Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb.

Maas, P. J. M., Westra, L. Y. T., Guerrero, S. Arias, Lobão, A. Q., Scharf, U., Zamora, N. A. & Erkens, R. H. J., 2015, Confronting a morphological nightmare: revision of the Neotropical genus Guatteria (Annonaceae), Blumea 60 (1), pp. 1-219 : 47-48

23. Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb. — Fig. 13h , 20 ; Plate 2f, g ; Map 8

Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb.(1905) 239;R.E.Fr.(1939) 476,f. 25a. — Asimina blainii Griseb. (1866) 3. — Type: Wright 1103 (holo GOET; iso B, F, G, GH, GOET, K, MO, P), Cuba, Guantánamo, near Monte Verde (‘Prope villam Monte Verde dictam, Cuba orientali’), Jan. 1859. Asimina neglecta Griseb.(1866) 3. — Uvaria para-neglecta M. Gómez (1894) 42. Uvaria viridiflora Sessé & Moç. (1894) , non (Splitg. ex de Vriese) Walp., non Ruiz & Pav.ex G.Don — Type:a collection by Sessé & Moçiño (syn FI, G 2 sheets), Puerto Rico,‘Rio Piedras ad Praedium de la Campana interjectis. Floret Septembri’. We have studied the following 3 syntype collections: 1. A collection in the Webb-Herbarium, which forms part of the herbarium

in Florence (FI). The specimen is annotated on the right side as ‘ Uvaria

viridiflora Pavon’ at the bottom to the right ‘Herb. Webbianum’ ... ‘Ex

Herb. Pavon’ ... and above it in Sessé & Moçiño’s handwriting ‘ Uvaria

viridiflora ... NE’ Although ‘NE’ would mean Mexico (‘Nueva Espana’) we

are convinced that the specimen belongs to Guatteria blainii , which it

clearly resembles, and that the specimen was collected in Puerto Rico,

as indicated in the original description. 2. and 3. In the Geneva Herbarium ( G) we recently found 2 specimens ,

one ‘ Uvaria viridiflora N..31-7 ... and at the right bottom a blue label with

‘Nueva España ... Herb. Pavon’ and a second collection ‘ Waria viridiflora Peru... Pavon ... vide Unona aromatica ’. Both collections certainly belong to G. blainii and were already identified as such by Robert Fries (in 1931 and 1937, respectively).

Guatteria moralesii (M.Gómez) Urb.(1905) 240;R.E. Fr.(1939) 479. — Uvaria moralesii M. Gómez (1887) 30. — Type: Wright 1851 p.p. (syn B, BM, G, GOET, K, P, S, W), Cuba, without location .

Guatteria neglecta (Griseb.) P.Wilson ex Léon & Alain (1951) 178, non R.E.Fr. — Type: Wright 1851 p.p. (holo GOET), Cuba, without location.

Guatteria cubensis Bisse (1975) 3. — Type: Bisse & Areces HFC 16920 (holo HAJB; iso HAJB, JE), Cuba, Oriente , Palenque , Cuchillas del Toa , Cayo Fortuna, Río Toa, Apr. 1970.

Tree or shrub 3–20 m tall, 10–50 cm diam; young twigs rather densely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous. Leaves: petiole 4–6 mm long, 1–2 mm diam; lamina elliptic to obovate or narrowly so, 4–10(–12) by 1.5–4 cm (leaf index 1.5–5), coriaceous, not verruculose, shiny, dark green to brown above, pale green to brown below, glabrous above and below (sometimes sparsely covered with appressed hairs along the primary vein), base acute to obtuse, extreme base slightly attenuate, margins sometimes revolute, apex emarginate to shortly acuminate (acumen 2–5 mm long), primary vein flat to impressed above, secondary veins distinct, 8–13 on either side of primary vein, strongly raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin c. 1 mm, tertiary veins strongly raised above, reticulate. Flowers solitary in axils of leaves or on leafless branchlets, or pseudoterminal due to abortion of shoot apex, exceptionally terminal; bracts 4–8, soon falling, not seen except for occasional foliaceous bract to c. 21 by 7 mm; pedicels 15– 50 mm long, 1– 2 mm diam, fruiting pedicels to c. 60 mm long, to c. 3 mm diam, sparsely covered with ap- pressed hairs to glabrous, articulated at 0.1–0.2 from the base; flower buds depressed ovoid, initially slightly pointed; sepals basally connate, broadly ovate-triangular, 4–7 by 3–5 mm, re- flexed, outer side sparsely covered with appressed hairs to glabrous, margins often thickened and densely hairy; petals green, maturing yellow in vivo, elliptic, 7–20 by 4–10 mm, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; stamens 1–1.5 mm long, connective shield hairy to papillate. Monocarps 10 –25, green when young in vivo, black in sicco, ellipsoid, 7–18 by 4–7 mm, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum <0.5 mm long), wall 0.1–0.6 mm thick, stipes 0–2(–5) by 1–3 mm. Seed ellipsoid, 7–17 by 4–7 mm, dark brown, smooth, sometimes longitudinally grooved, rarely also transversely grooved, raphe not distinct from rest of seed.

Distribution — Greater Antilles: Cuba, Hispaniola (the Do- minican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico.

Habitat & Ecology — In wet, montane, broad-leaved forest, on lateritic to serpentine soil. At elevations of 1000–1400 m.

Map 8 Distribution of Guatteria blainii (●), G. caribaea (£), G. chiriquiensis (■), G. costaricensis (P), G. crassivenia (u) and G. darienensis (✸).

Flowering: throughout the year; fruiting: January, April to July, November, December.

Vernacular names — Cuba: Pimienta malagueta. Dominican Republic: Yaya ( Mera 2054), Yaya francesa (J. Jiménez 4627).

Field observations — In Zanoni et al. 30964 from the Dominican Republic the flowers are ‘banana scented, with a scent of Cananga odorata ’.

Notes — Guatteria blainii , the only species of Guatteria occurring in the Greater Antilles, is a quite variable species to be recognized by relatively small and shiny leaves with the secondary veins strongly raised on the upper side, and by sessile or shortly stipitate monocarps.

There is a lot of variation in the seed structure of G. blainii , much more than in other species of the genus. The seeds vary from smooth, longitudinally grooved, to transversely grooved.

Leaves of sterile material are different from leaves of fertile material, they are larger and long-acuminate, with a petiole ranging from 7–12 mm by 2 mm and the lamina from 8–11 cm by 4–5 cm.

Figures

Plate 2 a, b. Guatteria arenicola Maas & Erkens. a. Fruiting branches; b. fruits. – c. Guatteria beckii Maas & Westra. Fruiting branch. – d. Guatteria argentea Erkens & Maas. Top of branchlet showing silvery indument; e. fruits. – f, g. Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb. f. Flower; g. fruit (a, b: Rodriguez R.3095; c: Solomon 16789; d, e: Maas et al. 10525; f, g: Maas & Mejia 6443). — Photos: a, b: E. Rodriguez R.; c: J. Solomon; d–g: P.J.M. Maas.

Fig. 13 a. Guatteria amapaensis Maas & Westra. Fruit. – b. Guatteria antioquensis Maas & Westra.Fruit. – c. Guatteria atabapensis Aristeg. ex D.M.Johnson & N.A.Murray. Fruiting branch, detail. – d. Guatteria auyantepuiensis Maas & Westra. Detail of flower. – e, f. Guatteria beckii Maas & Westra. e. Flower; f. fruit. – g. Guatteria beniensis Maas & Westra. Young fruit, also note densely erect hairy juvenile parts in upper left. – h. Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb. Detail of flower (a: Daly et al. 4028, U; b: E. Correa et al. 93, U; c: Wurdack & Adderley 42759, isotype US; d: F. Cardona 2619, holotype US; e, f: Beck & Haase 9895, holotype U; g: Nee 34593, holotype NY; h: Ekman 5920, S).

Fig. 20 Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb. Flowering branch (Ekman 5920, S).