Myrceugenia rufa (Colla) Skottsb.

• Authority

  Landrum, Leslie R. 1981. A monograph of the genus Myrceugenia (Myrtaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 29: 1-137. (Published by NYBG Press)

• Family

  Myrtaceae

• Scientific Name

  Myrceugenia rufa (Colla) Skottsb.

• Type

  Type. Bertero s.n. (apparent holotype Bertero 176c or 1765 at TO, n.v., photo of this specimen at TO, seen; possible isotypes Bertero 1765 F, GH).

• Synonyms

  Myrtus rufa Colla, Eugenia ferruginea Hook. & Arn., Eugenia rufa (Colla) Barnéoud, Luma ferruginea (Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray, Myrceugenia ferruginea (Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray, Luma rufa (Colla) Burret

• Description

  Species Description - Shrub 1-2 m high; hairs reddish-brown to whitish, symmetrically dibrachiate, appressed; twigs densely pubescent when young, the hairs persisting until the first bark falls, the original bark splitting in a reticulate fashion, whitish-grey, the new inner bark at first reddish-brown, becoming whitish-grey; leaves densely pubescent beneath, puberulent above, sometimes glabrescent with age, broadly to narrowly elliptic, ovate or oblong, 0.5-1.8 cm long, 0.2-0.5 cm wide, 1.2-4.5 times as long as wide, the margin revolute; petiole densely pubescent, sometimes glabrescent with age, 1-2 mm long, not noticeably channeled; veins all indistinct above and below, or the midvein faintly visible; blades light bluish-green to yellowish-green, often lustrous above, reddish-brown to whitish-yellow below, quite coriaceous; peduncles uniflorous, slightly flattened, about 0.5 mm wide, 14 mm long, densely pubescent, solitary or 2-3 in a row in the axils of leaves; bracteoles ovate to broadly oblong, 0.9-1.5 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, 1-2 times as long as wide, coriaceous, densely pubescent without, sparsely pubescent within, clasping the hypanthium, calyx-lobes ovate to suborbicular, strongly concave, 1.3-2.6 mm long and wide, usually 0.8-1 times as long as wide, densely to sparsely pubescent without, sparsely pubescent to glabrous within; hypanthium obconic, densely pubescent, ca. 2 mm long; disk 2-2.5 mm across, densely pubescent; style 5-6 mm long, sparsely pubescent; stamens 60-100, 3-6 mm long; anthers 0.4-0.6 mm long when dry; petals more or less orbicular, 2-3 mm in diam., very sparsely pubescent within and without; ovary 2-4-locular; ovules 5-13 per locule; fruit 4-8 mm in diam., purplish-black, pubescent; seeds unknown.

• Discussion

  Poeppig 114 (F) supposedly from Talcahuano (Concepcion) and Germain s.n. (F) from "cordillera Maule" are probably wrongly labelled. No modem collections have been made that far south.

  Myrceugenia rufa is known only from the coast of central Chile, a region that receives little or no rain for most of the year but which does have the benefit of almost constant humid breezes from the ocean. This species usually does not reach more than a few hundred meters inland, apparently needing these oceanic winds. A map of its distribution is shown in Fig. 9.
  The phylogenetic position of Myrceugenia rufa is not clear. It is superficially similar to M. euosma because its leaves are small and densely covered with dibrachiate hairs beneath, but these may be parallel adaptations to xeric environments.
  Myrceugenia rufa is easily distinguished from all other species by its small thick leaves that show little or no venation and that have revolute margins. It flowers from August to October. Its fruits are so efficiently attacked by an insect (perhaps a curcurlionid) that I have never been able to find any seeds in them. When normal fruits would mature I do not know, but those attacked by insects may persist on the plants at least until March.

• Distribution

  Chile South America| Valparaíso Chile South America| Santiago Chile South America|