New Records of Apocynaceae for Panama and the Choco

Abstract

Tabernaemontana pendula and T. iongipes, synonymized under T. chrysocarpa in the Flora of Panama, are recognized as distinct from it. Stemmadenia allenii was originally described from fruiting and flowering material of different species, one of whichthe most common wet-forest species of the genus in Panama-is now described as S. minima A. Gentry. The first South American record of the North American Tabernaemontana arborea, the first North American record of the South American Odontadenia cognata, and the reconfirmation of the occurrence of Fosteronia myriantha in Panama are reported. Panamanian plants referred to Tabernaemontana chrysocarpa in the Flora of Panama treatment (Nowicke, 1970) prove to represent three distinct species. These three species, somewhat similar on the basis of floral characteristics, are easily separated by vegetative and fruiting characters. Tabernaemontana pendula Woodson This species was described from a single specimen from El Valle (Allen 1734). It was compared by Woodson (1940) with T. amygdalifolia Jacq. because of its exserted anthers but lumped with T. chrysocarpa, a species characterized by included or subexserted anthers, by Nowicke (1970) in the Flora of Panama. Tabernaemontana pendula has a much longer peduncle than either T. amygdalifolia or T. chrysocarpa. It also has wider, more elliptical leaves and a characteristically wrinkled-reticulate fruit surface. The long peduncle is also obvious in fruit. The fruit, previously undescribed, is similar in shape to that of T. chrysocarpa. Two additional collections of this species, both in fruit, are now at hand. These are Mori et al. 1912 from La Mesa (above El Valle), Cocle Province, and Mori & Kallunki 2028 from the Rio Guanche area of Colon Province. Tabernaemontana longipes Donnell Smith This species was described from Costa Rica and has been thought endemic to that country. It is closely related to T. chrysocarpa and the Panamanian specimens of T. longipes were included with that species in the Flora of Panama. Vegetatively T. longipes differs from T. chrysocarpa in its elliptic leaves, always broadest near the middle; the latter has narrowly obovate to oblanceolate-elliptic leaves, broadest above the middle. The fruit of T. longipes, previously undescribed, is very distinctive with a verrucose muricate-ridged surface quite unlike the smooth, papillose or finely reticulate-ridged fruits of other Panamanian species of Tabernaemontana and Stemmadenia. I have seen no fruits of this 'Supported by NSF grant 01P75-18202. 2 Missouri Botanical Garden, 2345 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110. ANN. MissoURI BOT. GARD. 64: 320-323. 1977. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.153 on Mon, 19 Sep 2016 04:39:10 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1977] GENTRY-APOCYNACEAE 321 species from Costa Rica, but the Costa Rican and Panamanian collections seem indistinguishable on the basis of vegetative and floral characters. Tabernaemontana longipes has been collected in Panama only above El Valle de Anton, Cocle Province, where it is locally very common. It is represented by thirteen collections from El Valle in the Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium including all the Cocle Province collections cited as T. chrysocarpa in the Flora of Panama except Allen 1734 which is T. pendula (see above). The additional collections of this species-Kennedy et al. 3035, Liesner 747, Croat 14383, Gentry & Dwyer 3612, and Gentry 6873-were all identified and distributed as T. chryso-