Myrosma cannifolia

Myrosma cannifolia View in CoL L.f. — Fig. 1; Map 1

Myrosma cannifolia View in CoL L.f. (1782) 80; A.M.E.Jonker & Jonker (1957) 178; Simmonds (1967) 28; L.Andersson (2001) 245.— Phrynium myrosma Roscoe (1827) View in CoL 11, 12, t. 39. — Maranta myrosma (Roscoe) A.Dietr. (1831) View in CoL 136. — Calathea myrosma (Roscoe) Körn. (1858) View in CoL 87. — Phyllodes myrosma (Roscoe) Kuntze (1891) View in CoL 696. — Type: C.G. Dahlberg 121 Herb. Linn. ‘5.1 Myrosma sp. ’ (holo LINN), Suriname.

Maranta moritziana Körn. (1862) View in CoL 66. — Saranthe moritziana (Körn.) Eichler (1884) View in CoL 86. — Type: N. Funck 71 (lecto P, selected here), Venezuela, Distrito Federal , Caracas , 1843. Syntypes: J.W.K. Moritz 475 (B†), Colombia; Poiteau s.n. (B†), French Guiana ; M.R. Schomburgk 1305 (B†, K), Guyana, Rupununi River region, May 1843.

Maranta cuyabensis Körn. (1862) View in CoL 68. — Myrosma cuyabensis (Körn.) K.Schum. (1902) View in CoL 142, syn. nov. — Type: L. Riedel 857 (lecto G, selected here; isolecto P), Brazil, Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, 1860. Syntype: A. L. P. da Silva Manso & J. Lhotzsky 85 ( F, G, MO), Brazil .

Myrosma boliviana Loes.(1915) 270 ( var. boliviana ), syn.nov.— Type: E.H.G. Ule 9247 (holo B†, F negative 9850, photograph GH; lecto MO, selected here), Bolivia, Pando, Río Tarumano, Porvenir (“ Am Tarumano , Nebenfluss des Rio Madeira , im Walde bei Porvenir “), Jan. 1912.

Myrosma boliviana Loes. var. acreana Loes. (1915) 270, syn. nov. — Type: E.H.G. Ule 9246 (holo B†; lecto G, selected here; isolecto K, US), Bolivia, Pando, Cobija (“ Im der Nähe des Rio Acre bei Cobija ”), Jan. 1912.

Saranthe marcgravii Pickel (1939) View in CoL 50, t. 62, syn. nov. — Type: B.J. Pickel 4338 (holo SP), Brazil, São Paulo, described from a plant cultivated at Horto Florestal in São Paulo, originally from Mato Grosso.

Plants 0.3–1.2 m tall. Leaves glabrous or with minute hairs adaxially on the pulvinus and on the leaf blade close to the midrib; sheath 3 –17 cm long; petiole proper (0.3–)4–12.5 cm long; pulvinus 2– 4 mm long; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to linear or narrowly to widely oblong-elliptic, 8 –34.7 by 1.4–13.5 cm, the abaxial side slightly glaucous. Inflorescence up to 7 cm long, simple or with 2 –3 primary branches; peduncle and internodes puberulent; each branch with 4 – 26 fertile bracts, these ovate to broadly ovate, 1–1.5 by 1–1.2 cm, glabrous. Flowers white or cream, 1–1.5 cm long, glabrous or with minute hairs along the veins of the sepals; ovary 1.8 – 2 mm long, cylindrical, glabrous; sepals membranous, with prominent venation, 1–1.2 by 0.3– 0.6 cm; corolla tube 2– 2.5 mm long; corolla lobes oblong-elliptic, slightly cucullate, 5 –8 by 3– 4 mm; major outer staminode obovate with rounded apex, 0.9 –1.1 by 0.6 cm, the minor clavate with rounded apex, 0.7–1 by 0.4– 0.5 cm; callose staminode rectangular, with a rounded or emarginate apex, c. 6 by 6 mm; cucullate staminode 5 –6 mm long, distally with a lobed and deflexed trigger appendage c. 2 mm long; fertile stamen 3 – 4 mm long, petaloid appendage c. 6 by 3 mm; style 0.5– 1 cm long. Fruit white when alive, straw-coloured when dry, with a thin pericarp that turns membranous and transparent upon drying, 6 –7 by 4– 5 mm; seed c. 5 by 4 mm.

Distribution — Greater Antilles ( Haiti, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands), Lesser Antilles ( St. Vincent), Colombia ( Vichada), Trinidad, Venezuela ( Amazonas, Apure, Bolívar, Cojedes, Guárico), Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil ( Acre, Amazonas, Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Tocantins), Peru ( Cuzco, San Martín, Loreto), Bolivia ( La Paz, Santa Cruz). In Brazil M. cannifolia is common in the central-northern region and in the central plateau.

Habitat & Ecology — Mostly confined to savannah vegeta- tion where it usually grows near water courses. An exception occurs in Bolivia where the species is found in humid and shady environments.

Notes — Myrosma cannifolia most resembles Saranthe unilateralis with which it shares the characters of strongly monosymmetric and compact inflorescence, and white to pale green, persistent bracts. However, M. cannifolia has a larger staminal appendage (6 by 3 mm vs 4 by 1.5 mm in S. unilateralis ), smaller leaf blades (11– 20(–31) by 1.7– 8 cm vs 33.5 by 12–15 cm long), unequal outer staminodes (equal in S. unilateralis ) and larger flowers (1–1.5 cm vs 0.8 – 1 cm long).

Linnaeus f. (1782) mentioned only a single collection in his protologue of Myrosma cannifolia ( C.G. Dahlberg 121). The specimen is found at LINN, being in perfect condition and agreeing completely with the original description. The type specimen is not numbered, but there is no doubt that this specimen is the holotype of the name and that the correct number of the collection is 121. Dahlberg was a Swedish soldier who collected for Linnaeus and who made in Suriname a collection of 186 plant specimens, which were first given to King Gustav III of Sweden and consequently, in 1774, transferred to Linnaeus ( Stafleu & Cowan 1976: 588). During his fieldwork in Suriname Dahlberg made accurate field annotations, which were written down in his ‘Catalogus der Vlessen, van de Boom, Struik, Plant en Rankgewassen, dewelke ik, in Spiritu vini bewaard heb’. This was a catalogue of all his collections, many of which were collected in spirit and which were later dried. Number 121 gives an extensive description in Dutch of the plant that is the type of M. cannifolia . The description starts (translated) with: “This is the leaf, inflorescence, and root of a plantlet called Turara, the flowers are white, sprouting laterally from the side of the stalk …”. The Dutch text by Dahlberg was many years later translated into English by J.E. Smith (1819) “Gathered by Dalberg in Surinam. The root is creeping, with long hairy fibres …” and at the end “This was one of the plants which made a part of the Surinam collection, preserved in spirits, presented to Linnaeus by King Gustavus”.

Körnicke (1862) described Maranta cuyabensis (≡ Myrosma cuyabensis (Körn.) K.Schum. ) based on two specimens from Central Brazil without a clear indication of a holotype. As diagnostic characters he cited narrowly elliptic leaf blades with narrower base and the glabrous or hirsute inflorescence peduncles. Indeed a number of specimens collected from cerrado and gallery forests from the Brazilian states of Goiás (e.g., H.S. Irwin et al. 34782 (NY)), Mato Grosso (e.g., G. Hatchbach 36149 (BR, C, GB, MBM, NY)) and southern Tocantins (e.g., G. Hatschbach et al. 56022 (C, GB, MBM, NY)) as well as the eastern part of the Department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia (e.g., W.W. Thomas et al. 5687 (GB, NY)) do have extremely narrow leaf blades. However, as no other characters distinguish these plants from typical M. cannifolia , we have chosen not to recognize this variation as a formal taxon. As lectotype of Maranta cuyabensis we have chosen Riedel 857, as this collection is more complete than the other syntype ( A.L.P. da Silva Manso & J. Lhotsky 85). The original material studied by Körnicke was most likely located at BONN but destroyed in 1941.As lectotype we have instead chosen the duplicate at G.

Maranta moritziana View in CoL was described by Körnicke in the same work as M. cuyabensis View in CoL . It was transferred to Saranthe View in CoL by Eichler (1884) and this decision was accepted by Petersen (1890). Schumann (1902) placed it in synonymy of Myrosma cannifolia View in CoL . Study of the original description and the illustration included in Flora Brasiliensis corroborate that decision. Of the four syntypes listed by Körnicke (1862) two have been located ( N. Funck 71 and M.R. Schombugk 1305). N. Funck 71 (P) has been selected here as lectotype.

Myrosma boliviana View in CoL was described by Loesener (1915) from a Bolivian collection E.H.G. Ule 9247 ( holotype B†). A duplicate of this collection is found at MO and has been chosen as lectotype. The diagnostic character for the species was that it had elliptic to broadly ovate leaves. In the same article Loesener also described a new variety of his new species, M. boliviana var. acreana View in CoL , based on a second collection from the same area as the holotype ( E.H.G. Ule 9246) representing a plant with smaller dimensions.As noted above M. cannifolia View in CoL displays a large and continuous variation in size and leaf shape and distinct taxa cannot be separated on that basis. However, a small number of specimens collected in the sub-Andean region of the western Amazon from Bolivia to Peru (e.g., T. Plowman 5998 (F), R. Vásquez 3877 (MO), M. Hagberg & E.-L. Medin 357 (GB)) tend to have one elongated internode basally on the flowering stem resulting in a clearly visible node some distance below the inflorescence, a character that we have not observed in any specimen from other parts of the range of M. cannifolia View in CoL . The sub-Andean plants also have inflorescence bracts that are more fibrous and greenish brown (when dried) than those from other areas. If these characters prove to be consistent when more material becomes available it might be considered whether these specimens should be recognized as a distinct taxon.

Finally, study of the type specimen of Saranthe marcgravii , made from cultivated plants with origin in Central Brazil, as well as the original description and the excellent illustration provided by Pickel (1939) leave no doubt that this is identical to M. cannifolia .