Campomanesia aromatica (Aubl.) Griseb.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Myrtaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Campomanesia aromatica (Aubl.) Griseb.

  • Discussion

    Campomanesia aromatica (Aublet) Grisebach, Fl. Br. W. Ind. 242. 1860.

    Psidium aromaticum Aubl., PI. Guiane Fr. 485. pi. 191. 1775.

    Myrtus psidioides Desv. ex Ham., Prodr. PI. Ind. Occ. 44. 1825.

    Myrtus fascicularis D C , DC. Prodr. 3: 240. 1828.

    Eugenia desvauxiana Berg, Linnaea 27: 198. 1856.

    Campomanesia coaetanea Berg, Mart. fl. Bras. 14 (I): 444. 157.1857.

    For description see Amshoff (Fl. Suriname 3(2): 157. 1951). This plant is easily recognized at flowering time because the flowers are precocious, borne on twigs with very immature leaves. The mature leaves are often noticeably rugose above because of the sharply impressed veins and veinlets.

    The type of Psidium aromaticum came from French Guiana; the places cited by Aublet are "sur la route de Loyola," "dans I'ile de Cai'enne," and "a Caux [Kaw] chez Madame Mittifeu." At B M I saw in 1965 a good specimen that may be considered the type, bearing immature fruits, evidently the same species as that described and figured by Aublet, and the same as the Campomanesia aromatica of current usage.

    In the protologue of Campomanesia coaetanea. Berg cited "in Guyana Anglica ad flumen Tacutu, floret Martio: Rich Schomburgk n. 528, Rob. Schomburgk n. 311.; nee non in Brasilia aequatoriali: Gardner n. 1285." H e saw these specimens "in hb. Berol. et Vindob." A Schomburgk specimen at Kew, received from Berlin about 1859, bears the number 311/528B, indicating that in accordance with the system of numbering employed by the Schomburgk brothers (see the introduction to this paper), the Berlin specimen seen by Berg was probably no. 528. This plant is assumed to have been destroyed, and the specimen of Schomburgk 311 at W (photographed as Field Mus. neg. 31443) is hereby designated as lectotype. I have not located "Gardner n. 1285," and I suspect Berg intended to write "Hostmann 1285," as this widely distributed gathering represents the same species.

    Myrtus fascicularis D C . was based on a collection from "Cayenna"; as shown in a photograph (Field Mus. neg. 7925) it is surely the species here considered. Myrtus psidioides Desv. was stated in the protologue to have come from the West Indies ("in India Occidentali"); its identity seems to have been unknown to de Candolle, to Berg and to Urban; a photograph of the type at Paris (Field Mus. neg. 36946) shows it to be a synonym of Campomanesia aromatica.

  • Distribution

    Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| French Guiana South America|