A New Species of Ocotea (Lauraceae) from the Serra do Espinhaço, Brazil

Abstract

Ocotea oppositifolia, from the Serra do Espinhago, Bahia-Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described as new. It can be distinguished from the other neotropical species in the genus by the combination of its opposite leaves, pit domatia, and double-rimmed cupules. Ocotea, with more than 300 species, is one of the larger genera of Lauraceae and is known from the Neotropics, Madagascar, and tropical Africa. It is the largest genus of Lauraceae in the Neotropics, distributed from Mexico to Argentina. According to van der Werff (1991), the genus is extremely variable and sometimes thought to be a catchall for lesser known neotropical laurels. The species of this genus are characterized by the paniculate or racemose inflorescences, six equal tepals, nine stamens, anthers with four pollen sacs arranged in two rows, two small, globose glands at the base of each innermost stamen, and fruits with flat or cupshaped cupules. Nearly all the neotropical species of this genus have alternate or clustered leaves. However, some collections from Brazil were recently discovered to have opposite leaves. Some of these are treated as Ocotea sp. in van der Werff (1995). Besides the opposite leaves, the specimens have pit domatia and double-rimmed cupules, and the combination of those characters distinguishes them from all the other neotropical Ocotea species. Ocotea oppositifolia S. Yasuda, sp. nov. TYPE: Brazil. Bahia: Seabra, in a forest disturbed in some areas, with woody lianas, 900 m alt., 13 Feb. 1987 (fl), J. R. Pirani et al. 2000 (holotype, MO). Figure 1. Species haec ab aliis speciebus neotropicis differt foliis oppositis et domatiis foveatis et cupulis diplomarginatis. Small tree or shrub, 2-6(-12) m tall. Twigs terete, with a few appressed hairs, soon glabrescent. Terminal bud with appressed hairs. Leaves opposite, elliptic, 6-13 x 2-5 cm, the base and apex acute, firmly chartaceous, glabrous, glossy above, pinnately veined; lateral veins 8-12 pairs, the midrib, lateral veins, and reticulation immersed on both surfaces, or slightly raised below; pit domatia sometimes present in the axils of the secondary veins near the base, with straight hairs along the edges. Petioles 0.5-1 cm long, flat above. Inflorescences in the axils of the leaves or rarely around bracts, racemose, rarely paniculate, 3-6 cm long, with some appressed hairs. Pedicels pubescent, to 5 mm long, with an ovate-elliptic bract ca. 2.5 mm long at the base. Flowers bisexual, creamy or green, aromatic, 3-4 mm long including the slightly narrowed base. Tepals 6, equal, ovate, 2.0-3.0 X 1.52.2 mm, the outer surface with some appressed hairs or nearly glabrous, the inner surface with erect hairs, the inner surface of the inner tepals more densely so. Stamens 9, all 4-celled and the cells arranged in two rows, the anther 0.7-0.9 mm long, papillose on the apex, the filament 0.3-0.4 mm long, pubescent; outer 6 stamens with introrse cells, inner 3 stamens with extrorse cells, each of the inner stamens with 2 glands attached near the base. Staminodia 3, ca. 0.7 mm long, sagittate or stipitiform, pubescent. Ovary globose, ca. 0.7 mm diam., glabrous; style ca. 1.2 mm long, glabrous. Infructescences with few fruits, glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent, 4-6 cm long. Fruits ellipsoid to ovoid, 2-2.5 cm long, ca. 1.4 cm wide (when dried), glabrous. Cupules olive-green, cup-shaped, ca. 2 cm wide, ca. 1.5 cm deep, glabrous, the outside smooth or slightly ridged, double-rimmed, the outer rim erect, slightly longer than the inner rim. Ocotea oppositifolia is known from the Serra do Espinhago, at about 1000 m in elevation. According to Harley (1995), the vegetation of this region is categorized as cerrado or campo rupestre: cerrado is a seasonal savanna woodland formation with medium to low trees and shrubs, characteristic of a huge area of southeast, central, and parts of western Brazil; campo rupestre is a unique vegetation of the upper levels of the Serra do Espinhago, where outcrops of usually highly acidic rocks inNovoN 6: 484-486. 1996. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.185 on Thu, 26 May 2016 06:00:17 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Volume 6, Number 4 Yasuda 485 1996 Ocotea oppositifolia from Brazil