Lecythis praeclara (Sandwith) Molino, Jean-François, Sabatier, Daniel, Grenand, Pierre, Engel, Julien, Frame, Dawn, Delprete, Piero G., Fleury, Marie, Odonne, Guillaume, Davy, Damien, Lucas, Eve J. & Martin, Claire A., 2022

Molino, Jean-François, Sabatier, Daniel, Grenand, Pierre, Engel, Julien, Frame, Dawn, Delprete, Piero G., Fleury, Marie, Odonne, Guillaume, Davy, Damien, Lucas, Eve J. & Martin, Claire A., 2022, An annotated checklist of the tree species of French Guiana, including vernacular nomenclature, Adansonia (3) 44 (26), pp. 345-903 : 502

[727] Lecythis praeclara (Sandwith) S.A.Mori ex Molino & Sabatier, comb. nov.

Eschweilera praeclara Sandwith, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1935 (3): 127 [20 May 1935] (Sandwith 1935).

NOTES. — Known only from the Guiana Shield. Mori & Prance ( Mori et al. 1990: 313) hesitantly placed Eschweilera praeclara in synonymy under L. holcogyne , specifying that it has “flowers and fruits intermediate in size between L. holcogyne and L. chartacea ”. They further hypothesized that E. praeclara could be a hybrid between these two Lecythis species. Since then, Scott Mori has become convinced that it was indeed a distinct species, whether or not it was the result of hybridization, as proven by the determinavits “ L. praeclara (Sandwith) Mori ” that he affixed to several specimens, notably at CAY. More recently, he has personally and repeatedly reasserted this position to the first two authors of the present work, at the same time explaining his reluctance to publish this new combination because of the uncertainty of the generic limits of Lecythis , which has been shown by genetic studies to be polyphyletic ( Mori et al. 2017). Even so, these studies have provided evidence that E. praeclara , as well as E. congestiflora and E. simiorum are distant from the core Eschweilera , and grouped together with several Lecythis species (including L. holcogyne ) in a “Chartacea clade” ( Mori et al. 2017). Furthermore, L. praeclara appeared distinct from L. holcogyne ( Mori et al. 2017) . We are therefore in the presence of a taxon whose valid name is still E. praeclara although it does not belong to this genus. Even if it is on a provisional basis (the provisional often lasts decades when it comes to botanical nomenclature), it seems to us necessary to remove this taxon from the genus Eschweilera , and this can only be done, for the time being, by a transfer into Lecythis .

VERNACULAR NAMES. — Pa: kwatri-seinõ.

HERBARIUM DATA (FG). — 22 collections at CAY. Sel. exs.: S.A. Mori et al. 15701.

INVENTORY DATA (FG). — 32 trees in 25 plots; Fmax <1 %; dbhinv = 72.3 cm.