Nectandra venulosa Meisn.
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Authority
Rohwer, Jens G. 1993. Lauraceae:
. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 60: 1-332. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Brazil. Minas Gerais: Serra do Frio, Diamond Disk, Aug 1840 (ft), Gardner 5149 (lectotype, G-DC, here designated: isolectotypes, B, BM, F, G, GH, K, NY, OXF, P, US).
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Description
Species Description - Trees. Branchlets 5 cm below terminal bud 2.2-2.8(-3.5) mm in diam., initially slightly angular, soon becoming roundish, with moderately short (up to 0.3 mm), curled, appressed to ascending, cupreous hairs, moderately dense to dense immediately below terminal bud, quickly becoming moderately sparse, finally glabrescent; terminal buds elongate, 5.5-6.5 mm long, 1.5-1.8 mm thick, densely covered with moderately short (up to 0.3 mm), straight to ± curled, ± ascending, cupreous hairs. Petioles 7-13 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm thick, ± roundish below, (indistinctly) canaliculate above, indument below ± as on twigs, denser above. Leaves alternate, oblong-lanceolate, widest ± at the middle (1/3-3/5 from the base), 9.5-14.5 cm long, 2.7-3.7 cm wide, 3.4-3.9 times longer than wide, tip acuminate, base attenuate, margin recurved to very narrowly revolute, but the revolute part usually ending before it reaches the petiole, midrib flat to slightly raised in a slight impression above, usually impressed at the base, prominent below, secondary veins level to slightly raised above, prominent below, 7-9 pairs, diverging at 40-60°, in mid-lamina running at an angle of 25-40° to the midrib, tertiary venation mixed, with a small, indistinct percurrent part, ± reticulate, ± level above, scarcely visible, distinctly raised below. Indument consisting mainly of short, appressed hairs, plus a few slightly longer (to ca. 0.3 mm), straight or curled, ascending hairs on veins, apparently very sparse from the beginning above, glabrescent, initially moderately sparse below, becoming sparser, axils of the secondary veins not bearded. Gland dots not visible. Inflorescences in the axils of distal leaves, 0.6-1.3 mm in diam. at the base, on a twig of 1.1-2.8 mm diam., (3-)8-13.5 cm long, reaching ca. 1/3 of the length to almost the length of the subtending leaf; peduncle (1.6-)4-8 cm long, i.e., ca. 1/2-3/5 the length of the inflorescence, lateral branches 0-4 below the terminal cyme, branched 2-3 times, indument on peduncle ± as on twigs, becoming denser and slightly longer closer to the flowers. Pedicels 2.5-5 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm thick. Flowers 6-7.5 mm in diam., tepals ± elongate-elliptic, 2.7-3.2 mm long and 1.5-1.8 mm wide, densely papillose on the inside surface. Stamens ca. 1 mm long including a short but distinct filament of 0.1-0.3 mm (in the outer whorls adnate to the tepals), anthers relatively weakly papillose, in the outer whorls ± pentagonal to ± trullate, with an obtuse to acute sterile tip, in the third whorl ± obtrapeziform to elongate pentagonal, usually broadly obtuse at the tip. Staminodes slightly clavate, reaching ca. 2/5 the length of the stamens, usually glandular on adaxial side, for ca. half their length united with the inner stamens. Pistil ca. 2 mm long, glabrous, ovary ellipsoid, style ± as long as the ovary. Receptacle relatively shallow tot hemispherical, glabrous inside. Fruit unknown.
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Discussion
As Mez correctly noticed, Nectandra venulosa is very close to N. puberula. The only constant difference between the two seems to be a clearly sparser indument on the young twigs in N. venulosa, but several other, more subtle differences help to recognize this species as a distinct entity. Its hairs are longer on the average, especially on the vegetative buds, the secondary veins tend to be raised on the upper leaf surface, whereas they are frequently impressed in N. puberula, they tend to be less curved, their axils are not bearded, the tertiary venation appears to be more reticulate, and the anthers are less papillose and more acute. Still it is questionable whether N. venulosa will remain separable from N. puberula when more material becomes available. In an earlier publication (Rohwer, 1986) I had tentatively placed N. venulosa close to N. nitidula, with which it shares the weak papillosity on the anthers, but not on the tepals. The leaf venation, as well as the indument on twigs, leaves, and inflorescences are also different.
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Distribution
Known only from the two syntypes.
Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America|