Marlierea glomerata O.Berg

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett. 1969. The botany of the Guayana Highland-part VIII. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 18: 1-290.

  • Family

    Myrtaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Marlierea glomerata O.Berg

  • Discussion

    Plinia sp., non Plinia glomerata (Berg) Amsh., Rec. Trav. Bot. Neerl. 42: 11. 1950, which is based on Myrciaria glomerata Berg, Mart. FI. Bras. 14(l): 365. 1857

    Berg's description of Marlierea glomerata evidently refers to a species of Plinia, but nothing exactly corresponding to the description seems to be known from modern collections. The type, which presumably has been destroyed, was an un-numbered specimen from British Guiana, collected by Richard Schomburgk and studied by Berg in the Berlin herbarium. I have not been able to locate any Schomburgk collections of this or any related species, nor any specimens named M . glomerata by Berg. According to the protologue, M . glomerata may be briefly described as follows:

    Branchlets, petioles, midveins of leaves, and flowers, canescent- or brownishvelutinous; leaves acute at base, glabrous at maturity; midvein impressed above; petiole 6 m m long; lateral veins very slender, straight, scarcely visible above; flowers glomerate at leafless nodes; buds obtuse, subglobose, 4 m m long, silky, with broad bracteoles; hypanthium produced beyond the ovary; ovary 4-ovulate.

    The name Marlierea glomerata was applied by Urban (Bot. Jahrb. 19: 589. 1895) to the West Indian plant properly called Plinia pinnata. Later (Repert. Sp. Nov. 15: 412, 413. 1919) Urban took up the name P. pinnata for the West Indian species, and assumed that the British Guiana species {M. glomerata) was a synonym. In this latter course he was followed by Amshoff (Fl. Suriname 3(2): 98. 1951). Probably, however, P. pinnata does not occur in the Guianas. N o specimens with the characteristicahy ridged fruits of P. pinnata have come to m y attention, and ah the undoubted specimens of Plinia from the Guianas seem to belong to endemic populations. M . glomerata cannot be identifled at the present time, as except for P costata no species of the genus is known to have an impressed midvein. As the name cannot in any event be transferred to Plinia, its typification is of academic interest only.