Calycolpus revolutus (Schauer) 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

    Calycolpus revolutus (Schauer) O.Berg

  • Discussion

    Myrtus revoluta Schauer, Linnaea 21: 272. 1848.

    Calycolpus kegelianus Berg,Linnaea 27: 381. 1856.

    Calycolpus kegelianus a robustus ["robusta"] Berg, Linnaea 27: 381. 1856.

    Calycolpus kegelianus ^ gracilis Berg, Linnaea 27: 382. 1856.

    Calycolpus gracilis (Berg) Riley, Kew Bull. 1926: 150. 1926.

    Calycolpus chnoiophyllus Riley, Kew Bull. 1926: 148. 1926.

    Calycolpus megalodon Riley, Kew Bull. 1926: 149.

    Apparently this is not a widely distributed species. For a description, and citation of numerous collections from Suriname, see Amshoff (Fl. Suriname 3(2): 154. 1951). A revision is needed of this group having somewhat 4-angled branchlets, usually narrow calyx-lobes and somewhat smaller flowers and leaves than those of Calycolpus goetheanus. The leaves of C. revolutus, as noted by Amshoff, may be 3-7 cm long or even longer; the shape and dimensions relied upon by Riley to distinguish C. revolutus ("folia subrotundata, 2-3.5 cm. longa") are exceptional. The several segregates proposed by Riley all have somewhat larger leaves than this. The characters of leaf-size and -shape, and size and shape of the calyx-lobes, relied upon by Riley. seem to be of no more taxonomic value in this species-complex than in C. goetheanus. On the other hand it does seem noteworthy that in C. revolutus, and in the above species proposed by Riley, the margin of the staminal disk and the area about the bases of the petals and at the bases of the calyx-lobes, is uniformly and densely pubescent, a feature not found elsewhere in the genus; in the types of C. chnoiophyllus and C. pyrifer the hypanthia and to some extent the leaves are pubescent, but this does not seem enough to warrant their recognition as distinct species. Another species that may be confused with C. revolutus and also with small-leaved forms of C. goetheanus is C. warszewiczianus Berg (Linnaea 27: 382. 1856). This ranges from Nicaragua to Panama; the calyx-lobes are usuahy wider than those of C. revolutus, and the branchlets usuahy terete, but I cannot separate the two species with any degree of confidence, and a revision of the group is to be desired. I have not seen the type of Myi-tus revolutus Schauer {Kegel 1148), but Riley states that he saw it "in herb. Gottingen." The lectotype of Calycolpus kegelianus and its [var] a robustus is Wullschlaegel s n (BR), as designated by Riley (Kew Bull. 1926: 149. 1926); I have seen neither this plant, nor Kegel 1341, the type of C. kegelianus [var] /? gracilis, which Riley saw at Gottingen.

  • Distribution

    Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America|