Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas

21. Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas View in CoL

Guatteria venosa Erkens & Maas in Erkens et al. (2008) 509, f. 18. — 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– 24 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– 40 by 6 –15 cm (leaf index 2.6 – 3.6), coriaceous, not verruculose or sparsely to rather densely verruculose toward 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 toward the base, becoming sparsely verruculose to smooth toward the apex, secondary veins distinct, 25– 35 on either side of primary vein, strongly impressed above, marginal vein present, smallest distance between marginal vein and margin 2 – 5 mm. Flowers in 2– several-flowered inflorescences or single (at least in fruit) mostly on older branchlets or in axils of fallen leaves; pedicels 10– 20 mm long, 1.5 – 2 mm diam, fruiting pedicels to 25 mm long, 5 mm diam, densely covered with appressed hairs, articulated at 0.2– 0.3 from the base, bracts c. 5, soon falling; flower buds depressed ellipsoid to depressed ovoid; sepals basally connate to free, broadly ovate, 5 –6 by 5 –6 mm, appressed to patent, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; petals green, greenish cream, tannish to 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 finely papillate-hairy to subglabrous. 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, rugose.

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

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

Vernacular names — Ecuador: Cargadera negra ( Méndez et al. 284), Degteiug, Tilalde (Awapit) ( Aulestia & Grijalva 1187).

Note — Guatteria venosa belongs to Fries’s sect. Mecocarpus by its distinct marginal vein, the presence of verruculi on the leaves and by the short stipes. It is distinguished from other species of sect. Mecocarpus by an unusually high number of secondary veins (hence the specific name) and by the few verruculi on the leaves compared to other species in the section.