Eugenia macrosepala, Duthie. A. Closer, 1879

Singh, Rajeev Kumar, 2024, Nomenclatural and taxonomic notes on Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from India, Phytotaxa 638 (3), pp. 268-276 : 275

Recognition of Eugenia macrosepala as a distinct species

Eugenia macrosepala Duthie (1879: 501) , non Mattos (1989: 1), nom. illeg.

Type citation in protologue:—“N. KANARA, Stocks”.

Holotype:— INDIA. Karnataka: North Canara , s.d., J.E. Stocks 20 (K000821512 [digital image!]).

Notes:— Govaerts et al. (2008), POWO (2023), and WCSP (2023) treated Eugenia macrosepala Duthie as a synonym of E. roxburghii DC. , but in Indian floras E. macrosepala is treated as an accepted species ( Saldanha 1996, Kulkarni 2001, Rathakrishnan 2020, Shareef & Kumar 2020). After studies of type specimens, other herbarium specimens and fresh collections from northern Western Ghats, it is found that E. macrosepala ( Figure 4 ) differs from E. roxburghii in having bigger leaves, 6−15 × 2.5−6.0 cm, chartaceous or subcoriaceous, lateral nerves 10−15 pairs (vs. 2.5−7.0 × 1−3 cm, coriaceous, 7−10 pairs in E. roxburghii ), flowers axillary and lateral from the leafless axils, solitary or in pairs, sessile (vs. axillary and terminal, 2−4 together or fascicled cymes, pedicels 0.7−1.5 cm long), bracteoles longer than the calyx lobes (vs. shorter), calyx lobes longer than the petals, lanceolate (vs. shorter, ovate), petals ovate-oblong, pubescent (vs. elliptic, glabrous), drupes 2.5−3.0 cm across, subglobose, pubescent (vs. 1.1−1.4 cm, globose, glabrous), and seeds 1−2 (vs. seeds 2−3). These morphological differences are taxonomically very important to distinguish E. macrosepala as a distinct species.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Eugenia macrosepala Duthie. A. Closer view of flower; B. Closer view of fruit.