Eugenia amorimii Fraga & Giaretta 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Giaretta, Augusto
name: Fraga, Claudio Nicoletti De
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Myrtales
Myrtaceae
Eugenia
Eugenia amorimii

description: Eugenia amorimii Fraga & Giaretta, sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 2)
This species is close to Eugenia multicostata but differs from it by the fruits with the brown mealy indumentum and bracteoles persisting.
Type: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Cariacica, Reserva Biológica Duas Bocas, localidade de Alegre, trilha do Pau Oco, Floresta Ombrófila Densa Montana, elev. 600 m, 4 May 2008 (fr.), A.M. Amorim, A.P. Fontana & W.M. São-Mateus 7348 (Holotype: RB!, isotype: BHCB!, CEPEC!, MBML!, UPCB!).
Tree 6– 12 m. Branchlets grey, subterete, with scattered whitish simple trichomes to 0.5 mm, deciduous with age. Leaves with petioles 4–6.5 × 1–1.5 mm, adaxially canaliculate; blades elliptic, glabrous, 6.6–10.5 × 2.4–4.9 cm, discolored when dry, lighter green abaxially; glandular dots less than 0.1 mm in diameter, 20–25 per square millimeter, darker abaxially; apex obtuse and short acuminate, sometimes acute; base cuneate; midvein salient or biconvex adaxially, with visible glandular dots, prominent abaxially; secondary veins 11–15, salient on both sides, slight adaxially and moderately salient abaxially; marginal veins two, the internal one 2–3.8 mm, the external one 0.5–1 mm from the margin. Inflorescence racemiform, axillary, the axis 3–16 mm, with 2–6 flowers, occasionally terminal inflorescences on an auxotelic axis producing vegetative shoots with adult leaves after anthesis; basal bracts ovate, glabrous, 0.5 × 1 mm, occasionally persisting in fruit; pedicels in fruits glabrous, 7–17 × 1–1.3 mm; bracteoles ovate, concave, glabrous, margins with cilia up to 0.2 mm, 1.5–1.6 × 1.5 mm, not connate, persisting in fruit; flowers not seen. Fruits globose, with brown mealy indumentum, trichome less than 0.1 mm, 8–sulcate, 15– 20 mm diameter, yellowish–green when not completely ripe, crowned by the persistent four calyx lobes, glabrous, margins with cilia up to 0.1 mm, concave, unequal, the external ones 3–3.5 × 3–4 mm, the internal 4.5–5.5 × 4.5–5 mm, hemispherical; one seed per fruit, testa yellowish, with the 0.8 mm thick, woody and easily detectable, embryo, globose to reniform, 12–13 × 9–11 mm, cotyledons fused and indistinguishable, cotyledons and hypocotyl not evident.
Phenology: —Collected in fruit in May and July.
Etymology: —This specific epithet pays homage to André Márcio Araújo Amorim, one of the collectors of both described species. He has made important contributions to the study of Brazilian biodiversity, especially of southern Bahia and Malpighiaceae.
Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia amorimii is so far known from only two collections in the Duas Bocas Biological Reserve, that consists of 2,910 ha of Atlantic rainforest in the central part of Espírito Santo (Fig. 3). This species may also be found in other forest fragments around this Reserve, in the bordering municipalities of Cariacica, Viana, Santa Leopoldina, and Domingos Martins. The species has been collected at 600–700 m elev. These forest remnants are characterized by high species richness with several endemic species recently described for other plant families (Alves et al. 2002; Sousa 2004; Fiaschi & Pirani 2005; Fraga & Saavedra 2006; Camargo & Goldenberg 2011; Kollmann & Peixoto 2012).
Conservation: —This new species is endemic to just one locality in Espírito Santo, with populations of few scattered individuals in an area of less than 20 km 2. It is thus prone to the effects of stochastic events and its continued existence can't be assured. Although this locality is in a protected area, it has open boundaries and is prone to negative impacts from the nearby livestock-raising farms and coffee plantations with their use of agricultural pesticides and undisciplined management of natural resources. The new species thus falls under the category Vulnerable (VU D2) of the IUCN Red List (IUCN 2013) of endangered plant species.
Paratype: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Cariacica, Reserva Biológica Duas Bocas, localidade de Alegre, trilha do Pau Oco, Floresta Ombrófila Densa Montana, elev. 600 m, 4 Jul. 2008 (fr.), A.M. Amorim et al. 7643 (BHCB!, CEPEC!, MBML!, RB!, UPCB!).
Affinities: —This species is similar to E. multicostata D. Legrand (1961: 309) but can be distinguished by the following morphological characters:
1. Inflorescences usually terminal, with 2–12 flowers; bracteoles deciduous before anthesis; fruit glabrous ........................... ................................................................................................................................................................ Eugenia multicostata
1’. Inflorescence usually axillary, with 2–6 flowers; bracteoles persisting; fruit with brown mealy indumentum ........................ ..................................................................................................................................................................... Eugenia amorimii
description: Published as part of Giaretta, Augusto & Fraga, Claudio Nicoletti De, 2014, Two new Eugenia species (Myrtaceae) from the Brazilian Atlantic forest, pp. 113-120 in Phytotaxa 163 (2) on page 114, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.163.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/5132305