Otoba cyclobasis Jaramillo & Balslev (2001: 563)

Jaramillo-Vivanco, Tatiana S. & Balslev, Henrik, 2020, Revision of Otoba (Myristicaceae), Phytotaxa 441 (2), pp. 143-175 : 153-154

Otoba cyclobasis Jaramillo & Balslev (2001: 563) .

Type:— ECUADOR. Esmeraldas: Eloy Alfaro, Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi– Cayapas , Charco Vicente , Río San Miguel de Cayapas , 150 m, Mar 1993, Méndez et al. 156, staminate (holotype: MO!; isotypes: F!, QCNE!, UPCB) .

Petiole 10–15 × 1 mm, obscurely winged; lamina 9–14(–18) × 3–5 cm, usually whitish and glabrescent below; secondary veins 14–17 per side; intramarginal veins absent. Staminate inflorescence sessile; partial inflorescences (2–)3, pubescent, ca. 20-flowered; umbelliform parts alternate, flowers 4–8; bracteoles absent. Staminate flowers with pedicel 4–5 mm long; perianth ca. 2.5 mm long, inner surface spongy with a swollen ring at base surrounding the filament column; androecium 1.5–2.0 mm long; filament column not bottle-shaped (with parallel sides), fused; anthers globose, apex obtuse, dorsally attached to the filament column apex, ca. 0.3 mm long. Pistillate inflorescence similar to the staminate one, but with 4 lobes, bracteoles present. Pistillate flowers similar to the staminate ones, but with perianth of 1.8 mm long, inner surface smooth; gynoecium 0.6 mm long; ovary glabrous, globose and short-stalked, ca. 0.5 × 0.5 mm long; stigmatic lobes fused along both sides. Infructescence with 1–2 fruits. Fruit 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2.0 cm, globose to subglobose, apex apiculate; pericarp 1–2 mm thick; aril white-yellow; seed 1.0–2.0 × 1.0– 1.5 cm, occasionally with an apical prickle.

Representative specimens examined:— ECUADOR. Carchi: Reserva Étnica Awá, 25 km NW of El Chical, Rubio et al. 1057 ( MO, QCNE). Esmeraldas: Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas, Río San Miguel, Charco Vicente, 10 km S of San Miguel de Cayapas, Méndez et al. 62 ( F, MO, QCNE).

Distribution:— Known only from a small area in the Chocó ( Fig. 2 ), northwestern Ecuador, but it could be present in southwestern Colombia, where it shares habitat with the similar O. gracilipes , which differs from O. cyclobasis in its leaf morphology and androecium characteristics ( Jaramillo & Balslev 2001). Also, it occurs in the same area as O. gordoniifolia and O. novogranatensis , which are different from this species in leaf size ( Table 1). It has been collected up to 300 m.

Conservation status:— EN, endangered ( IUCN 2020).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Otoba acuminata and O. cyclobasis.