Eugenia arvensis Vellozo (1829: 209)

Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Mazine, Fiorella F. & Souza, Vinicius Castro, 2024, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, a center of plant endemism in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Phytotaxa 651 (1), pp. 1-79 : 18

4. Eugenia arvensis Vellozo (1829: 209) . ( Fig. 6D .)

Trees 6–13 m tall. Twigs glabrate when young; trichomes whitish. Young leaves glabrate or glabrous; trichomes whitish. Leaves with petioles 3.5–5 mm long, canaliculate, puberulent; blades 45–70 × 17–30 mm, elliptic or lanceolate, discolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrate on both surfaces; bases acute or attenuate; apices acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, puberulent or glabrate on both surfaces; secondary veins 11–13 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 1–2.5 mm from the plane or revolute and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous on both surfaces. Inflorescences generally ramiflorous, rare axillary, fascicle or raceme with late vegetative proliferation, sessile or with peduncle up to 0.5 mm long, rachis up to 0.5 mm long, puberulent; bracts ca. 1 mm long, ovate, puberulent, persistent at anthesis; 2–4 flowers; pedicels 8–15 mm long, puberulent; bracteoles 1.5–2 mm long, free, ovate, apices obtuse, ciliate, not reflexed, deciduous at anthesis; trichomes light brownish. Flower buds 4–5.5 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, glabrate hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, fused by ca. 1 mm at the bases, 2.5–3 × 2.5–3 mm, ovate or suborbiculate, apices obtuse or rounded, glabrous; petals 4, obovate, oil glands evident; staminal ring puberulent; stamens not seen; style 4.5–6 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 14–16 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 7–9 × 7–9 mm, globose, smooth, glabrate or glabrous, orange or red when ripe; seeds 1 per fruit, ca. 5 × 8 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Bico de Bota, 25 November 2005, fl., D.A. Folli 5148 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Caingá , 02 December 2013, fr., D.A. Folli 7147 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Farinha Seca , 23 November 1989, fr., D.A. Folli 1012 (CVRD!, RB!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada da Gávea, entre Flamengo e Jequitibá Rosa , 12 December 2017, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 414 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Paraju , 24 February 1994, fr., D.A. Folli 2222 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Travessia XII – Paraju , 20 April 1983, fr., C. Farney 266 (RB!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia arvensis is known from collections from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo through Rio Grande do Sul in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta vegetation.

Phenology: —Flowering in November; fruiting in November through April ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species is assigned to Eugenia sect. Schizocalomyrtus . Eugenia arvensis is morphologically similar to E. soteriana due to its leaf blades elliptic or lanceolate with acuminate apex, midvein sulcate adaxially, and inflorescences in fascicles or raceme with late vegetative proliferation. However, it can be distinguished by the inflorescence with rachis 1–15 mm long (vs. inflorescence with rachis up to 0.5 mm long in E. soteriana ), flower buds 2–3.5 mm in diameter (vs. 4–5.5 mm in diameter), and bracteoles 1.5–2 mm long and ovate (vs. bracteoles 4–6 mm long and narrow-elliptic or lanceolate).

Additionally, Eugenia arvensis is morphologically related with E. subterminalis De Candolle (1828: 263) but can be distinguished by its calyx lobes fused by ca. 1 mm at the bases, and glabrous (vs. calyx lobes fused at least along two-thirds of the bud length, and with indumentum in E. subterminalis ; see Sobral 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phenological diagram of Eugenia species from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Flowering periods are represented by dark red border triangles, fruiting in grey filled triangles, and “n” is the number of observations.

FIGURE 6. A. Fruiting branch of Eugenia adenantha (K.S. Valdemarin 917), B. Fruiting branch of E. adenophylla (D.A. Folli 7524, Vale S.A.), C. Fruiting branch of E. arenaria (K.S. Valdemarin 994), D. Fruiting branch of E. arvensis (K.S. Valdemarin 414).