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| Tovomita cornuta Demarchi & L. Marinho, in Demarchi, Piedade et Marinho, 2021. |
ABSTRACT
High species diversity, large area, and taxonomically under-studied groups are some of the explanations for the frequent discovery of new species of plants during ecological field campaigns in the Amazon region. Some of these new species are already being threatened from unplanned urban expansion associated with deforestation and habitat loss. Here we describe Tovomita cornuta, a new species discovered during ecological studies in the white-sand campinaranas of the Amazon, which is also threatened. The species is endemic to the state of Amazonas, Brazil, where it occurs in the understory of forested campinaranas physiognomies and is easily recognized by its narrowly obovoid fruits with dilated free styles. We provide a description, taxonomic and ecological comments, assessment of conservation status, geographic distribution, phenology, and illustrations for the new species.
Keywords: Central Amazonia; conservation; IUCN Red List; new species; sampling gaps; threatened species; Tovomita; white-sand vegetation
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| Tovomita cornuta Demarchi & L. Marinho A. Branch with staminate inflorescence. B. Leaf abaxial surface. C. Staminate floral bud. D. Staminate flower. E. Stamen with detail of anther. F. Staminodes detail in the pistillate flower (from floral bud), sepals and petals removed. G. Pistillate flower. H. Style (from pistillate floral bud). I. Branch with closed fruits. J. Closed fruit. (A-E from L.O. Demarchi 1558; F-G from W. Thomas et al. 5330; H from L.O. Demarchi & Andriolli 1691; I-J from L.O. Demarchi 1674). Illustration by Marcos Melo Corrêa. |
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| Tovomita cornuta Demarchi & L. Marinho, live plants. A. Staminate inflorescence with senescent stamens. B. Staminate flower, top view of the pistillode in detail (arrow). C. Pistillate inflorescence with floral buds, flower, and immature fruits (arrow). D. Pistillate 5-branched pleiochasium with immature fruits. E. Closed fruit, arrow pointing to the yellow exudate. F. Open fruit, lateral view. Photos by Layon O. Demarchi. (A from L.O. Demarchi 1558; B from L.O. Demarchi 1599; C from L.O. Demarchi 1692; D from L.O. Demarchi 1691; E-F from L.O. Demarchi 1674). |
Tovomita cornuta Demarchi & L. Marinho, sp. nov.
Tovomita cornuta can be differentiated from T. umbellata Benth. by the number of secondary veins (25-28 pairs vs. 10-15 in T. umbellata) and by the narrowly obovoid fruit with dilated styles (vs. pyriform with non-dilated styles in T. umbellata), from T. amazonica (Poepp.) Walp. by the number of secondary veins (25-28 vs. 13-18 in T. amazonica), floral bud length (3-4.3 vs. 5-7 mm long in T. amazonica), and fruit epicarp (smooth vs. rugose in T. amazonica).
Distribution: Tovomita cornuta is presumably endemic to the state of Amazonas, Brazil, with occurrence records in the region of Manaus and the neighboring municipalities of Presidente Figueiredo and São Sebastião do Uatumã (Fig. 3A).
Habitat and ecology: All known specimens were collected in white-sand forests (campinarana) (Fig. 3C). The species occurs in the understory in dense phytophysiognomies with a shallow water table that forms small “puddles” during the wet season (Fig. 3D), and does not occur in open areas with direct sunlight.
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the conspicuously prominent styles observed on the fruit. It is derived from the Latin word cornu, which means horn.
Layon Oreste Demarchi, Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade and Lucas Cardoso Marinho. 2021. Tovomita cornuta (Clusiaceae): A New and Threatened Species from the Amazonian campinaranas revealed by Ecological Field Research. Acta Bot. Bras. 35(4); DOI: 10.1590/0102-33062020abb0483
