Abrahamia capuronii Randrian. & Lowry, 2017

Randrianasolo, Armand, Lowry II, Porter P. & Schatz, George E., 2017, Taxonomic treatment of Abrahamia Randrian. & Lowry, a new genus of Anacardiaceae from Madagascar, Boissiera 71, pp. 1-152 : 43-44

4. Abrahamia capuronii Randrian. & Lowry , spec. nova (Fig. 4).

Typus: MADAGASCAR. Prov. Antsiranana: Rég. SAVA , Dist. Sambava, S de l’Anjehabe , [14°18’30’’S 49°44’40’’E], c. 600 m, 7.XI.1950, fl., Service Forestier 767 (holo-: P [ P06774827 ]!; iso-: G [ G00341710 ]!, MO- 6684132 !, NY!, P [ P06774828 , P06774829 ]!, TEF [ TEF000881 ]!) .

Diagnosis

Abrahamia capuronii Randrian. & Lowry can be distinguished from all other species of Abrahamia by a combination of its elliptic leaves, narrow corolla lobes (3 3 1.2 mm), and slender inflorescence axes.

Description

Trees 10-15 m tall, 20 cm DBH, bark with white or translucid latex; young twigs only pubescent at the tips. Leaves alternate or sub-opposite; blade obovate to elliptic, 4-7.8 3 2-3.6 cm, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, apex rounded or retuse, margin undulate, base cuneate, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface with short appressed indument, mainly along the midvein and at the base, venation craspedodromous, midvein prominent abaxially, secondary veins 18-33 pairs, 1-4 mm apart, prominent abaxially, slightly raised adaxially, tertiary veins slightly visible on adaxial surface; petiole 10-25 mm long, c. 0.5-1 mm in diam., canaliculate on adaxial surface, glabrescent. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, a panicle, 2-8 cm long, axes slender, strigose. Male flowers 5-merous, small, c. 2-2.5 mm long, subtended by a very small, pubescent bract; pedicel short, c. 0.3-0.5 mm long, pubescent; calyx lobes small, widely ovate, 1 3 1 mm, valvate, connate at the base, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface sparsely covered with short indument, glabrescent; corolla lobes 3 3 1.2 mm, lanceolate, imbricate, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface pubescent along its longitudinal axis or glabrescent to glabrous, white (according to field notes); stamens 5, filament c. 1.5 mm, glabrous, anthers c. 1 mm long, obloid, glabrous; disk glabrous, c. 1.2-1.5 mm in diam.; ovary rudimentary. Mature and opened female flowers unknown, developing buds with calyx lobes triangular to deltate, c. 1 3 0.5- 0.8 mm, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface with some indument; corolla lobes ovate, c. 1.5 3 1 mm, mostly glabrous but abaxial surface with a few appressed short trichomes; stamens vestigial; disk glabrous; ovary depressed, ovoid, 0.3-0.5 3 0.5 mm, glabrous; style c. 1 mm, glabrous, stigmas capitate. Young fruits ellipsoid, very slightly asymmetrical, glabrous, with longitudinal striations.

Etymology

The species epithet honors René Capuron, whose extensive field work contributed so much to our knowledge of Madagascar’s woody flora, and who personally collected material of 24 of the 34 species of Abrahamia .

44 Boissiera 71

Distribution, ecology and phenology

Abrahamia capuronii is restricted to far northeastern Madagascar ( Map 1 ), where it occurs in mid-elevation humid and transitional forests on rocky substrate up to an elevation of 700 m. Material with buds and flowers has been collected in October and early November, and specimens with young fruits have been gathered in late November.

Conservation status

With an EOO of 2,585 km ² and a minimum AOO of 24 km ², A. capuronii would qualify as “Endangered” under Criteria B1 and B2 of the IUCN Red List ( IUCN, 2012) if other qualifying criteria were met. However, it is known from a total of 6 locations, one of which is situated within a protected area (Loky Manambato) while the others are at sites potentially subjected to clearing and habitat degradation, and should thus be assigned a preliminary status of “Vulnerable’’ [VU B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)].

Notes

Abrahamia capuronii resembles both A. grandidieri and A. sericea by its relatively closely spaced, parallel and craspedodromous secondary veins, but can be distinguished from these two species by its smaller number of secondary veins (10-33 in A. capuronii vs 35-40(-47) in A. grandidieri and 40-70 in A. sericea ).

Paratypi

MADAGASCAR. Prov. Antsiranana: Mont Anjenabe, [14°17’S 49°46’E], 650 m, 3-7. XI.1950, fl., Humbert 24055 ( G, K, MO, P [2 sheets], TAN) ; Vohémar, forêt de Binara , 13°15’S 49°37’E, 700 m, 8.XI.2001, fl., Gautier et al. 4125 ( G, MO, TAN) ; Vohémar, Analamazava forest , 13°15’43’’S 49°35’22’’E, 25.XI.2004, y. fr., Ranarivelo 446 ( MO) ; Daraina, Ambilobe , 13°44’10’’S 49°23’07’’E, 1299 m, 27.X.2007, bud, Randriambololomamonjy et al. 166 ( MO, P, TAN) ; Vohémar, Daraina , forêt d’Analamazava, [13°15’58’’S 49°36’14’’E], 700 m, 29.X.2005, fl., Randrianaivo 1259 ( CNARP, MO, P, TAN) ; Vohémar, Daraina , forêt d’Antsahabe, 13°12’37’’S 49°33’29’’E, 545 m, 31.X.2005, fl., Razafitsalama 741 ( CNARP, MO, P, TAN) ; Vohémar, Andrafainkona , Ampisarahana , 13°38’28’’S 49°31’51’’E, 1009 m, 9.XI.2007, bud, Razakamalala et al. 3716 ( G, MO, P, TAN) .

Figures

Map 1. Geographic distribution of species of Abrahamia Randrian.& Lowry