Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens (Bosser & R.Rabev.) Crameri, Phillipson & N.Wilding, 2022

Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens (Bosser & R.Rabev.) Crameri, Phillipson & N.Wilding View in CoL , stat. nov. BASIONYM: Dalbergia maritima R.Vig. var. pubescens Bosser & R.Rabev., Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia Ser. 4, 18(3–4): 208 (1996). TYPE: MADAGASCAR. Atsinanana [Toamasina]: Environs de Foulpointe [Mahavelona], 1985 (fr), Service Forestier 32824 (holotype: P [P00060551]!, isotype: TEF [TEF000141]!).

Vernacular Names and Uses —Andramena kely ravina ( Bernard & Razakamalala 2247), Andramena, Hitsika, or Volombodimpona (Service Forestier 18-R-195).

The heartwood of Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens is used in carpentry, cabinet making, and construction (Service Forestier 18-R-195). It is considered to be a high-quality rosewood (Razakamalala & Bernard 8368).

Habitat, Distribution, and Phenology — Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens occurs in inland low-elevation evergreen humid forests on lateritic soils, at 80–450 m elevation. It is restricted to east-central Madagascar (Atsinanana Region), occurring between and around the protected areas of Sahafina in the south and Betampona in the north, and potentially extending to the Analalava protected area ( Fig. 3D View FIG ). Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens has only been collected once in full flower, in late March (G. Rakotonirina et al. 389). Immature fruits have been recorded from late January, and mature fruits have been recorded from June to early August.

Conservation Status — Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens is known from 15 positively identified collection records that represent 5 extant occurrences and 3 occurrences that appear to have been extirpated. Its former extent of occurrence (EOO) was at least 1355 km 2 and its former area of occupancy (AOO) was at least 52 km 2 (based on a 4 km 2 grid), whereas its current documented geographic range has the form of an EOO of 779 km 2 and an AOO of 40 km 2, and comprises three subpopulations. The subspecies occurs in forest ecosystems ( Madagascar Catalogue 2021). Forest cover decline between 1953 and 2017 was estimated from the forest cover time series of Vieilledent et al. (2018a, 2018b) to be 85% in the altitudinal range of 80–450 m and within the minimum convex polygon encompassing all known collections of this subspecies. Therefore, D. maritima subsp. pubescens is inferred to have undergone and to be undergoing continuing decline in EOO, AOO, quality of habitat, number of subpopulations, and number of mature individuals. This subspecies occurs at three locations with respect to the most serious plausible threat, which is selective logging for trade in its high-quality heartwood, as inferred from older collections with exploitable diameter and its documented use for carpentry, cabinet making, and construction. The occurrences within the protected areas of Betampona and Sahafina represent two separate locations. All occurrences outside of protected areas can be inferred to represent a single additional (third) location based on the IUCN Red List guidelines (IUCN 2019), because of the large spatial scale at which illegal selective logging (or habitat degradation and loss) can severely reduce the population within a single generation (at least 30–40 yr). Moreover, most known subpopulations of this species can be accessed by road or train, and harvest intensity can be regarded as similar over large spatial scales spanning similarly accessible areas. For these reasons, D. maritima subsp. pubescens is assigned a preliminary IUCN conservation status of Endangered: EN B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)12ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v).

Notes — Dalbergia maritima subsp. pubescens is distinct from the nominal subspecies on the basis of the presence of indument on its leaves, inflorescence axes, and gynoecium, although sterile specimens can potentially be confused with D. louvelii s.l. ( Figs. 1C–D View FIG , 2C View FIG ), from which it differs in its smaller flowers (as observed in D. louvelii s.s., from littoral forests in east-central Madagascar) and narrower fruits, and in its smaller, more numerous, consistently pubescent, and differently shaped leaflets, as shown in Figs. 1B View FIG , 2B View FIG , 3A–B View FIG and summarized in Table 3. Moreover, the currently known geographic ranges of these two taxa do not appear to overlap, and the geographically closest similar entity ( D. louvelii s.s., which co-occurs with D. maritima subsp. maritima in littoral forests in east-central Madagascar) occupies a different habitat type ( Fig. 3C–D View FIG ). Two collections (Service Forestier 34291 and the type, Service Forestier 32824) increase the documented distribution range of D. maritima subsp. pubescens by ca. 50 km to the north, including the southern limits of the Analanjirofo Region and potentially the Analalava protected area, situated ca. 6 km to the southwest of Mahavelona, but no extant occurrences are known from these areas, despite intensive recent botanical inventory work at Analalava, so these populations are presumed to have been extirpated.

Additional Specimens Examined — Madagascar. — ANALANJIROFO [Toamasina]: Ambatomalama , 4 Jun 1991 (fr), Service Forestier 34291 ( MO, TEF) ; ATSINANANA [Toamasina]: Ambodiriana commune, 24 Mar 2017 (fl), G. Rakotonirina et al. 9 1 (K, MO, P, TAN, UPS) ; Antetezambaro commune, 12 Oct 2019 (st), Karatra & Ramanitrinizaka 190 ( DBEV, MO, P, TAN, ZT) ; same locality, 28 Jan 2021 (y.fr), Antilahimena 9712 ( MO, P, TAN) ; same locality, same date (y.fr), Antilahimena 9720 ( MO, P, TAN) ; Betampona Special Reserve and surrounding areas, 11 Nov 2016 (st), Randrianaivo & Sylvain 2928 (P, TAN, ZT) ; same locality, 16 Feb 2018 (y.fr), Randrianaivo 3136 (G, MO, P, TEF, ZT) ; same locality, 18 Jan 2014 (st), Razakamalala & Bernard 7704 (BR, G, MO, P, ZT) ; same locality, 20 Jan 2014 (st), Bernard & Razakamalala 2247 (BR, G, MO, P, ZT) ; same locality, 7 Aug 1986 (fr), Service Forestier 31184 (P, TEF) ; Masiabarika forest , 17 Dec 1954 (st), Service Forestier 18-R-195 (P) ; Sahafina protected area, 16 Apr 2019 (st), Razakamalala & Bernard 8368 ( DBEV, MO, P, TAN, ZT) ; same locality, 17 Apr 2019 (st), Bernard & Razakamalala 2734 ( DBEV, MO, P, TAN, ZT) ; Toamasina suburbaine commune, 21 Feb 2018 (y.fr), G. Rakotonirina et al. 389 (K, MO, P, TAN, UPS) .