Syzygium humblotii (H. Perrier) Labat & Schatz (2002: 203)

Byng, James W., Barthelat, Fabien, Snow, Neil & Bernardini, Benedetta, 2016, Revision of Eugenia and Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from the Comoros archipelago, Phytotaxa 252 (3), pp. 163-184 : 178

4. Syzygium humblotii (H. Perrier) Labat & Schatz (2002: 203)

Eugenia humblotii H. Perrier (1953: 193) . Type: — MAYOTTE [ FRANCE]. Grande Terre, Foret de Combani , 19 October 1884 (fl.), Humblot 1329 (holotype P! [barcode P00118029]; isotype P! [barcodes P00118028, P00118030]). Figure 8 .

Trees or shrubs, height unknown; bark grey to reddish-brown. Branchlets angular, grey to reddish-brown. Petioles ca. 2‒3 × 1 mm, slender. Leaves coriaceous; drying dark to light brown above, paler below, dull on both sides. Blades 2‒4.4 × 1‒2.2 cm, elliptic or oblong, base cuneate, apex acute or acuminate, to 3‒4 mm long; margin slightly revolute; secondary vein pairs 8‒15, 1‒3 mm apart, more or less prominent on both sides, angle of divergence from mid vein 55–70°; tertiary veins few, faint; intramarginal vein ca. 0.5 mm from leaf margin. Bracts and bracteoles ca. 1 mm long, deltoid, caducous. Inflorescences terminal (or in subterminal leaf axils), 1.5‒3 cm long, congested, axes terete to subangular, flowers up to 30, in clusters of 8‒9. Flowers ca. 0.7‒0.8 cm in diameter at anthesis, buds not seen, pseudostalk 0‒2 mm long. Hypanthium 4‒7 × 4‒6 mm, pyriform. Calyx lobes ca. 0.5‒1 × 1 mm, broadly rounded. Petals ca. 2 × 1.5 mm, calyptrate, orbicular. Stamens 4‒5 mm long,?white; anthers ca. 0.3 mm long. Style 4‒7 mm long. Fruits unknown.

Distribution: — Endemic to Mayotte [ France].

Habitat: — Montane forests of Combani; ca. 500 m elev.

Conservation status: — Extinct (EX) according to the IUCN Red List Criteria ( IUCN 2014). The species only was known from the type locality and after thorough surveys by Pascal in the 1990’s, the second author in the 2000’s and a visit by the first author in November 2011, it has not been recollected. Because the forest has been degraded by surrounding farms and non-native species it should be considered extinct.

Notes: — The type locality and collection number were described erroneously in the protologue, which Labat & Schatz (2002) discuss in more detail with the correct details cited above. Prior to this study it was the only endemic Syzygium species recorded in the archipelago.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Holotype of Syzygium humblotii (H. Perrier) Labat & Schatz. Humblot 1329. Scale bar = 2 cm.