Eugenia copacabanensis Kiaerskou (1893: 172)

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 : 30

15. Eugenia copacabanensis Kiaerskou (1893: 172) . ( Fig. 11B .)

Trees 10–26 m tall. Twigs glabrous when young. Young leaves glabrous. Leaves with petioles 6–11 mm long, canaliculate adaxially, glabrous; blades 45–85 × 15–30 mm, obovate or narrow-obovate, concolorous when dry, not glaucous and glabrous on both surfaces; bases acute or attenuate, sometimes obtuse; apices caudate, sometimes acuminate; midvein raised on both surfaces, glabrous on both surfaces; secondary veins 8–10 at each side, slightly raised or inconspicuous adaxially and slightly raised abaxially, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 1–2 mm from the plane and with thickening margin; oil glands inconspicuous on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary, fascicle, sessile or with peduncle up to 1 mm long, rachis up to 5.5 mm long, glabrous; bracts 0.5–1 mm long, ovate, glabrous, deciduous after anthesis; 2–6 flowers; pedicels 3–10 mm long, glabrous; bracteoles 0.5–1.5 mm long, free, ovate, apices obtuse, glabrous, not reflexed, deciduous at anthesis. Flower buds 2.5–3.5 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, glabrous hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 1–2 × 1–1.5 mm, oblong or ovate, apices obtuse, glabrous; petals 4, obovate, oil glands evident; staminal ring puberulent or glabrous; stamens with filaments 3–4.5 mm, anthers oblong; style 3.5–5 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform; ovary 2– locular, ovules 12–16 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 18–22 × 15–18 mm, ellipsoid or globose, smooth, glabrous, orang when ripe; seed 1 per fruit, 15–20 × 13–17 mm, ellipsoid or globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Aceiro Arlindinho , 13 November 2014, fr., G.S. Siqueira 1015 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Aceiro Arlindinho , 19 November 2014, fr., D.A. Folli 7307 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Aceiro Ceolin , 30 July 2005, fr., G.S. Siqueira 217 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 26 May 2004, fr., D.A. Folli 4858 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Flamengo , 03 October 1991, fr., V. de Souza 205 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada X-1, 24 January 1979, fl., D.A. Folli 65 (CVRD!, ESA!, RB!, RBR!) ; ibid., Trilha do Pequi Vinagreiro , 15 May 2014, fr., G.S. Siqueira 961 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., 18 October 2004, fr., D.A. Folli 4961 (CVRD!, SORO!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia copacabanensis is known from collections from the state of Espírito Santo to Santa Catarina in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta vegetation.

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

Taxonomic comments: —The species has an uncertain position through Eugenia infrageneric groups due to its fasciculate inflorescence and bracteoles deciduous at anthesis, matching partially with E. sect. Excelsae and E. sect. Umbellatae features. Eugenia copacabanensis is morphologically similar to E. excelsa due to its glabrous leaves with raised midvein adaxially and acuminate apices, fasciculate inflorescences, and deciduous bracteoles at anthesis. However, the species is easily distinguished by the longer petioles (6–11 vs. 3–6 mm long), and bigger fruits, 18–22 × 15–18 mm, which are orange when ripe (vs. smaller, 6–8 × 6–8 mm, and purple or whitish when ripe, Table 1 ). Eugenia copacabanensis is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus by its absence of indumentum on almost the entire plant (except by the puberulent staminal ring), leaf blades with caudate apices, glossy appearance adaxially, midvein raised adaxially, and fruits orange when ripe. During the herbaria work, the specimen D.A. Folli 65 was found with the annotation “ Eugenia arianeae ”, an unpublished name, with Dr. Graziela Barroso’s handwriting. This specimen matches to E. copacabanensis and it is here treated as so.

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 11. A. Flowering branch of Eugenia cataphyllea (G. Siqueira 1089, Vale S.A.), B. Flowering branch of Eugenia copacabanensis (K.S. Valdemarin 1047), C. Flowering branch of Eugenia disperma (K.S. Valdemarin 790), D. Fruiting branch of Eugenia excelsa (K.S. Valdemarin 408).