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281Willdenowia 40 – 2010
Novitiae florae cubensis No. 34
ELDIS R. BÉCQUER GRANADOS1
Calycogonium bissei, a new melastome (Melastomataceae, Miconieae) from Cuba
Abstract
Bécquer Granados E. R.: Calycogonium bissei, a new melastome (Melastomataceae, Miconieae) from Cuba [Novi-
tiae florae cubensis 34]. – Willdenowia 40: 281 – 284. – Online ISSN 1868-6397; © BGBM Berlin-Dahlem.
doi:10.3372/wi.40.40209 (available via http://dx.doi.org/)
Calycogonium bissei from eastern Cuba is described as a species new to science and illustrated. C. bissei is closely
related to C. revolutum, from which it can be distinguished by its elliptic to lanceolate leaves with two pairs of sec-
ondary veins, inflorescences of 3-flowered dichasia or 4 – 5-flowered fasciculate cymes and non-unguiculate petals.
Additional key words: Calycogonium revolutum, Miconia, Pachyanthus, taxonomy, Greater Antilles
Introduction
Ongoing phylogenetic studies in several genera and spe-
cies groups of Miconieae (Melastomataceae) have dem-
onstrated that most genera in this tribe are not mono-
phyletic. However, there are several well supported clades
that can also be diagnosed by unique morphological
characters (Bécquer-Granados & al. 2008; Michelangeli
& al. 2004, 2008).
During a morphological study of species groups
belonging to those clades and currently assigned to
the genera Calycogonium DC., Miconia Ruiz & Pavón
and Pachyanthus A. Rich., I came across an enigmatic
species collected in La Melba (municipality of Moa,
Province of Holguín, eastern Cuba) that had been identi-
fied as P. oleifolius Griseb., an eastern Cuban endemic
only known from the type gathering made by Charles
Wright in 1861. Comparison with Wright’s type mate-
rial showed that the specimens from La Melba are not
P. oleifolius but represent a still undescribed species,
morphologically similar and likely closely related to C.
revolutum Alain.
Calycogonium revolutum forms a small clade with
Pachyanthus reticulatus Britton & P. Wilson and both are
related to other Calycogonium species, viz. C. plicatum
Griseb., C. floribundum Borhidi and C. grisebachii Tri-
ana (Bécquer-Granados & al. 2008; Michelangeli & al.
2008). These species share the synapomorphy of abaxi-
ally densely stellate-pubescent leaves and their inflores-
cence is sometimes reduced to a single flower (Judd &
Skean 1991). C. revolutum and P. reticulatus also share
the feature of locules extending into the free distal por-
tion of the ovary with the new species.
Considering the difficulty of clarifying the generic
limits within Miconieae and in view of the impossibility
of solving the problem in the near future, the new species
is here included in Calycogonium, in conformity with the
traditional taxonomic position of the species group to
which it is related.
Calycogonium bissei Bécquer, sp. nov.
Holotype: Cuba, Holguín, Moa, Cuchillas de Moa, carre-
tera de Moa a la Melba, 360 m, 20°31.484'N, 75°48.827'W,
24.6.2002, J. D. Skean, E. R. Bécquer-Granados, L. R.
González-Torres & J. Carrión 4275 (HAJB; isotypes:
ALBION, B, HAJB, NY). – Fig. 1.
1 Jardín Botánico Nacional, Universidad de la Habana, Carretera del Rocío km 3½, Calabazar, C.P. 19230, La Habana, Cuba;
e-mail: eb_pachyanthus@yahoo.es
282 Bécquer Granados: Calycogonium bissei from Cuba
Fig. 1. Calycogonium bissei – A: flowering branch; B: flower; C: flower in longitudinal section (apically cut); D: petal; E: filament
and anther in side view, with details of dorsal-apical pore in frontal view. – Scale bars: A = 1.3 cm; B, C, E = 1 mm; D = 5 mm. –
Drawn by the author from the holotype.
283Willdenowia 40 – 2010
A Calycogonio revoluto differt foliis ellipticis vel lanceo-
latis, 2.5 – 6.2 × 1.1 – 2.7 cm metientibus (nec lineari-lan-
ceolatis, magnitudine 2 – 4 × 0.6 – 1 cm), paribus nervium
secundariorum binis, quorum altero suprabasali nam
1 – 5 mm supra basin costae exoriente, supra impressis
subtus prominentibus (nec pari nervorum singulo sub-
basali, c. 1 mm supra basin costae discedente, utrinque
inconspicuo), floribus rite ternis in dichasio vel quaternis
seu quinis in cyma fasciculata (nec plerumque solita-
ris), petalis exunguiculatis, 7 – 8 × c. 4 mm metientibus,
secus marginem integrum parce stellato-pilosis (nec
manifeste unguiculatis, magnitudine 1.7 – 1.8 × c. 1 cm,
glabris).
Shrub 1.5 – 2 m tall, branched, evergreen. Indumentum of
c. 0.1 mm long, stellate hairs present on young twigs,
abaxial leaf surface, inflorescences, flowers and young
fruits. Young twigs usually flattened or 4-angled in dry
material, rusty-tomentose. Mature branches with smooth
bark. Leaves with a petiole 0.6 – 1.5 cm long, terete, ca-
naliculate above, densely rusty, becoming greyish to-
mentose with age; blade elliptic to lanceolate (Fig. 1A),
2.5 – 6.2 × 1.1 – 2.7 cm, coriaceous, obtuse to rounded
and sometimes slightly apiculate, with obtuse to round-
ed base and revolute, entire margin; adaxial face flat,
glabrous, bright green; abaxial face completely covered
with a dense, light brown to rusty indumentum, turning
grey with age; venation acrodromous, with two pairs of
symmetrical (rarely asymmetrical) secondary veins, the
outer pair arising basally, inconspicuous above, slightly
raised beneath, the inner one suprabasal, originating
1 – 5 mm above the base; midveins and secondary veins
impressed above, prominent beneath; tertiary veins in-
conspicuous above, prominulous beneath, ± perpendicu-
lar to the midveins; quaternary veins inconspicuous on
either side; mite domatia absent. Inflorescence terminal,
cymose (Fig. 1A), 2 – 3.5 × c. 1.5 cm; peduncle 0.5 – 2 cm
long; flowers 3( – 5), usually forming a 3-flowered di-
chasium, occasionally a 4 – 5-flowered fasciculate cyme
with paired lateral flowers on either side; the terminal
one subtended by shorter branches 2 – 5 mm long; bracts
persistent through anthesis, later shed, lanceolate to
obovate-lanceolate, sometime foliaceous, 0.5 – 1(– 2) cm
long; bracteoles paired, subulate, c. 2 mm long, early
deciduous. Flowers 4-merous, slightly zygomorphic
(Fig. 1B), the pedicel 1 – 2 mm long; hypanthium tur-
binate to campanulate, terete to slightly 8-ridged, c.
4 mm long, free portions of hypanthia c. 2 mm long,
densely rusty-tomentose outside, slightly ridged and
rusty-tomentose along the ridges within (Fig. 1C); calyx
cup-shaped, with a c. 2 mm long tube; external calyx
teeth c. 2 mm long, keeled at base, terete toward the
obtuse apex, patent, densely rusty-tomentose, internal
calyx lobes broadly triangular, 2.3 – 2.5 mm long, gla-
brous inside, ferrugineo-pubescent in the sinuses; petals
white, not unguiculate, obovate, distally oblique, blunt,
emarginate or notched, with a cuneate base, 7 – 8 × c.
4 mm; margin entire, with a loose fringe of stellate hairs
(Fig. 1D), densely papillose on both faces; stamens 8,
isomorphic, glabrous, deflexed to one side of flower at
anthesis; filaments 5 – 6 mm long, flattened, geniculate
at the base, white; anthers pinkish purple, 4 – 5 mm long,
smooth; connective thickened toward base, thinning out
toward apex, slightly projecting below the thecae and
forming a pedestal, not bifurcate, elandular; thecae 2,
slightly wrinkled, entire at base, with a dorsal-apical
pore (Fig. 1E); ovary semi-inferior, 2-locular, apically
lobulate, densely rusty-pubescent; locules extending
into the free, conical distal portion (Fig. 1C); placenta-
tion axile, placentae not intrusive; style terete, attenu-
ate apically, glabrous, c. 5 mm long, deflexed; stigma
punctiform. Berries not seen, immature fruit with > 50
c. 1 mm long seeds.
Etymology. — The epithet it is dedicated to Prof. Dr Jo-
hannes Bisse, eminent German botanist, founder of the
National Botanical Garden of Havana and Professor of
Botany at the Faculty of Biology at Havana University,
who dedicated his life to the education of several genera-
tions of Cuban botanists.
Delimitation. — Calycogonium bissei can be distin-
guished from C. revolutum by its elliptic to lanceolate
leaves measuring 2.5 – 6.2 × 1.1 – 2.7 cm (versus linear-
lanceolate and 2 – 4 × 0.6 – 1 cm in C. revolutum) with two
pairs of secondary veins, the second pair suprabasal, aris-
ing 1 – 5 mm above the base, impressed above and promi-
nent below (versus with a single pair of secondary veins
arising c. 1 mm above the base, inconspicuous on both
faces in C. revolutum), usually 3-flowered dichasia or
4 – 5-flowered fasciculate cymes (versus usually solitary
flowers in C. revolutum), not unguiculate, obovate petals
measuring 7 – 8 × c. 4 mm, with a fringe of scattered stel-
late hairs along the entire margin (versus conspicuously
unguiculate, glabrous petals of 1.7 – 1.8 × c. 1 cm in C.
revolutum).
Phenology. — Not much is known about the exact flow-
ering period. Plants with buds, flowers and very young
fruits have been collected in May and June; material with
immature fruits has been collected also in December.
Distribution and habitat. — Calycogonium bissei is
endemic to eastern Cuba (provinces of Holguín and
Guantánamo), where it occurs in ± thorny xerophytic
scrub and semidry montane rainforest on serpentine, at
altitudes between 300 and 800 m. Associated species in-
clude C. grisebachii Triana, Henriettea acunae (Alain)
Alain, Miconia baracoensis Urb., M. uninervis Alain, Os-
saea moaensis Alain, Lyonia lippoldii Berazaín, Odon-
tosoria scandens (Desv.) C. Chr., Ouratea revoluta (C.
Wright) Engl., Sticherus bifidus (Willd.) Ching, Bonnetia
cubensis (Britton) Howard, Euphorbia helenae Urb. and
E. munizii Borhidi.
284 Bécquer Granados: Calycogonium bissei from Cuba
Additional specimens examined. — Cuba: Prov. Guan-
tánamo: Baracoa, altiplano de la Mina Iberia, 600 –
700 m, monte nublado, 3.1968, Bisse & Köhler HFC
6187, 6199 (HAJB, JE); Baracoa, Sta. María, charrascos
y pluvisilva de montaña en el altiplano de la Mina Iberia,
700 m, 4.1975, Areces & al. HFC 25641 (HAJB); Bara-
coa, Sta. María, altiplano de la Mina de Iberia, orillas del
arroyo Iberia cerca del viejo campamento de mineros”,
650 m, 4.1975, Areces & al. HFC 25691 (HAJB); Loma
de Buena Vista, parte oeste, 500 – 600 m, 12.8.1975, Ál-
varez & al. HFC 27352 (B, HAJB, JE); Baracoa, Meseta
de la Iberia, 700 – 800 m, charrascales, suelo ferralítico
con perdigones de hierro, 28.3.2009, Bécquer & al. HFC
85484 (HAJB). — Prov. Holguín: Moa, pluvisilva de
montaña cerca de Mina Delta, 700 m, 6.1967, Bisse &
Rojas HFC 3158 (HAJB, JE); Moa, La Melba, charrascal
cerca del aserrío, 400 – 500 m, 3.1968, Bisse & Köhler
HFC 7434 (HAJB, JE); Moa, charrascales en el altiplano
de la Sierra de Moa, 600 – 900 m, monte nublado, 3.1968,
Bisse & Köhler HFC 7106 (HAJB, JE), 7.1.1969, Bisse
& Lippold HFC 12131 (HAJB, JE); Moa, La Melba, plu-
visilva de montaña cerca del aserrío, 500 m, 27.12.1968,
Bisse & Lippold HFC 11538, 11650 (HAJB, JE); Moa,
zona al este del Km 18 de la carretera de La Melba,
400 – 500 m, 6.5.1980, Bisse & al. HFC 42878 (B, HAJB,
JE); Moa, en el camino del aserrío La Melba, pluvisilva
especial con Bonnetia cubensis degradada, 20.1.1988,
Berazaín & al. HFC 63284 (HAJB); Moa, subida al
Alto de Calinga por el camino del norte, 800 – 1000 m,
4.5.1980, Bisse & al. HFC 42733 (B, HAJB, JE); Moa, 2
km al este de Caimanes Abajo, 1.4.1988, Claro & al. HFC
63597 (HAJB); Sierra de la Iberia, Taco bay, 11.4.1960,
L. Figueiras VO-613 (HAC, HAJB); Alto de la Iberia,
700 m, 23.3.1970, Borhidi & al. SV-40018 (HAC).
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the New York Botanical Garden, espe-
cially Dr Fabián Michelangeli, for support during my
stay at that institution. I also thank the herbarium cura-
tors of B, GH, GOET, HAC, JE, NY and S for loans of
Pachyanthus and Calycogonium material. Special thanks
go to Dr Dan Skean for his support in the expeditions to E
Cuba in 2002. I am indebted to Dr Rosalina Berazaín and
Dr Rosa Rankin, Jardín Botánico Nacional de Cuba, for
the revision of the manuscript, to Prof Dr Werner Greuter
for translating the diagnosis into Latin, and to the latter,
Dr Hermann Manitz and an anonymous reviewer for their
improvements of a previous version.
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