Symplocos excelsa Williams (1970: 204)

Kelly, Lawrence M., Almeda, Frank & Fritsch, Peter W., 2016, A taxonomic revision of Mexican and Central American Symplocos (Symplocaceae), Phytotaxa 264 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

11. Symplocos excelsa Williams (1970: 204) . Type:— MEXICO. Chiapas: Mpio. Trinitaria, slopes at Lago de Montebello , 25 mi E of La Trinitaria, 5200 ft, [16°06′N, 91°42′36″W], 17 August 1966, D. E. Breedlove 15013 (holotype F!, isotypes DS!, LL-n.v., online image!, MO!, NY!, US!)

Trees 12–24 m tall; juvenile branchlets and vegetative buds densely sericeous, trichomes mostly 0.2–0.5 mm long, antrorsely spreading, golden brown. Petioles 5–7 mm long; leaf blades bicolorous, elliptic to oblanceolate-elliptic,

46 • Phytotaxa 264 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press

KELLY ET AL.

A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF SYMPLOCOS

Phytotaxa 264 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press • 47 9–17 × 4–5.5 cm, coriaceous, abaxially sparsely strigose to densely hispid, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins deeply adaxially impressed, base acute or cuneate, margins serrulate or rarely subentire, apex acuminate. Inflorescences condensed racemes to 1.5–4.5 cm long, 5–10-flowered; peduncle absent; rachis 0–3 cm long, densely sericeous, trichomes 0.2–0.5 mm long; bracts deciduous, oblong, 8–10 × 2–4 mm, densely sericeous, margins densely sericeous; bracteoles deciduous, 3–5, oblong, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, densely sericeous, margins densely sericeous; pedicels absent. Hypanthium densely sericeous. Calyx lobes 5, oblong, 4–5 × 3–4 mm, densely sericeous, margins densely sericeous. Corolla pink, 5-lobed, 12–15 mm long; tube 7–8 mm long; lobes adnate to filament tube for 7–8 mm, linear-oblong, densely sericeous medially. Stamens ± 4-seriate; filament tube 10–11 mm long; distinct portions of filaments 3–5 × 0.5–0.75 mm. Disk persistently pilose; style 13–15 mm long, pilose basally; stigma conspicuously and irregularly lobed. Fruits green maturing to dark bluish purple, cylindrical to narrowly obconic, 1.5–2.7 × 0.8–1.5 cm, hispidulous, apex with pronounced to obscure fleshy lobes, the calyx lobes not evident; calyx and disk enveloped by fleshy fruit apex, disk ± flat; endocarp 4–5-locular, perimeter rounded to slightly undulate.

Vernacular name —None.

Illustration — Figure 15 .

Phenology —Flowering August and December; fruiting January and December.

Distribution and habitat — Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz), montane rain forests at 600–1700 m elev. Figure 13 .

Conservation status — This species is known from five scattered populations in southeastern Mexico, none of which occur in a protected area. Most of the known collections were made in or near Lagunas de Montebello National Park in Chiapas, but we were unsuccessful in our attempt to relocate it there during field work in January 2003. The EOO is 36,745 km ² and the AOO is 32 km ². There is a continuing threat of deforestation and growth of ecotourism where the best sampled Chiapas population occurs, and thus the area, extent, and quality of habitat is projected to decline. We therefore assign a classification of Endangered (EN): B2ab(iii, iv) to this species .

Discussion —This rare species can be distinguished from all others in Mexico by the combination of large serrulate leaves, condensed, racemose inflorescences, densely pubescent petals, and large fruits (1.5–3 cm long). Symplocos excelsa can be distinguished from S. serrulata by its fruit apex with 4 or 5 lobes surrounding a crateriform distal cavity that conceals inflexed calyx lobes (versus truncate or convex and surrounded by the conspicuous calyx lobes that are erect or inflexed), leaf blade secondary veins conspicuously impressed adaxially (versus not conspicuously impressed), and a tendency for the inflorescences to be condensed racemes that lack peduncles (versus variably sessile to distinctly pedunculate and more open).

Additional specimens examined— MEXICO. Chiapas: Mpio. La Trinitaria, Montebello National Park , E of Laguna Tzikaw, 1300 m, [16°04′43″N, 91°37′54″W], 23 January 1973, Breedlove & Smith 32189 (DS!, F!, MEXU!, MO!, NY!) ; Mpio. La Trinitaria, Montebello National Park , E of Laguna Tziscao, 1380 m, [16°04′48″N, 91°37′54″W], 18 December 1980, Breedlove 48738 (CAS!, MEXU!, MO!) ; Mpio. Tila, Ahk'ulbal Nab above Paltalcingo , 1700 m, [17°10′41″N, 92°24′09″W], 13 December 1981, Breedlove 56131 (CAS!, MO!) ; La Trinitaria, 10 km ENE of Dos Lagos above Santa Elena , 1170 m, [16°06′16″N, 91°33′40″W], 15 December 1981, Breedlove 56149 (CAS!, GH!, MO!, NY!) . Oaxaca: Mpio. Santa María Chimalapa, Cerro de la Fortuna, SO de la Sierra Tres Picos, al lado N de la cabecera del Río Verde , ca. 15 km en línea recta al NE de Santa María, 880–920 m, 17°01′30″N, 94°37′W, 29 April 1987, Wendt et al. 5696 (CAS!, CHAPA) . Veracruz: Catemaco, Cumbres de Bastonal , 640 m, [18°19′01″N, 94°54′W], 15 January 1974, Ponce C. & Cedillo T. 12 (CAS!, MEXU!) ; San Andrés Tuxtla, Estación Biología Tropical Los Tuxtlas, Lote 73, 600 m, 18°34′ y 36′N, 95°04′ y 09′W, 4 September 1985, Sinaca C. & Chigo S. 242 ( CAS!) .

Figures

FIGURE 13. Geographic distribution of Symplocos costaricana and S. excelsa.

FIGURE 15. Symplocos excelsa. a. Branchlet with inflorescences. b. Inflorescence. c. Close-up of (b) showing pubescence of abaxial corolla lobe surface. d. Flower. e. Corolla opened with attached stamens. f. Disk, style, and stigma. g. Fruit. h. Fruit, cross section. (a–f drawn from D. E. Breedlove 56131, CAS; g, h drawn from F. Ponce C. & R. Cedillo T. 12, CAS.)