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Family:

Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Description Author and Date: Description from Judd, Walter S. & Penneys, Darin S. 2004. Taxonomic studies in the Miconieae (Melastomataceae). VIII. A revision of the species of the Miconia desportesii complex on Hispaniola. Rhodora. 106: 124-147.

Type: CUBA. Prov. Oriente. Sierra Maestra, J. J. Linden 2002 (Holotype: presumably at BR, not seen). Figure 5.

Description: Shrub to 6 m tall. Indumentum of multicellular, ferrugineous to whitish, roughened-granular, sessile to stalked, globular-stellate to dendritic, or elongate-branched hairs, often matted and disintegrating with age, and minute globular hairs. Young twigs rectangular in cross section, with two opposing faces slightly concave (i.e., those positioned above point of petiole attachment of adjacent proximal node) and the alternate faces slightly convex, 1-3.5 mm wide, becoming ± quadrangular with age, the indumentum of moderate to sparse multicellular, elongate-branched, irregularly stellate, dendritic, to globular stellate hairs, these roughened-granular (due to bulging to papillae-like, thin-walled cells), and minute globular hairs, the hairs often becoming matted and disintegrating, and stems only sparsely pubescent with age; internodes 1-5.7 cm long. Leaves opposite, slightly anisophyllous, with petiole 6-18 mm long, the indumentum very sparse to moderate, similar to that of twigs; blade broadly to narrowly elliptic, or slightly ovate, or obovate, 3.4-14.5 x 1.7-6.2 cm, flat to V-shaped, membranous to slightly coriaceous, the apex acuminate to long-acuminate, rarely acute, the base acute, obtuse, to rounded, the margin distinctly serrate, nearly throughout (ca. proximal 0-10% of margin entire), plane, the largest teeth to 0.3-0.97 mm, most narrowed to a slender apical portion having the form of a seta; venation acrodromous, basal to suprabasal, with prominent midvein and 2 pairs of secondary veins, with 1 pair of conspicuous secondary veins placed 3-14 mm in from margin and a second pair of inconspicuous secondary veins placed 0.5-2.4 mm in from margin, these often ± intramarginal, and rarely with an additional, partial, intramarginal outermost pair of veins, but these disappearing toward leaf base (or becoming composed on obviously inter-linked tertiary veins), and numerous percurrent tertiary veins oriented subperpendicular to midvein, the tertiary veins usually connected by quaternary veins but sometimes separated by variously developed composite-intertertiary veins; adaxial surface green, the indumentum essentially lacking, but with some ferrugineous to whitish, ± stellate to dendritic, roughened and often disintegrating hairs along midvein and major secondary veins, and with minute globular to short-armed hairs even on lamina, but these deciduous with age, the midvein through quaternary veins flat to moderately impressed, the surface minutely wrinkled when dry, with scattered minute “papillae” due to presence of druse crystals; abaxial surface light green, moderately to very sparsely covered with minute globular hairs, with a few to numerous roughened and often disintegrating, ± obscurely stellate to dendritic hairs on midvein and secondary veins, but these often deciduous, the midvein and secondary veins prominently to slightly raised, tertiary and quaternary veins slightly raised to flat, all other veins ± flat; sometimes with pouch-domatia at junction of major secondary veins and midvein. Inflorescences terminal, many flowered, paniculate to racemose cymes of 3 to 8 major branch pairs, 2.5-8 cm long, 1.6-6.7 cm across; proximal segment of lowermost inflorescence branches 0.4-3 cm long, distal internodes increasingly shorter, ultimate branches 0.8-1.7 mm, and flowers not in glomerules, with sparse to moderate hairs similar to those of the twigs; peduncle 1.1-3 (-6) cm long, with similar indumentum; each inflorescence branch associated with deciduous, narrowly elliptic to obovate bract, 2-7.3 x 0.5-2.5 mm, the apex acute; flowers in dichasia, each subtended by 2 caducous, ± narrowly elliptic, ± linear, or narrowly obovate bracteoles 1-3 x 0.3-0.65 mm, the indumentum of irregularly branched hairs along margin, the apex acute to acuminate; the lowermost inflorescence branches sometimes in the axils of leaves. Flowers nearly sessile to distinctly pedicellate, the pedicel 0.15-0.65 mm long. Hypanthium cylindrical-orbicular, free portion 0.5-1.12 mm long, the outer surface with ± sparse, ferrugineous, minute-globular to irregularly short-branched hairs, the inner surface with scattered minute globular hairs, especially toward rim, slightly ridged, due to extensions of partitions dividing lower portion of space between hypanthium and gynoecium into 10 pockets, into which fit the anthers (when reflexed, in bud). External calyx teeth 5, 0.15-0.4 x 0.8-1.4 mm, triangular, with acuminate apex, ± glabrous; internal calyx lobes 5, 0.3-0.4 x 0.8-1.4 mm, triangular, pale green, glabrous, the apex obtuse to rounded or truncate, the margin entire to minutely erose; calyx tube 0.1-0.47 mm long. Petals 5, ± broadly elliptic, 1.75-2.45 x 1.45-1.75 mm, glabrous, white, imbricate and apically interlocking in bud, with apex rounded, with an asymmetrically located notch; margin entire. Stamens 10, geniculate, white, glabrous; proximal portion 1.5-1.85 mm long; distal segment (anther and distal portion of filament) 1.8-2.4 mm long, the anther 1.25-1.6 mm long,

Habitat and Distribution: Miconia tetrastoma is restricted to Cuba, where it occurs in the Sierra Maestra (Leon and Alain 1957), and Hispaniola, where it occurs in the Cordillera Central/Massif du Nord, Massif de la Selle/Sierra de Baoruco, and Massif de la Hotte (Figure 6), in cloud forests and moist montane forests, moist forest on limestone, and moist forests of Pinus occidentalis, from (800-) 1100-2219 m. Associated species of Melastomataceae include Calycogonium torbecianum Urb. & Ekman, Clidemia umbellata (Mill.) L. O. Wms., Conostegia affinis Urb., C. icosandra (Sw.) Urb., Henriettea barkeri (Urb. & Ekman) Alain, Leandra lima (Desr.) Judd & Skean, L. limoides (Urb.) Judd & Skean, Mecranium amygdalinum (Desr.) C. Wr. in Sauv., M. birimosum (Naud.) Triana, M. multiflorum (Desr.) Triana, M. ovatum Cogn., M. puberulum Cogn., M. revolutum Skean & Judd, Meriania brevipedunculata Judd & Skean, M. involucrata (Desr.) Naud., M. parvifolia Judd & Skean, Miconia barkeri Urb. & Ekman M. dielsiana Urb., M. domingensis Cogn., M. favosa (Desr.) Naud., Miconia howardiana Judd, V. T. Salzm., & Skean, M. hypiodes Urb. & Ekman, M. mirabilis (Aubl.) L. O. Wms., M. lanceolata (Desr.) DC., M. punctata (Desr.) D. Don, M. subcompressa Urb., M. xenotricha Urb. & Ekman, Sagraea curvipila (Urb. & Ekman) Alain, S. oligantha (Urb.) Alain, S. scalpta (Vent.) Naud., and Tetrazygia crotonifolia (Desr.) DC. Moist forest associates are very diverse; for a listing of characteristic species of the forests of the Massif de la Hotte see Judd (1987) and Judd et al. (1990, 1998), for the forests of Barbacoa-Casabito region see Mejía et al. (2000) and García et al. (1994), and for a general analysis of the vegetation of Hispaniola see Hager and Zanoni (1993) and Ciferri (1936).

Taxonomy and Systematics: Miconia tetrastoma is phenetically distinctive because of its unusual branched hairs on the stems, inflorescence axes, and leaves, which have a distinctive granular surface texture due to the presence of numerous bulging, thin-walled cells. The species also has distinctive 4-pored anthers, and its flowers are not in dense glomerules. The leaves are immediately separable from other species of section Cremanium on Hispaniola because of acuminate to long-acuminate apices. Miconia tetrastoma occurs at lower elevations, in a wider variety of habitats, and is more widespread (Figure 6) than any other species of section Cremanium in Hispaniola.