Campomanesia aurea O.Berg

• Authority

  Landrum, Leslie R. 1986. Campomanesia, Pimenta, Blepharocalyx, Legrandia, Acca, Myrrhinium, and Luma (Myrtaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 45: 1-178. (Published by NYBG Press)

• Family

  Myrtaceae

• Scientific Name

  Campomanesia aurea O.Berg

• Type

  Type. Brazil & Uruguay.  Frequens in campis in Serra do Tapes et prope villas Rio Pardo et S. Francisco de Paula prov. Rio Grande do Sul, nec non in Montevideo sociatim crescens,  v. in hb. Berol, et Mart., Sellow s.n. (syntype at BR hereby designated as lectotype; isolectotypes, F, K, LE, W; NY neg. 11519 of lectotype).

• Description

  Species Description - Shrub up to ca. 1 m high, essentially glabrous, or minutely puberulent on Calyx-lobes within, bud scales, young twigs and leaves, moderately to strongly glandular; hairs whitish or yellowish, up to ca. 0.2 mm long; young twigs reddish, reddish-brown, or yellowish-brown, often glaucous, glandular, glabrous or minutely puberulent, the hairs less than 0.1 mm long, the bark later becoming grey and somewhat flaky. Leaves oblong, elliptic, ovate, lanceolate, oblanceolate, obovate, rarely suborbicular, 0.8-5.6 cm long, 0.4-3.6 cm wide, 1-3.2 times as long as wide, glabrous or sparsely puberulent at the base; base rounded, cuneate, acute; apex rounded, acute, obtuse, or acuminate; petiole shallowly channeled or unchanneled, 0-3 mm long, 0.3-2 mm wide, sparsely puberulent to glabrous; midvein impressed very little or flat above, prominent below; lateral veins ca. 4-8 pairs, moderately prominent (rarely indistinct), leaving the midvein at an angle of ca. 45 degrees, raised somewhat above and below, the venation brochidodromous, the secondary veins forming a moderately prominent reticulate pattern, the areoles ca. 0.5-1.5 mm across; blades stiffly coriaceous to subcoriaceous at maturity, drying yellow-green to dark reddish-brown. Flowers appearing with adult leaves; peduncles uniflorous, solitary ca. 1-4.5 cm long, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, glabrous, subtended by normal leaves or small leafy bracts; bracteoles linear to elliptic, 14 mm long, 0.3-1 mm wide; Calyx-lobes hemiorbicular, 1-3 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, ca. 0.5-1 times as long as wide, sparsely to densely puberulent within; petals obovate, (4-)7-9 mm long; hypanthium infundibular or campanulate, 2-4 mm long; disk 4-5 mm across, glabrous; stamens ca. 85-200, 7-12 mm long; anthers 0.5-1 mm long; style 5-9 mm long, glabrous; ovary (4-)5-11 -locular; ovules 413 per locule. Fruit 1-1.5 cm in diam., orange when fresh. Seeds ca. 2-5 per fruit, ca. 6-7 mm long including the locular wall.

• Discussion

  Campomanesia aurea is characterized by: being an essentially glabrous shrub of “campos”; flowers that appear when the leaves are mature; secondary veins with areoles ca. 0.5-1.5 mm across; and Calyx-lobes 0.5-1 times as long as wide.

  Campomanesia aurea consists of two varieties that are quite different if one considers only the extremes, but in fact there are many intermediates. I have cited only those specimens that conform well to var. hatschbachii under that taxon and have placed intermediate and doubtful specimens under var. aurea.