Klarobelia rocioae Chatrou, 2019

Maas, Paul J. M., Westra, Lubbert Y. Th., Chatrou, Lars W., Verspagen, Nadja, Rainer, Heimo, Zamora, Nelson A. & Erkens, Roy H. J., 2019, Twelve new and exciting Annonaceae from the Neotropics, PhytoKeys 126, pp. 25-69 : 42-47

Klarobelia rocioae Chatrou sp. nov. Figs 19 , 20

Diagnosis.

Klarobelia rocioae is distinct from congeneric species by the combination of comparatively large leaves and large monocarps, and flowers that are hairy on the outer side.

Type.

PERU, Pasco: Prov. Oxapampa, Distr. Palcazú, Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto , 10°06'15"S, 75°33'01"W, 800 m, 2 Jul 2007, Rojas & Ortíz 4243 (holotype: HOXA!; isotypes: MO! [MO2465956], USM, WAG!) .

Description.

Tree 2-5 m tall; young twigs, lower side of petioles, and lower side of primary vein glabrous, sometimes sparsely covered with pale, appressed hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long. Leaves: petioles 8-12 by 2-4 mm, verrucose to rugulose, distinctly black; lamina elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 17-35 by 6.5-11.5 cm (leaf index 2.6-3.7), chartaceous, greyish to brownish green above, dark olive green to brown below, glabrous on both sides, primary vein impressed (to flat) above, base cuneate to obtuse, rarely rounded, apex acuminate (acumen 5-20 mm long) to bluntly acute, secondary veins 8-9 on either side of primary vein, distance between secondary veins 25-50 mm, angles with primary vein (45-)60-80°, loop-forming at (right-)obtuse angles, distance between loops and margin 4-8 mm, tertiary veins raised above, reticulate. Flowers solitary, on leafy twigs, rarely on older branchlets; short shoot and bracts rather densely covered with reddish brown, appressed hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long; short shoot 3-4.5 by 1-1.5 mm, to 3 mm in diam. when fruiting; bracts up to 3 on short shoot, 1.5-2 by 1 mm wide, apex obtuse, soon falling off; pedicels 14-18 by 1(-2) mm, to ca. 28 by 4 mm in fruit, sparsely covered with reddish brown, appressed hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long; flowers bisexual or male, plant androdioecious; flower buds (sub)globose, 12-14 mm in diam.; petals yellow to yellowish-cream in vivo, brown to black in sicco; sepals free, broadly ovate, 7-8 by 6-8 mm, black in sicco, ciliate, outer side glabrous, inner side sparsely to rather densely covered with yellowish to reddish brown, appressed hairs 0.1-0.2 m long; petals (broadly) ovate to (broadly) elliptic, outer petals 15-17 by 12-14 mm, slightly concave, densely covered with hairs on both sides apart from basal, central part of outer side, inner petals 15-18 by 10-13 mm, densely hairy on both sides, strongly concave; stamens ca. 50 on bisexual flowers, ca. 200 on male flowers, 1.8-2.5 mm long, thecae 0.8-1.0 mm long, apical prolongation of connective papillate; carpels ca. 110, ovaries 1.8-2.2 mm long, glabrous, stigmas 0.6-0.8 mm long, densely covered with yellowish brown hairs ca. 0.2 mm long; flowering receptacle dome-shaped, ca. 4 by 5 mm, glabrous. Monocarps up to 30, yellow to orange in vivo, dark brown in sicco, (oblong-)ellipsoid, slightly asymmetrical, 20-27 by 10-12 mm, glabrous, verrucose, wall 0.1-0.2 mm thick, angles between longitudinal axis of monocarps and stipes 0-90°, stipes 25-37 by 1-1.5 mm, to 1.5(-2) mm in diam. apically, fruiting receptacle irregularly subglobose to transverse ellipsoid, 5-12 by 5-13 mm. Seed (oblong-) ellipsoid, 20-27 by 10-12 mm, pale golden-brown, shiny, raphe slightly sinuous, ruminations lamelliform with four, thin transverse plates.

Distribution.

Peru, only known from a small area in the department of Pasco, districts of Palcazú and Villa Rica (Fig. 3 ).

Habitat and ecology.

In primary forest. At elevations of ca 500-1400 m. Flowering: October and November; fruiting: between February and August (mature fruits collected in July and August).

Notes.

Klarobelia rocioae is easy to recognise through its combination of large leaves, hairy flowers, and relatively large and ellipsoid monocarps. Of the Amazonian species of Klarobelia Chatrou, K. napoensis Chatrou has comparably large leaves, but differs in the flowers that are glabrous on the outer side, and in the globose monocarps. K. pandoensis Chatrou and K. pumila Chatrou are two other Amazonian species that share a small habit with K. rocioae ( Chatrou 1998; Chatrou and Pirie 2003). With K. rocioae they share outer petals that are hairy on the outer side, giving the flowers a brown appearance rather than glabrous flowers in other species of Klarobelia that appear black when dried. K. pumila Chatrou, can easily be distinguished from K. rocioae by the smaller leaves (12-16 by 4-6 cm vs. 17-35 by 6.5-11.5 cm in K. rocioae ) and smaller monocarps (9-15 by 6-8 mm vs. 20-27 by 10-12 mm). K. pandoensis Chatrou can be distinguished from K. rocioae by the smaller leaves (8.5-12.5 by 3-4.5 cm) and smaller monocarps (15-18 by 6-10 mm) too. Additionally, K. pandoensis can easily be distinguished from the two other short stature species by the dense indument on petioles, young twigs and inflorescences axes (glabrous to sparsely hairy in K. rocioae and K. pumila ). The three species have non-overlapping areas of distribution in the Amazonian lowlands and Andean foothills of central and southern Peru and northern Bolivia. Next to K. napoensis and K. peruviana (R.E.Fr.) Chatrou, K. rocioae is a third species within the genus reaching altitudes above 1000 m.

The longitudinal axis of the monocarps often makes an angle with the stipes that can be as large as 90°. The angle, however, is variable. As it is present in several specimens we do not consider it to be an artefact of pressing and drying.

Etymology.

This new species is named in honour of Rocío del Pilar Rojas Gonzales, curator of Herbario Selva Central Oxapampa (HOXA), who collected all but one specimen of this new species.

Preliminary IUCN conservation status.

EN B2ab(iii). EOO (56.695 km2) was too large to classify as threatened, but AOO (16 km2) would classify as Endangered. This species is estimated to have 3 locations. All of these lie in heavily deforested areas and deforestation is therefore a major threat to this species. Also, its habitat quality is expected to decline in the near future. No information is available on the current population size and population trend of this species. We assessed this species as Endangered, based on the above information.

Other specimens examined.

PERU. Pasco: Prov. Oxapampa, Distr. Palcazú, Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto y 30 de Octubre, 10°09'20"S, 75°25'44"W, 1036 m, 25 Nov 2010, Rojas & Ortíz 7544 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillen, naciente del Rio Santa Clara y Lagarto, 10°07'44"S, 75°26'11"W, 1388 m, 5 Aug 2011, Rojas & Ortíz 7806 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto, Reserva Comunal Yanesha, 10°08'04"S, 75°22'06"W, 500 m, 13 Nov 2011, Rojas & Ortíz 8064 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto, Reserva Comunal Yanesha, 10°08'04"S, 75°22'06"W, 500 m, 10 Feb 2012, Rojas & Ortíz 8174 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto, Reserva Comunal Yanesha, 10°08'04"S, 75°22'06"W, 500 m, 30 Oct 2012, Rojas et al. 8731 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto-Convento, Reserva Comunal Yanesha, 10°08'04"S, 75°22'06"W, 500 m, 30 Apr 2013, Rojas & Ortíz 9118 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Comunidad Nativa Alto Lagarto-Convento, Reserva Comunal Yanesha, 10°08'04"S, 75°22'06"W, 500 m, 30 May 2013, Rojas & Ortíz 9196 (HOXA, MO, USM, WAG); Distr. Villa Rica, Cerro el Ascensor, bosque de protección San Matias-San Carlos, 10°45'28"S, 74°55'92"W 1355 m, 30 Jun 2003, Perea & Mateo 85 (HOXA) .

Figures

Figure 3. Distribution map of Annona caput-medusae, A. oleifolia, Guatteria attenuata, G. kamakusensis, G. pseudoferruginea, Klarobelia rocioae, and Xylopia longicaudata.

Figure 19. Klarobelia rocioae Chatrou. Flowering specimen (Rojas & Ortiz 8064, HOXA).

Figure 20. Klarobelia rocioae Chatrou. Fruiting specimen (Rojas & Ortiz 7806, HOXA).