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Family:

Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 98: 37. 2005

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Paratype -- B. Maguire
Specimen 2: Paratype -- K. D. Phelps

Description:

Description Author and Date: Fabian A. Michelangeli, January 2010, based on Michelangeli, F. A. (2005). Tococa (Melastomataceae). Flora Neotropica Monographs 98: 1-114.

Type: Venezuela. Amazonas: Cerro Yutajé, Río Manapiare, occasional on rocky slopes and cliffs below summit, alt. 2000-2100 m; 17-19 Feb 1953, Maguire, B. 35309 (holotype NY; isotypes F, K, U, US, VEN).

Nomenclature remarks: Nomen novum. Replaced name: Tococa bolivarensis subsp. occidentalis Wurdack, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 10: 45. 1961. Not Tococa occidentalis Naudin.

Description: Subprostrate to procumbent shrub, to 1.0-1.5 m tall, the branches up to 2.5 m long, with adventitious roots, 1-7 cm long, developing on the portions closer to the ground. Stems and nodes glabrous. Petioles 0.3-1.0 cm long, glabrous. Leaves isophyllous, elliptic to ovate, 1.5-7 x 1.0-3.2 cm, apex broadly acute to obtuse, base acute to obtuse, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface sparsely hirsute, hirsute on the primary and secondary veins, light green, with 1(-2) pairs of secondary veins, basally nervate, the tertiary veins not evident, coriaceous, entire, addressed ciliate, sometimes revolute; domatia absent. Inflorescence a terminal cyme of 2 to 4 flowers, 1-3 cm long, the axis dark red to magenta, terete. Flowers on pedicels 1-3 mm long, flared at the apex, subtended by persistent until anthesis bracts, elliptic, glandular setulose, 0.7-1.3 x 0.3 mm; hypanthium globose, with the base as wide as the pedicel, 4.4-5.0 mm long, glabrous; sepals deltoid, fused at the base, 1.0-1.5 mm long, calyx teeth reduced and inconspicuous, sometimes with a short apical glandular seta or a sessile gland, sparsely glandular pubescent, 0.2 mm long; the ring inside the torus glabrous. Petals 5, obovate, 6.5-11 x 5.0-6.5 mm, base attenuate, apex emarginated, slightly pruinosus, glabrous, red to dark pink. Stamens all of the same size, the filaments 5-6 mm long, glabrous; anthers yellow; the connective with a dorsal-basal blunt tooth; thecae 5 mm long, opening by a slightly ventrally inclined pore. Ovary 3-locular, 1/3 inferior, the superior portion terete, the apex truncate; style glabrous, 12-14 mm long; stigma truncate. Fruits globose, 4.5-6 mm long, black, glabrous, with the calyx persistent and slightly reflexed. The seeds not evident through the pericarp, truncate-obovate, 0.4-0.5 mm long, without capitate trichomes in the raphal area, without sculpturing, anticlinal walls straight, periclinal walls flat, boundaries between periclinal walls flat. Chromosome number n= unknown.

Habitat and Distribution: Endemic to the summit of the W Bolívar State and Amazonas State in S Venezuela. Common on montane forests and tepui scrub vegetation from 1700 to 2200 m.

Taxonomy and Systematics: Tococa raggiana was segregated from T. bolivarensis because their distributions are allopatric and the character combinations on both taxa are unique and such that allows for an easy differentiation between them. Tococa raggiana was originally described by Wurdack (1961) as T. bolivarensis subsp. occidentalis, because although vegetatively distinguishable from the typical form of T. bolivarensis, its flowers and fruits are very similar. Tococa raggiana can be differentiated from T. bolivarensis because the former has glabrous stems, adaxial leaf surfaces and hypanthia. Additionally, T. raggiana leaf margins, although ciliate, have adpressed caducous trichomes, thus, the ciliate condition is not always evident. A recent morphological analysis of the entire genus Tococa (Michelangeli, 2000a) that included T. raggiana (as T. bolivarensis subsp. occidentalis) and T. bolivarensis, did not resolve them as sister taxa. All of the collections examined, as well as populations observed in the field, exhibit a great degree of variation on leaf size and shape, although species growing at higher elevations tend to have smaller leaves. Tococa raggiana is named in honor of the Raggi family, owners of the Yutajé Camp at the foot of Cerro Yutajé, for their support to various generations of researchers in the Manapiare river basin and on the surrounding tepuis. The name T. occidentalis was not used since it had been previously assigned to another taxon (T. occidentalis Naudin).

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Tococa raggiana (Wurdack) Michelang.: [Article] Michelangeli, Fabián A. 2005. (Melastomataceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 98: 1-114.