Neo-Uvaria telopea, 2011

Chaowasku, Tanawat, KEssLER, Paul J. A., Punnadee, Suwit & Van Der Ham, Raymond W. J. M., 2011, Taxonomic novelties and pollen morphological study in the genus Neo-uvaria (Annonaceae), Phytotaxa 32, pp. 27-42 : 32-34

Neo-uvaria telopea Chaowasku , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1A–C ; 3 ; 4 )

Neo-uvaria foetida e Malaysia peninsulari proxima, precipue foliis plerumque maioribus, venis tertiariis adiacentibus plus distantibus, pilis (plus) densibus, floribus maioribus, staminum numero minore differt.

TYPE: — THAILAND. Ranong Province: Klong Nakha Wildlife Sanctuary , September 2008, Chaowasku 77 (holotype L!, isotype BKF!), in fruit .

Medium-sized trees, ca. 11 m tall, ca. 12 cm in dbh, all parts generally covered with stellate hairs intermixed with simple hairs. Young twigs densely velvety-villous. Petioles 5–7 mm long, densely velvety-villous. Leaves elliptic, (9.5–)13.0–21.5 × (4.0–) 4.7–9.1 cm, base broadly wedge-shaped to obtuse, apex caudateacuminate, lamina almost glabrous above, (densely) villous below, upper surface of midrib slightly sunken, velvety, lower surface of midrib raised, densely (appressed-)velvety-villous, secondary veins 17–18 pairs per leaf, angle with midrib 45º–50º. Flowers solitary, axillary, (almost) sessile, bracts usually 2 per flower, ovate. Sepals broadly ovate to slightly triangular, ca. 7.5 × 6.5 mm, outside and margin (appressed-)velvetytomentose, inside (appressed-)tomentose. Outer petals elliptic, 11.5–13.5 × 6.5–8.0 mm, indumentum on outer side and margin similar to sepals, inside shortly cobwebbed with sparser hairs, base (almost) glabrous. Inner petals slightly ovate to broadly elliptic, 8.5–10.0 × 7.5–8.5 mm, apically thickened, outside (appressed-) velvety-tomentose in the middle, sparser towards the margin which is shortly cobwebbed, inside shortly cobwebbed, sparser towards the base which is (almost) glabrous. Stamens 16–20(–22) per flower, 1.6–1.7 mm long, connective tissue flat-topped. Carpels 5–8 per flower, stigmas ellipsoid-cylindrical, ovaries densely villous, ovules 1(–2) per ovary, basal. Torus more or less flat, villous, enlarged in fruit. Monocarps 1–5 per fruit, sessile, ellipsoid-ovoid, 6.5–7.0 × 5.2–5.5 cm, surface (appressed-)velvety-tomentose. Seeds 1 per monocarp, ellipsoid(-ovoid), 5.0 × 3.4–3.5 cm.

Distribution: —Peninsular Thailand [Ranong Province ( Fig. 3 )] [only known from two collections (Chaowasku 77 and Gardner & Sidisunthorn ST 1992) collected from the same individual].

Habitats and Phenology: —Occurring in understory of semi-disturbed lowland evergreen forests. Elevation ca. 120 m. Flowering December (collection Gardner & Sidisunthorn ST 1992). Fruiting September (collection Chaowasku 77).

Field notes: —Crown monopodial with horizontal branching. Bark dark brown, smooth with very shallow horizontal cracks with raised edges; middle bark indistinct; inner bark cream, fibrous. Petals pale green aging greenish-yellow, thick and fleshy; staminal mass pale yellow, blackened at male anthesis ( Fig. 1B ). Monocarps brown with velvety hairs.

Etymology: —The epithet refers to the huge size of the monocarps ( Fig. 1C ), which therefore can be easily seen from afar.

Vernacular names: —Ma-Neng (Thai).

Observations: —Odour of rotten fish was emitted from (nearly) dried monocarps. This smell was also detected in those of N. foetida (pers. obs. TC). This new species seems to be closely related to N. foetida occurring in Peninsular Malaysia. It chiefly differs in having generally larger leaves [(9.5–)13.0–21.5 × (4.0–) 4.7–9.1 cm in N. telopea vs. 7.7–15.7(–18.0) × 2.5–5.0(–6.0) cm in N. foetida ] with wider distance of the adjacent tertiary veins, denser indumentum on nearly all parts, larger flowers [sepals ca. 7.5 × 6.5 mm, outer petals 11.5–13.5 × 6.5–8.0 mm, inner petals 8.5–10.0 × 7.5–8.5 mm in N. telopea vs. sepals ca. 4.0 × 3.6 mm, outer petals ca. 9.2 × 5.4 mm, inner petals, ca. 6.7 × 5.4 mm in N. foetida ], fewer stamens per flower [16–20(– 22) in N. telopea vs. (26–) 27 in N. foetida ], and generally fewer carpels per flower [5–8 in N. telopea vs. 7–11 in N. foetida ]. Vegetatively, N. telopea resembles N. acuminatissima in the density of the indumentum, but the latter species has much smaller monocarps and flowers. The fruits of N. parallelivenia are unknown but its flowers are noticeably different from those of N. telopea , especially the much smaller sepals and the nonthickened apex of the inner petals of the former.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Flowers and fruits of Neo-uvaria and a flower of Enicosanthum. A–C. Neo-uvaria telopea: (A) Flower at female anthesis; (B) Flower at male anthesis, showing the blackened stamens; (C) Fruit with five monocarps. D. Enicosanthum sp.: (D) Flower at female anthesis. E, F. N. sparsistellata: (E) Flower at female anthesis; (F) Fruit with a single monocarp. Photographs: B, D, E, S. Gardner; A, C, S. Punnadee; F, T. Chaowasku.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Neo-uvaria sparsistellata (ˑ) and N. telopea (̝).

FIGURE 4. Neo-uvaria telopea. a. Habit. b. Flower bud. c. Flower. d. Flower with petals removed. e. Flower with petals and stamens removed. f. Inside of an outer petal. g. Inside of an inner petal. h. Stamen, abaxial view. i. Stamen, adaxial view. j. Fruiting branch with four monocarps detached. k. Seed. (a, j, k, Chaowasku 77; b–i, Gardner and Sidisunthorn ST 1992).