Eugenia arenaria Cambessèdes (1832: 349)

Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Mazine, Fiorella F. & Souza, Vinicius Castro, 2024, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, a center of plant endemism in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Phytotaxa 651 (1), pp. 1-79 : 17-18

3. Eugenia arenaria Cambessèdes (1832: 349) . ( Fig. 6C .)

Trees 3–7 m tall. Twigs glabrous when young. Young leaves glabrous. Leaves with petioles 3.5–6 mm long, canaliculate adaxially, glabrous; blades 45–75 × 20–45 mm, elliptic, ovate or narrow-ovate, discolorous when dry, lighter abaxially, not glaucous and glabrous on both surfaces; bases obtuse or attenuate; apices acuminate; midvein sulcate adaxially and raised abaxially, glabrous on both surfaces; secondary veins 9–13 at each side, raised on both surfaces, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 1–2.5 mm from the plane and without thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous or slightly raised on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary, fascicle, sessile or with peduncle up to 0.5 mm long, rachis up to 1 mm long, glabrous; bracts 0.5–3 mm long, ovate or lanceolate, glabrate to glabrous, persistent at anthesis; 2–6 flowers; pedicels 3–7 mm long, glabrous; bracteoles 1–1.5 mm long, free, ovate, apices acute, glabrous, not reflexed, persistent in the fruit; trichomes light brown. Flower buds 2.5–3 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, glabrous hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 1.5–3 × 1.5–2.5 mm, ovate, apices obtuse or rounded, glabrous; petals 4, obovate, oil glands evident; staminal ring puberulent; stamens with filaments 3–3.5 mm, anthers oblong; style 3.5–5 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2–locular, ovules 10–14 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 8–11 × 7–11 mm, ellipsoid or pyriform, smooth, glabrous, dark purple when ripe; seed 1(–2) per fruit, ca. 5 × 6 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Mun. Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Milanês , 05 May 2008, fr., D.A. Folli 6011 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Alameda 03, 20 October 2008, fl., D.A. Folli 6216 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Bicuíba , 01 February 2017, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 999 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Imbiruçu , fr., 01 February 2017, K.S. Valdemarin 994 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada para o Viveiro , fl., 06 February 2008, D.A. Folli 5849 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., no locality, fr., 09 January 1997, D.A. Folli 2899 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia arenaria is known from collections from the state of Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro in the Atlantic rainforest of southeastern and northeastern Brazil. In the RNV, the species is mainly found in the Mata Alta vegetation, where it grows in the understory.

Phenology: —Flowering in October through February; fruiting in January through May ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species can be assigned to Eugenia sect. Umbellatae due to its fasciculate inflorescences and bracteoles persistent in the fruit. Eugenia arenaria is morphologically similar to E. punicifolia due to its leaves and floral size and lack of indumentum (except by the staminal disk). Eugenia arenaria can be distinguished by its leaves with apices acuminate and plane margin (vs. apices obtuse or acute and revolute margin in E. punicifolia ), fruits dark purple when ripe (vs. red when ripe), and its occurrence in the Mata Alta vegetation (vs. Muçununga and Campo Nativo).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phenological diagram of Eugenia species from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Flowering periods are represented by dark red border triangles, fruiting in grey filled triangles, and “n” is the number of observations.

FIGURE 6. A. Fruiting branch of Eugenia adenantha (K.S. Valdemarin 917), B. Fruiting branch of E. adenophylla (D.A. Folli 7524, Vale S.A.), C. Fruiting branch of E. arenaria (K.S. Valdemarin 994), D. Fruiting branch of E. arvensis (K.S. Valdemarin 414).