Diospyros sennenii G. E. Schatz & Lowry 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Schatz, George E.
name: Lowry II, Porter P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Ericales
Ebenaceae
Diospyros
Diospyros sennenii

description: Diospyros sennenii G.E. Schatz & Lowry, sp. nov.
(Fig. 10)
Diospyros sennenii G.E. Schatz & Lowry, sp. nov. is distinguished from other species in the Squamosa group by its elliptic to narrowly ovate lamina with a length:width ratio of 2-3:1 and a rounded to rarely obtuse apex.
TYPUS. — Madagascar. Sava Region [Prov. Antsiranana], Vohemar, Daraina, Ambarilao, Tsaratanana, Ampondrabe, à l’ouest d’Ambarilao, 12°57’48”S, 49°41’57”E, 427 m, 24.IX.2007, fr., S. Randrianasolo et al. 612 (holo-, MO [MO6214778]!; iso-, CNARP, P [P06664490]!, TAN, TEF).
ETYMOLOGY. — This species is named in honor of Sennen Randrianasolo, a retired field botanist who worked at the Centre National d’Application de Recherche Pharmaceutique (CNARP) in Antananarivo, and who participated in an intensive collecting program conducted in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden, first for the U.S. National Cancer Institute and then for an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups project funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Sennen made more than 1000 high quality collections from many parts of Madagascar, helping to build the CNARP herbarium while contributing to our expanding understanding of the island’s flora.
DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY. — Diospyros sennenii, sp. nov. occurs in subhumid forest to the NW of Ambarilao within the Loky Manambato protected area (Fig. 2), at an elevation of 427 m.
PHENOLOGY. — Diospyros sennenii, sp. nov. has been recorded in fruit in September.
CONSERVATION STATUS. — Diospyros sennenii, sp. nov. is known only from the type collection made within the Loky Manambato protected area NW of Ambarilao and 1 km inside the forest edge. It can thus be assumed that this species is currently not subject to any threats. Dependent upon continuing effective protection of the forest, D. sennenii, sp. nov. can therefore be assessed as Least Concern [LC] (IUCN 2012).
DESCRIPTION
Tree 10 m tall, 40 cm DBH. Young stems initially moderately densely covered with appressed white trichomes c. 0.1 mm long, glabrescent, the older stems whitish. Lamina 1.4-5 × 1-2.5 cm, elliptic to oblong to occasionally narrowly ovate, coriaceous, glabrous above and below, base rounded to truncate, margin flat, apex rounded to rarely obtuse, midrib very slightly impressed above, glabrous, slightly raised below and initially sparsely covered with appressed, white or golden trichomes <0.1 mm long, glabrescent, venation weakly brochidodromous, with 6-7 secondary veins per side, faintly visible, very slightly raised above and below; petiole 2-3 mm, c. 1 mm diam., initially moderately to densely covered with appressed white or golden trichomes c. 0.1 mm long, glabrescent, terete to slightly flattened above. Male flowers not seen. Female flowers not seen. Fruit solitary in the axils of fallen leaves; pedicel in fruit 5-6 × 4 mm, with evident scars from fallen bracts, moderately to densely covered with appressed golden and white trichomes c. 0.1 mm long; calyx in fruit urceolate, not keeled, densely covered with appressed white and golden trichomes c. 0.5 mm long, the fused portion of the calyx 20 mm tall, the lobes 10 × 20 mm, the margins flat, the apex acute, slightly reflexed; fruit 30-35 mm tall, 30 mm in diam., ellipsoid to spherical, shiny, slightly depressed at the apex, crowned by the style/stigma remnant.
NOTES
Diospyros sennenii, sp. nov. can be recognized within the Squamosa group by its elliptic to narrowly ovate lamina with a rounded to rarely obtuse apex. Because individuals of this species can become large trees and may therefore be targeted as a source of ebony wood, only general locality information has been provided for the cited collection.
description: Published as part of Schatz, George E. & Lowry II, Porter P., 2020, Taxonomic studies of Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae) from the Malagasy region. IV. Synoptic revision of the Squamosa group in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, pp. 201-218 in Adansonia (3) (3) 42 (9) on page 215, DOI: 10.5252/adansonia2020v42a10, http://zenodo.org/record/3953000