Myrceugenia euosma (O.Berg) D.Legrand

• 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 euosma (O.Berg) D.Legrand

• Type

  Type. Sellow s.n., type of Eugenia euosma [var.] o lutescens Berg hereby designated as lectotype of Eugenia euosma Berg (lectotype MICH ex G).

• Synonyms

  Eugenia euosma O.Berg, Eugenia euosma var. lutescens O.Berg, Eugenia euosma var. rufescens O.Berg, Eugenia nana O.Berg, Eugenia nana var. effusa O.Berg, Eugenia nana var. congesta O.Berg, Eugenia aprica O.Berg, Luma euosma (O.Berg) Burret, Luma nana (O.Berg) Burret, Luma cinerea Burret, Luma aprica (O.Berg) Burret, Myrceugenia euosma var. oblongata Mattos

• Description

  Species Description - Tree or shrub up to 10 m high; hairs yellowish to reddish-brown, simple to symmetrically or asymmetrically dibrachiate; twigs densely pubescent when young, glabrescent with age; leaves densely covered with appressed hairs below, puberulent above, glabrescent with age above and below, elliptic, elliptic-oval, ovate, lanceolate to linear, 0.8-3(-4.7) cm long, 0.2-1.2(-1.5) cm wide, (1.7-)2-6 times as long as wide; apex acute to rounded; base cuneate to rounded; petiole strongly to slightly channeled, densely pubescent when young, glabrescent with age, 1-3 mm long, 0.5-1 mm thick; midvein impressed or not above, prominent below; lateral veins indistinct, or up to about 15 pairs barely visible; marginal veins equalling laterals in prominence; blades brown, yellow-green or grey-green above, paler yellow-brown, tan or grey-green below, membranous to coriaceous, the upper surface usually dull, less often lustrous; peduncles uniflorous (rarely bearing a triflorous dichasium), slightly to strongly flattened, 0.4-1.2 cm long, 0.5-1 mm thick, densely pubescent, solitary or in pairs in the leaf axils; bracteoles ovate to lanceolate, 1.8-4.5 mm long, 1.2-2.5 mm wide, 1.2-2.3 times as long as wide, membranous to subcoriaceous, clasping the hypanthium, densely pubescent without, pubescent or glabrous within; calyx-lobes triangular to ovate, 1.6-4 mm long, 1.3-3.3 mm wide, 0.9-1.6(-1.9) times as long as wide, subcoriaceous, densely pubescent without, densely pubescent over entire inner surface or only distally within; hypanthium densely pubescent, 1-2 mm long; disk 1.5-2 mm across, pubescent; style 5-8 mm long, sparsely pubescent; stamens 130-220, 4-10 mm long; anthers 0.3-0.5 mm long when dry; petals orbicular to slightly elongate, concave, 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter; ovary 2-4-locular; ovules (5-)7-15 per locule; fruit dark grey, pubescent, 3-5 mm in diam.; seeds usually 2-3 per fruit, reniform to round, black 3-4 mm long.

• Discussion

  Eugenia nana [var.] ß congesta Berg is probably conspecific with Eugenia nana [var.] a effusa and therefore is included as a possible synonym. Burret referred Eugenia aprica to Luma and he probably saw the type. Most of what Burret thought to be Luma is now considered to be Myrceugenia. The description of E. aprica fits M. euosma well and it was collected within the range of M. euosma. Therefore it also considered to be a possible synonym.

  Myrceugenia euosma is one of the most xerophytic species of Myrceugenia, and is found from the Araucaria forests of the planalto south to Uruguay and as far west as Paraguay. A map of its distribution is shown in Fig. 18. In Paraguay it sometimes appears quite similar to M. glaucescens.
  Myrceugenia euosma is similar to M. bracteosa and is compared to that species in Key I. It is also compared with M. alpigena var. alpigena in the discussion of that species.
  There are two specimens collected by Glaziou (19366, 19369) at C which have "St. Paul" and "S. Paul" on the labels. Although this probably means São Paulo, it is unlikely that these specimens actually come from the state of São Paulo because there are no other known collections from that state. Otherwise, as far as is known, Myrceugenia euosma grows no farther north than Parana. It flowers from November to February and the fruits seem to mature about 1 year later.
  Certain plants in Santa Catarina and Parana appear to be hybrids between Myrceugenia euosma and M. glaucescens. They are discussed in the section on hybridization.

• Distribution

  Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Sul Brazil South America| Paraguay South America| Uruguay South America| Argentina South America| Misiones Argentina South America|