Eperua banaensis G.A.Romero & Aymard (2019: 341)

Fortes, Elenice A., Dos, Ilka P., Steege, Hans Ter, Aymard, Gerardo, Secco, Ricardo De S., Martins-Da-Silva, Regina Célia V. & Mansano, Vidal F., 2023, A taxonomic revision of the genus Eperua (Leguminosae, Detarioideae, Detarieae), Phytotaxa 617 (1), pp. 1-127 : 22-26

1. Eperua banaensis G.A.Romero & Aymard (2019: 341) ( Figures 13 , 16a, d )

Type: — VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Municipio Autónomo Maroa, cuenca del río San Miguel , alto caño Mee, bana al sur de la serranía de Cariche, 106 m, 2˚44’14” N 66 ˚20’7” W, 18 September 2011, Romero G. A. et al. 4079 (holotype VEN not seen, isotypes GH not located, MO not seen, TFAV not seen) .

Treelet 2.0–5.0 m tall. Trunk not seen. Stipules free, non-foliaceous, caducous. Leaves 2-jugate; petioles 1.7–4.0 cm long; rachis 2.0– 4.5 cm long; petiolules 6.4–9.0 mm long; blades 8.2–14.0 × 3.7–6.6 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, pellucid-punctate, discolorous, slightly inequilateral, lower pair oblong, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, upper pair elliptic to obovate, apex apiculate, obtuse, rounded to emarginated, mucronate, base asymmetrical (upper pair) to symmetrical, lower pair base obtuse, upper pair base obtuse to cuneate, margin flat, secondary venation with one intramarginal vein, main vein slightly curved, depressed to prominent on the adaxial surface, tertiary veins conspicuous, areoles larger, concave. Inflorescences cauliflorous or ramiflorous, racemose or cauliflorous flowers, erect, strigulose, 1.5– 11.0 cm long; bracts caducous, not seen; bracteoles 7.0–8.0 × 7.0–8.0 mm, ovate, apex gland absent, puberulent externally, caducous, attached to the lower portion of the pedicels; pedicel ca. 10 mm long, diameter not seen, not twisted, pubescent; buds not seen. Flowers: hypanthium 5.0 mm long, diameter not seen, cup-shaped, inequilateral, pubescent; sepal 2.3–2.7 × 0.8–0.9 cm, oblong to ovate, unequal, the outer ones larger, cucullate, apex gland present on the outer ones, purple, pubescent, inner sepals scarious marginally; adaxial petal 5.0 × 7.0 cm, flabellate, tubular, apex rounded, crisped, base attenuate, purple, abaxially glabrous, adaxially with two white, lanose structures near the margins; petalodia 6.0–7.0 × 2.6–3.5 mm; stamens inserted, joined basally in a diadelphous sheath, dorsal one free, filaments 2.3–4.0 cm long, sheath inequilateral, glabrous, anthers 6.5–7.5 × 2.0–3.0 mm, rectangular; ovary 7.0–8.0 × 2.5 mm, oblong-obovate, sericeous, ovule not seen, stipe 2.0–3.0 mm long, glabrous, style ca. 3.5 cm long, stigma bilobate. Legumes not seen (description based on Romero & Aymard 2019 and selected materials).

Phenology:— Flowering in September and November; fruiting in February.

Distribution:— Venezuela (Amazonas).

Habitat:— White sand shrubby communities in low Venezuelan bana, common in the ecotone bana -forest, on white sand soil, at 106 m elev.

Conservation status: —Categorized as Data Deficient (DD) according to the IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2012, IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee 2022) due to the lack of access to its collections.

Occurrence in protected areas: —Unknown.

Etymology:— The specific epithet relates to its habitat in the banas (Romero & Aymard 2019).

Vernacular names:— Unknown.

Uses:— Unknown.

Taxonomic notes:— E. banaensis and E. obtusata are distinct from other species of the genus due to their leaflets with rounded, obtuse, acute to emarginate apices. All other species in the genus have attenuate, acuminate to caudate apices. Morphologically, they share 2-jugate leaves, short and erect inflorescence, tubular corolla, inserted stamens, and the same pattern of indumentum on reproductive organs. Among the species with tubular corolla, E. bananesis and E. obstusata are the only ones with the combination glabrous sheath and indumented ovary ( Table 2 ). We recognize E banaensis as a treelet from low Amazonian campinarana or bana, while E. obtusata as a tall tree found in the tall campinarana. Additionally, E. banaensis differs from E. obtusata by the elliptic to obovate leaflets (vs. oblong to elliptic in E. obtusata ), larger [7.0–8.0 × 7.0–8.0 mm] bracteoles (vs. smaller [ca. 2.0 × 1.0–2.0 mm] in E. obtusata ), and longer [5.0 mm long] hypanthium (vs. shorter [2.0–3.0 mm long] in E. obtusata ), petal with two white, lanose structures near the margins (vs. absent in E. obtusata ), ovary twice the length [7.0–8.0 mm long] of the stipe [2.0–3.0 mm long] (vs. relatively the same length [5.0 mm long] as the stipe [4 mm long] in E. obtusata ), glabrous stipe (vs. sericeous in E. obtusata ), and bilobate stigma (vs. truncate in E. obtusata ). Romero & Aymard (2019) referred the collection Colella M. et al. 1864 as E. obtusata , and did not mention Guanchez-Meza F.J. 2163. Here we recognized these collections also as E. banaensis for being treelets from the bana and having elliptic to obovate leaflets. In addition to the type collection, we recognized one more sample (Coomes D. 207) as E. obtusata . This collection differs from E. banaensis by being tall trees from the tall campinarana with elliptic to obtuse leaflets.

Selected specimens:— VENEZUELA. Amazonas, Casiaquire, rio Casiaquire , dos vueltas abajo de Capihuara, 06 February 1991, Collela M . et al. 1864 ( K, NY). San Fernando de Atabapo, Zona 10, cuesta de arenisca de grano fino al pié del cerro Duida , 360 m elev., 3°23’0”N, 65°40’0”W, 10 November 1982, Guanchez-Meza F . J . 2163 (MO).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Geographic distribution of Eperua banaensis, E. jenmanii subsp. jenmanii, E. jenmanii subsp. sandwithii, and E. obtusata.

FIGURE 16. Eperua banaensis and Eperua obtusata: A. leaflets, upper leaflet obovate, E. banaensis; B. leaflets, upper pair elliptic to oblong, E. obtusata; C. intramarginal vein with one intramarginal vein, E. obtusata; D. intramarginal vein with one intramarginal vein, E. banaensis; E. pellucid-punctate blade, E. obtusata. Specimens, A, D: Collela M. et al. 1864; B, C, E: Coomes D. 207. Photos E.A. Fortes.