Albert Uderzo. The Astérix story includes, as a major character, the tree-loving dog Idéfix.

Common name: —uwe, uwee ( Peru).

Notes and taxonomic affinities:— In herbaria, specimens of Clusia goscinnyi have been generally identified as C. flavida (Bentham) Pipoly et al. (1998: 272) (sect. Havetiopsis ) because both species have elliptic or obovate, dark (in sicco) leaves on abaxial surface, and C. goscinnyi has globose floral buds which resemble the flowers of C. flavida , which are bud-like at anthesis. Both species can be distinguished easily by the number of stamens and staminodes; 14–31 and 8–10 in C. goscinnyi and 4 and 4 in C. flavida , respectively. Clusia goscinnyi can also be distinguished from other species of sect. Oedematopus by its higher number of stamens and staminodes, as most species of this section have 8 or 12 stamens and 4 staminodes. An exception is C. cylindrica , a species that occurs from Costa Rica to Colombia. This species has 12–24 stamens and 6–8 staminodes, but its leaves have a visible inframarginal vein, secondary veins forming a 30–35° angle with the midrib, flowers with smaller petals (3–4 × 1.5–3.5 mm) and immature fruits are oblong to oblong-elliptical. Clusia trochiformis , a Peruvian species that belongs to sect. Anandrogyne Planchon & Triana (1860: 323) has similar leaves as C. goscinnyi , but the staminate flowers have free stamens with flattened filaments not fused at the base, pistillate flowers with sepals and staminodes early deciduous and immature fruits with stigmas converging at the apex. See Table 1 for detailed comparisons between morphologically similar species.

Distribution: —Cloud forests of southern Ecuador and northern Peru, at ca. 900–1000 m elevation ( Fig. 2 ).

Ecology and conservation: —So far Clusia goscinnyi is known only from a few collections in Peru and Ecuador. Although many researchers rank species with this features as “VU–vulnerable” (according to criteria of IUCN 2012), in our experience Amazonian hemi-epiphytic species (especially those with small flowers) are in most cases very poorly collected even when they are widely distributed. We thus believe that the few collections of C. goscinnyi do not reflect its abundance and do not imply that this species is necessarily threatened or vulnerable. Therefore, we classify C. goscinnyi as DD–data deficient.

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes):— ECUADOR. Zamora-Chinchipe: Nanagaritza Caton , Miazi, 04°18’S, 78°40’W, 9 December 1990, D. Neill & W. Palacios 9613 (fr.), ( MO!) ; 04°16’S, 78°42’W, 20 Octuber 1991, W. Palacios et al. 8464 (fr.), ( MO!) ; W. Palacios et al. 8514 (fl. ♂), ( MO!) ; Pachicutza , 04°07’S, 78°37’W, no date, W. Palacios & Exp. Tratado Cooperación Amazónia 8418 (bud fl. ♂), ( MO!) . PERU. Amazonas: Bagua Province, Distrito Imaza, Región Nororiental del Marañon , Comunidad de Kampaenza , 04°55’S, 78°19’W, 09 September 1994, N. Jaramillo et al. 451 (bud fl. ♀), ( MO!) ; Comunidad Aguaruna Putuium, Anexo de Yamayakat , 240° SW de Putuium, 20 January 1996, C. Díaz et al. 7715 A (fr.), ( MO!, MOL!) ; Monte Alto de Putuium , 25 August 1994, C. Diaz et al. 7025 (fl. ♀), ( USM!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Clusia goscinnyi J.E. Nascim. & Bittrich. A. Branch with staminate inflorescence with floral buds. B. Branch with pistillate inflorescence with floral buds. C. Detail of abaxial surface of the leaf blade showing dark secretory canals. D. Staminate floral bud. E. Androecium. F. Stamen in ventral, lateral and dorsal view (left to right). G. Pistillate flower without petals, showing one pair of calicular bracts (at the base) and two pairs of sepals. H. Gynoecium and staminodes (note the basal fusion of staminodes). I. Immature fruit.A, C–F: based on C. Díaz et al. 7241 (MO). B, G–H: based on N. Jaramillo et al. 451 (MO). I: based on C. Díaz et al. 7715A (MO).

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Clusia goscinnyi in southern Ecuador and northern Peru (white dots represent extant populations).