Symplocos naniflora Kelly & Almeda (2002: 374)

Kelly, Lawrence M., Almeda, Frank & Fritsch, Peter W., 2016, A taxonomic revision of Mexican and Central American Symplocos (Symplocaceae), Phytotaxa 264 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

17. Symplocos naniflora Kelly & Almeda (2002: 374) . Type:— COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Cantón del Golfito Jiménez, between Quebrada Patemazo and the headwaters of Río Madrigal , 650 m, 08°30′15″N, 83°28′50″W, 30 November 1990, G. Herrera 4677 (holotype CAS!, isotypes CR!, F!, MEXU!, MO!, NY!, TEX!)

Trees 13–20 m tall; juvenile branchlets and vegetative buds sparsely to moderately pilose, trichomes 0.5–1 mm long, spreading to erect, brownish. Petioles 4–8 mm long; leaf blades usually bicolorous (rarely concolorous), oblanceolate or rarely to narrowly elliptic, 6.5–11(–12.5) × 2.5–3.5(–4.4) cm, membranaceous, abaxially pilose (densely so along midvein), adaxially glabrous, secondary veins not adaxially impressed, base narrowly acute, margins serrulate-denticulate, with black, deciduous glands, apex acuminate. Inflorescences racemes 0.9–1.9 cm long, 3–6-flowered; peduncle 0–3 mm long; rachis 5–10 mm long, moderately to sparsely sericeous, trichomes 0.5–1 mm long; bracts persistent, ovate to subrotund, 0.75–1.5 × 0.75–1.5 mm, glabrous or less commonly villous, margins ciliate, also with large, brown, vesicular glands; bracteoles persistent, 3 or 4, ovate to subrotund, 0.75–1 × 0.75–1 mm, villous or less often glabrous, margins ciliate, also with large, brown, vesicular glands; pedicels 0–3 mm long. Hypanthium glabrous. Calyx lobes 5, triangular-ovate to subrotund, 0.8–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, abaxially sparsely to moderately sericeous or glabrous, margins glabrous or sericeous. Corolla white, 5-lobed, 4–6 mm long; tube 1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes adnate to filament tube for 2–3 mm, oblong, glabrous. Stamens 3–4-seriate; filament tube 3–5 mm long; distinct portions of filaments 2–3 × 0.25–0.5 mm. Disk densely villous; style 4–6 mm long, densely villous to within 1 mm of apex; stigma inconspicuously lobed. Fruits green maturing to dark bluish purple, ellipsoid, 10–12 × 4–5 mm, glabrous, apex rounded with calyx lobes short and persistent laterally on disk; disk convex, surpassing calyx lobes and well exposed; endocarp 4-locular, perimeter rounded to slightly undulate.

A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF SYMPLOCOS

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Vernacular name —None.

Illustration — Kelly and Almeda (2002: 373).

Phenology —Flowering July and November through January; fruiting February.

Distribution and habitat — Costa Rica (Alajuela, Puntarenas, and San José provinces) and Panama (Colón Province), in rain forests at 0–900 m elev. Figure 23 .

Conservation status —The nine collections of this species represent eight known populations from Costa Rica and one outlier in Panama. Three of the populations are protected within Costa Rica in Corcovado National Park, Tortuguero National Park, and Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Caño Negro. The EOO is 65,885 km ² and the AOO is 36 km ². Because of deforestation threats, the area, extent, and quality of habitat is projected to be in decline, and we assign a classification of Endangered (EN): B2ab(iii) to this species.

Discussion — Symplocos naniflora is distinguished by the following combination of characters: membranaceous leaves, small flowers with densely villous styles, and small fruits. This species may be closely related to S. jurgensenii , another low elevation, small-fruited species. Symplocos jurgensenii is distinguished from S. naniflora by its glabrous leaves (versus abaxially pilose), glabrous styles (versus densely villous to within 1 mm of apex), and larger corollas (6–7 mm long versus 4–6 mm).

Additional specimens examined — COSTA RICA. Alajuela: Cantón de Los Chiles, Caño Negro, Las Cubas , Cuenca del Río Frío , 35 m, 10°52′48″N, 84°47′39″W, 11 October 1996, Rodríguez et al. 1653 (F!); Cantón de San Carlos , llanura de San Carlos, finca aserradero San Jorge, 100 m, 10°44′54″N, 84°10′07″W, 21 January 1996, Zamora V. & Zeledón 2368 (MEXU!, MO) . Puntarenas: Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce, entre Rancho Quemado y Drake, 300 m, 10°41′50″N, 83°36′10″W, 29 March 1991, Aguilar et al. 105 (MEXU!, MO!); Cantón de Osa , R. F. Golfo Dulce, Península de Osa , Los Mogos, 200 m, 08°46′20″N, 83°22′40″W, 5 July 1994, Aguilar 3462 ( MO!); Cantón del Golfito , Valle de Coto Colorado , camino a las torres del ICE, cabecera del Río Sorpresa , 5 km al E, 08°39′35″N, 300–400 m, 83°09′44″W, 1 February 1992, Zamora et al. 1748 (F!, MO!); Cantón del Golfito , Valle de Coto Colorado , camino a las torres del ICE, cabecera del Río Sorpresa , 5 km al E, 300–400 m, 08°39′35″N, 83°09′44″W, 22 January 1993, Zamora et al. 1924 (F!, MO!, NY!) . San José: basin of El General , 675–900 m, [09°22′12″N, 83°40′48″W], 12 December 1977, Skutch 5523 (F-2!) .

PANAMA. Colón: Santa Rita , [09°19′32″N, 79°47′26″W], 16 May 2002, Aizprúa et al. 3306 (F!, MO!, NY!) .

Figures

FIGURE 23. Geographic distribution of Symplocos naniflora.