Mecranium integrifolium subsp. neibense (Skean) Skean

Description

Description Author and Date: James D. Skean, Jr., January 2011, based on Skean, J. D., Jr. 1993. Monograph of Mecranium (Melastomataceae-Miconieae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 39: 1-116.

Type: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Independencia: Sierra de Neiba, along the Carretera Internacional near the Haitian border, 30.6 km N of La Descubierta, broad-leaved cloud forest, 1615 m, 30 May 1986, fl, Skean 1826 (holotype: FLAS!; isotypes: A! BR! F! JBSD! MO! NY! S! US!).

Description: Shrub or small tree with leaves usually visibly toothed, the teeth 0.17-0.32 mm high, usually thickened at their apices. Leaf blade 0.1-0.2 mm thick, membranaceous or coriaceous; abaxial surface with persistent tufts of hairs in axils at junction of midvein and largest pair of secondary veins, smallest veinlets flat in dried material (viewed at 20x or higher magnification). Fig. 29.

Habitat and Distribution: Hispaniola: broad-leaved cloud forests in the Cordillera Central-Massif du Nord and Sierra de Neiba-Massif des Cahos; 700-2000 m. See Skean (1987) for a list of associated species. (Fig. 28).

Taxonomy and Systematics: Mecranium integrifolium subsp. neibense is endemic to Hispaniola where populations occur in the Cordillera Central-Massif du Nord and Sierra de Neiba-Massif des Cahos. The populations of these two mountain ranges are morphologically distinct from each other. In the Sierra de Neiba-Massif des Cahos this taxon occurs at elevations of 1500-2000 m, and the plants have twigs that are pubescent along their internodal grooves. On the other hand, populations from the Cordillera Central-Massif du Nord occur at lower elevations (700-1425 m) and have glabrous twigs. It is likely that further collecting will reveal populations from the lower elevations of the Sierra de Neiba that have glabrous twigs as well as populations from the higher elevations of the Cordillera Central-Massif du Nord that have pubescent twigs. Similar elevational variation is seen in populations of M. integrifolium subsp. integrifolium from the Sierra Maestra of Cuba. The phenetic distinctness and superficial similarity of the Sierra de Neiba plants to M. puberulum, a species of the Cordillera Central, led me originally to recognize the plants from the Sierra de Neiba as a distinct species, M. neibense (Skean 1987).

Notes: See additional information: Mecranium integrifolium (Naudin) Triana