A New Species of Tapirira (Anacardiaceae) from Ecuador

Abstract

Tapirira rubrinervis Barfod, sp. nov., is described from the coastal plain of Ecuador. It is easily distinguished from its congeners by the fewfoliolate leaves, the obovate, unequally sized leaflets, and the striking red venation of the lower surfaces of the leaflets. The variation in leaf morphology and phenology is discussed. RESUMEN. Se describe una especie nueva, Tapirira rubrinervis Barfod, de la regi6n costera de Ecuador. Se distingue fAcilmente de sus cong~neres por tener las hojas con pocos foliolos, los foliolos desiguales y obovados, con Ilamativa nervadura roja del env~s. Asimismo, se comenta la variaci6n en la morfologia de las hojas y su fenologia. A recent revision of Ecuadorian Anacardiaceae for the Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador (Jergensen & Le6n-Yinez, 1999) revealed a new species of Tapirira. Barfod (1987) described only two species of Tapirira in Flora of Ecuador: Tapirira guianensis Aublet, with two subspecies (Barfod, 1986), and T peckoltiana Engler, which should be correctly named T obtusa (Bentham) J. D. Mitchell (Mitchell, 1993). Since this flora treatment was published, T guianensis has been recorded several times west of the Andes in the provinces of Esmeraldas and Carchi, Ecuador. It has been found on the northern coastal plain along the upper tributaries of the Cayapas and Mira rivers. In the Cayapas river system, it is locally known as sajo de arriba, or sajo chi. Sajo is the name for Campnosperma panamense Standley, a rare simple-leaved species of Anacardiaceae growing near Borb6n (Little & Dixon, 1969). In 1993, I received for the first time material of an undescribed species of Tapirira growing along the Mira River and its tributaries in the province of Carchi, where it is locally known as cuilde. The congener T guianensis also occurs in that area. It is called cuilde blanco. There was little doubt that the new material represented a separate species, and it is described here based on nine collections. Although it has several very distinctive features, it is probably most closely related to Tapirira guianensis. Like this species it has chartaceous leaflets that are inconspicuously hairy beneath or glabrous. The flowers are typical for the