Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas

169. Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas View in CoL — Map 37

Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas in Erkens et al. (2008) 509, f. 18; Maas & Westra (2011) 141. — Type: T. D. Pennington et al. 15607 (holo U; iso K), Ecuador, Pichincha, Cantón Pedro Vicente Maldonado, Reserva Río Silanche , 600–700 m, Nov. 1996.

Guatteria sp. 7 Chatrou et al. (1997) 110.

Tree (6–) 10–30 m tall, 6–80 cm diam, with buttresses; young twigs glabrous, smooth or rather densely verruculose. Leaves: petiole 10–25 mm long, 3–5 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate, 16–48 by 6–16 cm (leaf index 2.6–3.6), coriaceous, not verruculose or sparsely to rather densely verruculose towards the base, shiny above, greyish white above, pale brown below, glabrous above, sparsely covered with appressed hairs to glabrous below, base attenuate, apex acuminate (acumen 5–10 mm long), primary vein impressed above, rather densely to densely verruculose below towards the base, becoming sparsely verruculose to smooth towards the apex, secondary veins distinct, 25–35 on either side of primary vein, strongly impressed above, forming a marginal vein, at a smallest distance of 2– 5 mm from the margin, tertiary veins slightly raised above, the major ones percurrent, the minor ones reticulate. Flowers in 1–2–several-flowered inflorescences mostly on branchlets just after leaf fall or on leafless branchlets; pedicels 10–20 mm long, 1.5–2 mm diam, fruiting pedicels to c. 25 mm long, c. 5 mm diam, densely covered with ap- pressed hairs, articulated at 0.2–0.3 from the base, bracts c. 5, soon falling, not seen; flower buds depressed ovoid; sepals basally connate or free, broadly ovate-triangular, 5 – 6 by 5 –6 mm, appressed to spreading, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; petals green, greenish cream, brownish, or yellow in vivo, broadly ovate to broadly ovate-triangular, c. 10 by 10 mm, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; stamens c. 2 mm long, connective shield papillate, hairy, to glabrous. Monocarps 10–30, green, maturing black in vivo, black in sicco, ellipsoid, 11–14 by 5–6 mm, glabrous, except for some hairs at the apex, apex apiculate (apiculum c. 0.5 mm long), wall 0.5–0.8 mm thick, stipes 5–9 by 1.5–2 mm. Seed ellipsoid, 10–13 by 5–6 mm, pale to dark brown, rugulose, raphe not distinct from rest of seed.

Distribution — Western Ecuador (Carchi, Esmeraldas, Pichincha).

Habitat & Ecology — In premontane, wet forest. At eleva- tions of 250–1000 m. Flowering: May, June, September to November; fruiting: February to June, November.

Vernacular names — Ecuador: Cargadera negra (Méndez et al. 284, Ortiz et al. 767), Degteiug, Tilalde (Awapit) (C. Aulestia & Grijalva 1187), Guasca negra (Thomsen 58834).

Note — Guatteria venosa can be recognized by the high number of secondary veins (25–35 on each side of the primary vein) as compared to Guatteria species in general with the total number mostly about 20 or lower. Further distinctive features are the marginal vein, the verruculae (albeit relatively few) on the leaves, and the short stipes of the monocarps, all placing it in Fries’s sect. Mecocarpus (Maas & Westra 2011).