Cremastosperma macrocarpum Maas, 1986

Pirie, Michael D., Chatrou, Lars W. & Maas, Paul J. M., 2018, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical genus Cremastosperma (Annonaceae), including five new species, PhytoKeys 112, pp. 1-141 : 1

17. Cremastosperma macrocarpum Maas Figs 2d , 26 , Map 9

Cremastosperma macrocarpum Maas, Proc. Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetensch. Ser. C 89: 253, f. 2, 3b. 1986.

Type.

VENEZUELA, Falcón: Sierra de San Luis, above Santa María, 1300 m, 26 Jul 1979, van der Werff, H.H. & Vera, B., Flora Falcón 937 (holotype: U! [U0000246]).

Description.

Tree 5-10 m tall; young twigs and petioles glabrous. Leaves: petioles 3-10 by 1-3 mm; lamina narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 10-30 by 4-9(12) cm (index 2.3-3.7), chartaceous, green, brownish-green or brown on both sides, darker above, glabrous on both sides, base obtuse to rounded, apex acuminate (acumen 5-10 mm long), primary vein grooved in basal half, 1-2 mm wide at widest point, verrucose, secondary veins 6-12, intersecondary veins 1-2, distance between from 7-15 mm at the base to 7-23 mm closer to the apex, angles with primary vein from 60-80° at the base to 45-60° closer to the apex, not branching, forming mostly distinct loops, smallest distance between loops and margin 1-5 mm, tertiary veins mostly percurrent. Inflorescence of single flowers, on leafy twigs; peduncles ca. 1 by 0.5-1 mm (in flower), 1-2 by 1-2 mm (in fruit), sparsely covered in appressed golden hairs to 0.1 mm long or glabrous; pedicels 35-45 by 0.5-1 mm at the base up to 2.5 mm at the apex (in flower), 40-65 by 1-1.5 mm at the base up to 5 mm at the apex (in fruit), glabrous; single lower bract, depressed ovate, ca. 0.5 by 1 mm, rounded, soon falling off, rather densely covered with appressed golden hairs to 0.1 mm long; upper bract at or near base of pedicel, ovate, ca. 1.5 by 0.8 mm, obtuse, glabrous; closed flower buds not seen; flowers pale greenish-yellow with green base or cream-coloured in vivo, black in sicco, sepals and petals glabrous; sepals free, broadly to depressed ovate, recurved, 1.5-2 by 1.5-2 mm, obtuse, soon falling off; outer petals ovate, 11-14 by 8-9 mm, obtuse, inner petals obovate, 15-16 by ca. 7 mm, obtuse; androecium ca. 6.5 mm diam., gynoecium not seen. Monocarps 7-18, ellipsoid, slightly asymmetrical, 18-24 by 12-14 mm, very small strongly excentric apicule, green maturing to yellowish-brown, brown or purple-black in vivo, reddish-brown or dark brown in sicco; stipes 7-14 by ca. 2 mm; fruiting receptacle 5-8 mm diam.; monocarps, stipes and receptacle glabrous. Seeds ellipsoid, orange-brown, shallowly pitted, ca. 20 by 8 mm, raphe sunken, regular.

Distribution.

Venezuela (Carabobo, Falcón, Yaracuy).

Habitat and ecology.

Primary or secondary evergreen cloud forest. At elevations of 700-1500 m. Flowering: July; fruiting: March, May-July, October and December.

Notes.

One of only two species of Cremastosperma found in Venezuela, C. macrocarpum can most easily be distinguished from C. venezuelanum by its smaller leaves (10-30 cm as opposed to 30-53 cm long) and longer pedicels (40-65 mm as opposed to 16-22 mm in fruit).

Preliminary conservation status.

Cremastosperma macrocarpum is known from seven collections representing five localities outside of protected areas, the most recent having been collected in 1991. Endangered [EN] (Table 1 ).

Selected specimens examined.

VENEZUELA. Carabobo: Río Morón valley, 10°17'N, 68°10'W, 700-1100 m a.s.l., 3 May 1991, W. Diaz & Niño 274 (NY, U). Falcón: Cerro Galicia, 1500 m a.s.l., 10 Jun 1978, T. Ruíz Z. et al. 3499 (U). Yaracuy: Río Carabobo, 10°26'N, 68°49'W, 800-1200 m a.s.l., 31 Mar 1980, Liesner & A. González 9763 (MO, U); San Felipe, 10°15'N, 68°29'W, 1200 m a.s.l., 7 Dec 1980, Steyermark 123804 (U).

Figures

Figure 2. Fruits and seeds of Cremastosperma. Adapted from plate 8 from van Setten & Koek-Noorman (1992). a Cremastosperma megalophyllum R. E. Fr. b, e C. cauliflorum R. E. Fr. c C. microcarpum R. E. Fr. d C. macrocarpum Maas f C. monospermum (Rusby) R. E. Fr. (a Brandbyge & Asanza C. 30017 b, e Prance et al. 24094 c Gentry et al. 32153 d Wingfield & van der Werff 6751 f Sperling et al. 6198).

Map 9. Distribution of C. macrocarpum Maas; and C. venezuelanum Pirie.

Figure 26. Cremastosperma macrocarpum Maas. a fruiting specimen b flower (a, b van der Werff & Vera, Flora Falcon 937).