Cremastosperma pacificum R.E.Fr.

Pirie, Michael D., Chatrou, Lars W. & Maas, Paul J. M., 2018, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical genus Cremastosperma (Annonaceae), including five new species, PhytoKeys 112, pp. 1-141 : 1

26. Cremastosperma pacificum R.E.Fr. Fig. 35 , Map 3

Cremastosperma pacificum R.E.Fr., Ark. Bot. 1: 330. 1950.

Type.

COLOMBIA, Valle del Cauca: Costa del Pacífico, Río Cajambre, Silva, 5-80 m a.s.l., 5-15 May 1944, Cuatrecasas, J. 17463 (holotype: S! [two sheets S10-19876, S10-19873]; isotypes: F! [V0074281F, V0047735F], US! [US00104268, US00104267]), VALLE! [VALLE000049].

Description.

Tree 3-15 m tall, 2.5-25 cm diam.; young twigs and petioles sparsely to rather densely covered with appressed golden hairs to 0.4 mm long or glabrous. Leaves: petioles 8-16 by 2-4 mm; lamina elliptic to obovate, or narrowly so, 19-41 by 9-16 cm (index 2.1-3.1), chartaceous to slightly coriaceous, brown, brownish-green, or greyish-green and shiny above, brown, pale brown or greenish-brown below, glabrous above, glabrous or sparsely to densely covered with appressed golden hairs to 0.4 mm long particularly on veins below, base acute, apex acuminate (acumen 10-20 mm long), primary vein shallowly grooved at base, 2-3 mm wide at widest point, secondary veins 7-12, intersecondary veins occasionally 1-2, distance between from 8 mm at the base to up to 55 mm closer to the apex, angles with primary vein from 30-50° at the base to 50-70° closer to the apex, not branching, often forming distinct loops for the apical third, smallest distance between loops and margin 1.5-2 mm, tertiary veins percurrent. Inflorescence of single flowers, on leafless twigs; peduncles ca. 1 by 1 mm (in flower), 2-3 by ca. 2 mm (in fruit), rather densely to densely covered with appressed golden or whitish hairs to 0.2 mm long; pedicels 12-20 by ca. 1 mm (in flower), 22-35 by 1.5 mm (in fruit), longitudinally furrowed, glabrous or sparsely to rather densely covered with appressed gold or whitish hairs to 0.2 mm long; single lower bract, deltate, 1-1.5 by 1 mm, obtuse or acute, occasionally persistent, densely covered with appressed gold or whitish hairs 0.2 mm long; upper bract in the lower half of the pedicel, deltate, 1-1.5 by 1-1.5 mm, rounded, outer side sparsely to rather densely covered with appressed gold or whitish hairs to 0.2 mm long or glabrous; closed flower buds not seen; flowers pale greenish-yellow or pale green in vivo, black or dark brown in sicco, sepals and petals glabrous; sepals free, very broadly ovate, 3 by 3-3.5 mm, obtuse, soon falling off; outer petals elliptic to broadly elliptic, ca. 16 by 11-12 mm, inner petals obovate, ca. 15 by 7 mm, obtuse; stamens ca. 1.5 mm long, connective appendage ca. 0.6 mm wide; gynoecium not seen. Monocarps (2 –)7– 21, ellipsoid, slightly asymmetrical, 15-18 by 10-12 mm, green (immature) in vivo, black or dark brown in sicco, with an excentric apicule, monocarps, stipes and receptacle glabrous; stipes 10-18 by 1 mm; fruiting receptacle depressed ovoid, 3-9 mm diam. Seeds ellipsoid, yellow, furrowed and slightly pitted, ca. 10 by 8 mm, raphe raised within sunken groove, regular.

Distribution.

Pacific coast of Colombia ( Chocó, Valle del Cauca).

Habitat and ecology.

Tropical wet and pluvial forest, reported as growing on yellow clay with alluvial substrate. At elevations of 5-100 m. Flowering: December and August; fruiting: April and May.

Notes.

Cremastosperma pacificum appears similar to a number of other species characterised by the absence of (visible) indument on flowers and fruits, most notably C. magdalenae , C. megalophyllum C. osicola , C. panamense and C. yamayakatense . The sepals of C. magdalenae and C. megalophyllum are much larger (4-7 mm long, as opposed to up to 3 mm in C. pacificum ). From the limited floral material available, bud development in C. pacificum would not appear to be open, unlike the fully open bud development of C. osicola and C. panamense and the closed bud shape is similar to that of C. yamayakatense . In contrast to both C. yamayakatense and C. panamense , the monocarps of C. pacificum are relatively large (>15 mm long, as opposed to up to 14 mm). The monocarps of C. pacificum are around the same length as the stipes, as opposed to stipes longer than monocarps in C. osicola .

Preliminary conservation status.

Cremastosperma pacificum is known from a small number of collections, but scattered across a fairly wide area. As with a number of other species with apparently widely disjunct distributions in extra-Amazonian Colombia (particularly C. novogranatense and C. longipes ), it is possible that both EOO and AOO are currently underestimated compared to other species as a result of the lack of recent collections. Nevertheless, following a precautionary approach, until demonstrated otherwise, we consider C. pacificum Endangered [EN] (Table 1 ).

Selected specimens examined.

COLOMBIA. Chocó: Yuto-Lloró road, 2 km from Ferry, 7 Aug 1982, D. Sánchez et al. 323 (U). Valle del Cauca: San Cipriano, Escalarete Natural Reserve, 100 m a.s.l., 26 Mar 1993, Devia et al. 3762 (COL); Bajo Calima, 3°53'N, 77°10'W, 50 m a.s.l., 7 Jul 1987, Faber-Langendoen 1208 (U); Bajo Calima, 3°36'N, 77°08'W, 50 m a.s.l., 4 Dec 1981, Gentry 35298 (MO, U); Bajo Calima, 3°56'N, 77°08'W, 50 m a.s.l., 10 Dec 1981, Gentry 35562 (MO, U).

Figures

Map 3. Distribution of Cremastosperma awaense Pirie, C. dolichocarpum Pirie, C. magdalenae Pirie, C. napoense Pirie, C. pacificum R. E. Fr. and C. westrae Pirie

Figure 35. Cremastosperma pacificum R. E. Fr. a fruiting specimen b flower (a Cuatrecasas 17463 b Sanchez et al. 323).