Guatteria pseudorotundata Maas & Erkens, 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 : 38

Guatteria pseudorotundata Maas & Erkens sp. nov. Figs 14 , 15 , 16

Diagnosis.

Guatteria pseudorotundata resembles the Panamanian G. rotundata Maas & Setten by its coriaceous leaves, the number of distinct secondary veins below (8-12 vs. 7-12) and the broadly ovate-triangular sepals, but it differs by the young twigs that are glabrous vs. sparsely covered with appressed hairs, slightly smaller leaves (5-9 vs. 5-14 cm long) with a mostly acute leaf apex vs. obtuse or rounded apex, the lack of any verruculae in the lamina, and longer pedicels (15-20 vs. 4-15 mm long).

Type.

PANAMA, Comarca Ngabe-Buglé: Nole Duima , Alto Ratón, E 409440, N 944626, 1590 m, 28 Nov 2011, Pineda & Castillo 15 (holotype: MO! [MO6613500]) .

Description.

Tree 6-10 m tall; young twigs glabrous. Leaves: petioles 2-4 by 1 mm; lamina narrowly elliptic, 5-9 by 2-3 cm (leaf index 2.5-3), chartaceous in sicco, coriaceous in vivo, not verruculose, shiny above in vivo, brown above, paler brown below, glabrous on both sides, base attenuate, apex obtuse or more or less acute with an obtuse extreme apex, primary vein slightly raised above, secondary veins distinct, 8-12 on either side of primary vein, raised above (but even more so below), smallest distance between loops and margin 1-2 mm, tertiary veins raised above, reticulate. Flowers solitary in axils of leaves; pedicels 15-20 by 0.5-1 mm to 1.5 mm diam. in fruit, rather densely to sparsely covered with appressed hairs, articulated at 0.1-0.2 from the base; bracts 5-7, soon falling, one of the lower bracts sometimes leafy, ca. 15 by 5 mm; flower buds ovoid, slightly pointed; sepals free, broadly ovate-triangular, ca. 4 by 3 mm, appressed, outer side rather densely covered with appressed, greyish white hairs, particularly towards the apex; petals greenish yellow in vivo, ovate-elliptic, 6-7 by 5 mm, outer and inner, side densely covered with appressed and curly, greyish white hairs, base of inner petals glabrous; stamens 1-2 mm long, connective shield papillate. Monocarps 10-25, green in vivo, black in sicco, narrowly ellipsoid, 13-16{-18} by 4{-6} mm, glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum <0.1 mm long), wall 0.1-0.2 mm thick, stipes 1-4 by 1-2 mm. Seed narrowly ellipsoid, 13-16 by 4-5 mm, brown, rugulose.

Distribution.

Panama (Comarca Ngabe-Buglé) (Fig. 9 ).

Habitat and ecology.

In secondary forest. At elevations of 1590-1700 m. Flowering and fruiting: November and December.

Vernacular names.

Panama: Soron drune.

Notes.

When working on the revision of Guatteria ( Maas et al. 2015) we received photographs of flowering and fruiting specimens of a plant from Panama which seemed to match well Guatteria rotundata Maas & Setten, and we identified them as such and included the appropriate illustration as Pl. 7a in our work. G. rotundata , it should be pointed out, is unique among Central American species of Guatteria on account of its leaves having a rounded apex. Recently we received the corresponding herbarium material and it became clear that the photographed plant did not represent G. rotundata at all, but an undescribed species instead. G. pseudorotundata differs from G. rotundata by characters as given in the diagnosis, but notably the lack of verruculae in the lamina. Although more or less hidden from view in the photograph just mentioned, the leaf apex in G. pseudorotundata tends to be acute rather than obtuse or rounded (excl. the extreme tip) as in G. rotundata .

Preliminary IUCN conservation status.

DD. This species is only known from three nearby collections and therefore no AOO and EOO was calculated (that would constitute one location) in a region that is partially deforested. More continuous forest is, however, available nearby but it is unclear whether this species occurs there. Habitat loss because of forest cover loss is therefore a possible threat for Guatteria pseudorotundata . Unfortunately, no other assessment criterium could be used for this species since no information is available on the current population size and population trend of this species. Hence, this species was assessed as Data Deficient.

Other specimens examined.

PANAMA. Comarca Ngabe-Buglé: Kankintú, E 409436, N943433, 1700 m, Dec 2011, Carrión et al. 517 (MO), ibidem, Flores et al. 1725 (STRI) .

Figures

Figure 9. Distribution map of Guatteria aliciae, G. pseudorotundata, G. rubiginosa, and G. turrialbana.

Figure 14. Guatteria pseudorotundata Maas & Erkens. Fruiting branch and flower (Maas et al. (2015): 148, Plate 7 a [as Guatteria rotundata]).

Figure 15. Guatteria pseudorotundata Maas & Erkens. Flowering branch (Pineda et al. 15, holotype MO).

Figure 16. Guatteria pseudorotundata Maas & Erkens. Fruiting branch (Flores et al. 1725, STRI).