Eugenia barrana Sobral, 2013

1.2. Eugenia barrana Sobral , sp. nov.

Type: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: mun. Santa Maria do Salto, Fazenda Duas Barras, trilha do Pequizeiro , 16 ° 24'18.7"S, 40 ° 03'21.9"W, 21 Feb. 2005, J.R. Stehmann, J.A. Lombardi & R.C. Mota 4014 (holotype BHCB GoogleMaps , isotype HUEFS ).

Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 .

This species is related to Eugenia chlorophylla , from which it differs mainly through the smaller leaves and larger flowers.

Tree to 10 m. Twigs glabrous, grey or brown, somewhat applanate, the internodes 12–35 × 1.2–2 mm. Leaves glabrous; petioles 5–7 × 0.6–0.9 mm, drying dark, adaxially flat; blades elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 62–76 × 24–27 mm, 2.6–2.8 times longer than wide, drying dark, slightly discolorous when dry, with glandular dots about 0.1 mm in diameter and about 15 per square milimeter, somewhat excavated adaxially and slightly raised abaxially; apex acute to acuminate 4–6 mm; base cuneate; midvein plain or moderately biconvex adaxially, raised abaxially; lateral veins 15 to 18 at each side, moderately raised on both sides, a little more so abaxially, leaving the midvein at angles of 60–70 degrees; marginal vein 1–1.2 mm from the margin, sometimes a second one to 0.2 mm from the margin. Inflorescences axillary, racemiform, with 2 to 6 flowers, the axis 3–5 × 1 mm, with brown simple hairs to 0.2 mm; bracts hemispheric, to 1 × 1 mm, mostly deciduous at anthesis; pedicels 4– 22 × 0.7–2 mm, applanate, with trichomes as the axes; bracteoles widely elliptic, acuminate, 1.5–3 × 1.5–3 mm, sometimes basally connate, with brown trichomes to 0.1 mm abaxially; flower buds globose to obovate, 8–11 × 6–9 mm, rufescent, densely and uniformly puberulous, covered with trichomes to 0.2 mm; calyx lobes four, unequal, the outer ones widely ovate, 4–5 × 4–7 mm, the inner ones ovate-oblong, 7–8 × 6 mm, pilose on both sides; petals four, glabrous, widely elliptic or ovate, 10–11 × 6–8 mm, densely glandulose; stamens about 300, 10– 11 mm, the anthers subglobose, 0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm, with one apical gland; staminal ring subquadrate, 4–5 mm in diameter, with sparse grey simple trichomes to 0.2 mm; style glabrous, 11–12 mm, the stigma slightly capitate and papillose; ovary with two locules and about 18 ovules per locule. Fruits not seen.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:— Eugenia barrana was collected in two areas of Atlantic rainforest in eastern Minas Gerais (Santa Maria do Salto, about 770 m elev.) and in southern Bahia (Prado, at elevations near the sea level); flowers were collected in November and February.

Conservation:—the two presently known collections come from municipalities in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais that are about 200 km apart; although both municipalities are relatively well surveyed (Prado — 1,740 km 2 and 2,258 gatherings; Santa Maria do Salto — 440 km 2 and 1,452 gatherings, with collection densities of 1.5 and 3.3 collection / km 2, respectively; data from IBGE 2012 and CRIA 2012), the lack of additional collections or any collection from the municipalities between them may be an indicative of its rareness. Nevertheless, in want of more precise data, it is preferable to consider the conservation status of this species as Data Deficient (DD) according to the IUCN conservation criteria (IUCN 2001) for the present.

Vernacular name:—"murta branca", according to the label of Monteiro 23608.

Affinities:—apparently related to Eugenia chlorophylla O.Berg (for description see Berg 1857–1859 or Sobral 2011), from which it is distinguished by the following characters:

1. Leaves drying greenish; petioles 11–17 mm, deeply canaliculate adaxially, less than seven times shorter than the blades, these 70–98 × 22–30 mm, 3–3.3 times longer than wide, the margin revolute especially at the base and presenting a yellow girdle 0.1–0.2 mm wide, most visible abaxially; lateral veins 15 to 22; flower buds to 7 × 5 mm; calyx lobes unequal, the outer ones to 2 × 3 mm, the inner ones to 3 × 3 mm ........................... Eugenia chlorophylla

—. Leaves drying brown, petioles 5-– 7 mm, adaxially flat or slightly sulcate, more than ten times shorter than the blades, these 62–76 × 24–27 mm, 2.6–2.8 times longer than wide, the margin plain and not girdled; lateral veins 15 to 18; flower buds to 11 × 9; calyx lobes unequal, the outer ones to 5 × 7 mm, the inner ones to 8 × 6 mm. ............... ............................................................................................................................................................ Eugenia barrana

Additionally, this species can also be confounded with Eugenia schottiana O.Berg (for description see Berg 1857–1859), an eastern Brazilian species with similar flower morphology, but in E. schottiana the blades are obovate, the midvein is markedly raised adaxially and the inflorescences are ramiflorous and glomeruliform, without any visible axis.

Etymology:—the epithet is derived from the type locality, Fazenda Duas Barras.

Paratype:— BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Prado, Fazenda Riacho das Pedras , 24 Nov. 1971, M.T. Monteiro 23608 ( HUEFS, PEUFR) .