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| Carpotroche caceresiae D. Santam., in Santamaría-Aguilar, Coronado, Liesner & Monro, 2021. |
Abstract
Carpotroche caceresiae, a newly delimited species from the Caribbean drainage of Honduras and Nicaragua, is described and illustrated and its extinction threat assessed as Near Threatened (NT) according to IUCN criteria. Carpotroche caceresiae has previously been confused with C. platyptera, a species characterized by a densely pubescent lower leaf surface and red fruits lacking crests between the wings; in contrast, C. caceresiae has sparsely pubescent lower leaf surface and green fruits with crests between the wings. Carpotroche crassiramea and C. glaucescens, typified with Costa Rican material, and hitherto included in the synonymy of C. platyptera, are treated here as distinct morphological identities; a list of the specimens examined and referred to these names are provided.
Keywords: Carpotroche platyptera, Flacourtiaceae, Herbaria, Malphigiales, Mesoamerica, Taxonomy, Ecuador
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| Carpotroche caceresiae D. Santam. A, hermaphrodite flowers; B, branch with hermaphrodite flower and fruits, insent stem and fruits). Carpotroche longifolia Benth. C, hermaphrodite flowers; D, flowers on the stem; E, fruits showing conspicuously lacerated wings. Images by Indiana Coronado (A–B, from I. Coronado and A. Fernández 4408, B inset from I. Coronado and A. Fernández 4736-A); and Robin Foster (C–E). |
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| . Carpotroche caceresiae D. Santam. A, leaf and margin detail; B, fruits. Illustration by Isler. F. Chinchilla, A from a image of the specimen I. Coronado et al. 1953 (MO); B of photography I. Coronado et al. 4636. |
Carpotroche caceresiae D. Santam., sp. nov.
This new species is morphologically similar to
Carpotroche longifolia (Poepp.) Benth. with respect to its
whitish to greenish fruits that are longitudinally winged
and possessing numerous crests between the wings, and
the leaves, whose abaxial surface is short-pubescent.
Carpotroche caceresiae can be distinguished from C.
longifolia by the wings of the fruit having an entire or
weakly sinuate margin (vs. deeply lacerate).
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| Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores (1971–2016). Courtesy by Michelle Meola. |
Eponymy: This species is named in memory and
recognition of the bravery of Berta Isabel Cáceres
Flores (1971–2016), one of 123 environmental activists
assassinated in retaliation for their opposition to
environmental destruction and loss of indigenous land in
Honduras, between 2009 and 2016 (Global Witness, 2017).
Berta Cáceres (Fig. 7), in particular, was murdered because
of her opposition to the Agua Zarcas hydroelectric project.
She won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015.
Daniel Santamaría-Aguilar, Indiana M. Coronado, Ronald L. Liesner and Alexandre K. Monro. 2021. A New Species of Carpotroche (Achariaceae) from Honduras and Nicaragua. Harvard Papers in Botany. 26(2); 455–469. DOI: 10.3100/hpib.v26iss2.2021.n12
