Clusia nemorosa Meyer (1818: 203)

Cabral, Fernanda Nunes, Bittrich, Volker & Hopkins, Michael John Gilbert, 2017, Clusiaceae s. l. (Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s. s. and Hypericaceae) in the Viruá National Park, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 329 (1), pp. 1-27 : 11-12

3.5 Clusia nemorosa Meyer (1818: 203) ( Fig. 4D–E )

Type:— SURINAME. Ilha Wacanama: E. C. Rodschied 299 (holotype: GOET, barcode 003942).

= Clusia bicolor Martius (1832: 164) .

= Clusia lhotzkyana Schlechtendal (1833: 184) .

= Clusia mammosa Casaretto (1843: 60) .

Trees, shrubs or small trees up to 15 m. Exudate, white or cream. Lamina subcoriaceous to coriaceous, elliptical, oval or oboval, (6.6–)7.4–17 × 3.5–6.9(–7.2) cm, apex acuminate to slightly rounded, base acute, cuneate or convex; exudate channels usually conspicuous on both surfaces; galls on the lamina common, ca. 6 mm wide; secondary veins conspicuous on both surfaces, 23–51(–56) pairs, distant 2–3.5 mm; petiole 12.5–30.3 mm long. Inflorescence: staminate plants with clustered flowers; pistillate plants with clustered or solitary flowers; peduncle recurved; pedicels 1.3–1.8 cm long. Sepals 4, 7.1–12.9 × 8–12.9 mm, white-pinkish. Petals 4, 11.1–19.5 × 10.9–19.1 mm, red-pinkish adaxially, white-pinkish abaxially, or, less commonly, completely white on both sides. Staminate flowers with more than 50 fertile stamens, arranged in four series around the central staminodes, all united at the base, ca. 4 mm long; central staminodes resiniferous, 5.7 mm long, densely clustered; pollen not mixed with oil or resin. Pistillate flowers with numerous staminodes arranged in 3 series around the base of the ovary, densely clustered, with resin at the apex; stigmas 4–6, 2–3 mm long, sessile or subsessile. Fruit ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.2–4.0 × 2.0– 3.9 cm; sepals and stigmas persistent. Seeds in two rows per locule, bright red, with yellow to orange aril.

Phenology:— Flowering November to July; fruiting December to July.

Distribution and habitat:— Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. In Brazil, it occurs in the north region (states of Amapá, Amazonas, Pará and Roraima), in the northeast region (states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Pernambuco and Sergipe), in the central-west region (states of Distrito Federal, Goiás and Mato Grosso), and in the southeast region (states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro). In VNP, it is found in white-sand vegetation, temporarily flooded areas and on river margins.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Roraima: Caracaraí, Viruá National Park , elevation, 56 m, 1º16’20’’N, 60º58’10’’W, 25 November 2009, fl., Cabral et al. 6 ( INPA) ; Ibid., elevation 65 m, 1º28’08’’N, 60º58’18’’W, 1 December 2009, fl., Cabral et al. 67 ( INPA) ; Ibid., elevation 79 m, 1º48’19’’N, 61º02’05’’W, 21 January 2010, fr., Cabral et al. 151 ( INPA) .

Additional specimens:— BRAZIL. Amazonas: Tarumã , 7 June 1984, fl., Miranda et al. 841 ( INPA) ; Presidente Figueiredo, Rebio Uatumã, 1º00’S, 59º00’W, 17 July 2006, fl., Ribeiro et al. 2698 ( INPA). Bahia: Acajutiba, 11º43’S, 37º59’W, 22 August 1984, fl., Lima et al. 193 ( INPA) .

Taxonomic notes:— Clusia nemorosa is the most abundant species of Clusia in VNP, being easily found in white-sand vegetation. The species can be recognized by the persistent calyx and staminodes and a deciduous corolla in the ripe fruits. Moreover, the fact that the stigmas close completely at the apex of the fruit with no conspicuous space between them distinguishes C. nemorosa from most other species, which show a conspicuous space between the stigmas. Clusia insignis also has stigmas closely connivent, but they are more numerous than in C. nemorosa and yellow instead of green.

Clusia nemorosa may also have hermaphrodite flowers in gynodioecious populations in the northeast and southeast of Brazil. However, we found only dioecious plants in VNP. The number of stigmas can vary from 4–12, sepals from 4–6 and petals from 4–9. Ripe fruits may be green instead of brown.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Clusia microstemon (A. Habit; B. Pistillate flower; C. Staminate flower), Clusia nemorosa (D. Habit with staminate flower; E. Pistillate flower and fruit) and Clusia nitida (F. Staminate flower; G. Pistillate flower; H. Fruit).