Eugenia supraaxillaris Spring ex Mart. (1837: 83)

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 : 74-75

48. Eugenia supraaxillaris Spring ex Mart. (1837: 83) . ( Fig. 28C .)

Trees 19–30 m tall. Twigs puberulent when young, glabrescent; trichomes brownish. Young leaves puberulent, glabrescent; trichomes brownish. Leaves with petioles 55–90 mm long, canaliculate adaxially, glabrous; blades 85– 135 × 30–45 mm, elliptic or narrow-elliptic, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrous on both surfaces; bases obtuse, acute or attenuate; apices acuminate or caudate, rare acute; midvein raised or biconvex adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrous adaxially and glabrate or glabrous abaxially; secondary veins 13–17 at each side, slightly raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 4.5–5 mm from the plane and without thickening margin; oil glands raised on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary, botryoid, sessile or with peduncle up to 1 mm long, rachis 1–2 mm long, glabrate or glabrous; bracts not seen; pedicels 10–35 mm long, puberulent; bracteoles 0.5–1 mm long, free, ovate or oblanceolate, apices obtuse, puberulent, not reflexed, deciduous after anthesis; trichomes light brown. Flower buds not seen. Flowers not seem; calyx lobes 4, free in the fruit, 2–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, ovate, apices obtuse, ciliate. Fruits 24.5–39 × 23–35 mm, globose, sometimes pyriform, smooth or slightly glandulose, glabrous, yellow when ripe; seed 1–2 per fruit, 15–26 × 18–23 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Mun. Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 16 March 2001, fr., D.A. Folli 3846 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!, UB!); ibid., 27 January 2017, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 911 (ESA!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia supraaxillaris is known from collections from the state of Espírito Santo through Santa Catarina in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta vegetation canopy.

Phenology: —Fruiting in January through March ( Fig. 5 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species is assigned to Eugenia sect. Pilothecium . Eugenia supraaxillaris is morphologically similar to E. beaurepairiana due to its leaf blades shape and size, and the determinate inflorescences. However, it can be distinguished by its leaf blades glabrous and midvein raised or biconvex adaxially (vs. leaf blades puberulent abaxially and midvein slightly sulcate adaxially in E. beaurepairiana ). Additionally, E. supraaxillaris is easily distinguished from all other species in the RNV by its leaf blades with midvein raised adaxially and inflorescences in botryoids. Although the specimens of Eugenia supraaxillaris here analyzed have glabrate or glabrous inflorescences it is important to mention that the species can present indumentum on it too, especially in the morphotypes that occur in Southern Brazil. This gradient of variation was also reported by Faria (2014). Moreover, the fruits here described are the largest ones known to the species (24.5–39 × 23–35 mm vs. 20.5–24.3 × 17–23.1 mm; Faria 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 5. 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 28. A. Flowering branch of Eugenia schottiana (K.S. Valdemarin 832), B. Fruiting branch of Eugenia sulcata (K.S. Valdemarin 454), C. Fruiting branch of Eugenia supraaxillaris (K.S. Valdemarin 911), D. Flower with costate hypanthium of E. sulcata (K.S. Valdemarin 205).