Sauvagesia ribeiroi Harley & Giul.

Harley, R., Giulietti, A., & Leite, K. (2005). Two New Species and a New Record of Sauvagesia (Ochnaceae) in the Chapada Diamantina of Bahia, Brazil. Kew Bulletin, 60(4), 571-580. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25070243

Type

Brazil, Bahia, Mucugê, Harley, Giulietti, Ribeiro & Oliveira 54477 (holotypus HUEFS; isotypus K).

Morphology General Habit

Erect, spindly, glabrous shrub 0.6-1 m high

Morphology Stem

Stems leafless below, dark brown, terete, c. 2 - 3 mm in diam., slightly roughened with persistent remains of petiole-base, branched above, and densely clothed with almost acicular leaves

Morphology Leaves

Leaf lamina (8 -) 12-19 x 0.7 - 1.3 mm, rigid, glossy, green, often appearing slightly grey-green when fresh, epidermis on both surfaces with thickened cuticle, with apex acicular, bearing hydathode, and base narrow, margin slightly involute when dry, almost imperceptibly crenate with slight indentation every 3-5 mm along each margin, the base of each sinus bearing a small, deep reddish conical gland; petiole pale, < 0.5mm long, stipules erect, finally deciduous, appressed to stem, deeply pectinate, with base slightly castaneous, laciniae 2-3 mm long, rigid, whitish

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence short, dense, terminal or subterminal, umbelliform (but perhaps formed from a series of short, axillary, reduced, uniflorous, fascicular branches) ; flowers spreading or slightly nodding, borne singly from the axils of the upper leaves, with bracts small, inconspicuous, pedicel 10-16 mm long, jointed c. 1 mm from the base, arcuate, deeply vinaceous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Sepals 5, imbricate, c. 3.5 x 1.5 mm long, lanceolate-deltate, broad-based and with long-acuminate apex, dark-vinaceous, often tinged greenish, with paler, sub-parallel venation, margin transparent with 1-3 elongate, reddish glands on each side

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals 5, with contorted aestivation, c. 13 x 6.5 mm, elliptic-obovate, slightly narrowed towards base and with apex usually acute with margins slightly involute above, petals erect to eventually spreading widely, deep pink; outer staminodal whorl absent, the inner whorl united, external to stamens, 8 mm long, narrowly conical, pale pink with apex truncate, entire, erect, whitish

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens 5, included within inner staminodal whorl, free, basifixed with very short, thick filament, anthers introrse, tetrasporangiate, dithecous, elongate, c. 3.2 mm long, apiculate, whitish

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium

Gynoecium c. 9 mm long, pale pink, ovary weakly trilobed, tapering gradually above into the slender, subulate style, which projects about 1 mm from mouth of inner staminodal whorl, stigmatic surface apical, minute, placentation parietal

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit capsular, up to 13 mm long, with persistent sepals, dark brown, ovoid, with long acuminate apex, dehiscing from apex almost to base, into 3 valves, each with a long, recurved, acuminate apex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds pale brown, glabrous, 1.5 mm long, narrowly obovoid with rounded apex, beautifully punctulate with darker brown dots and a dark line down one side of seed.

Distribution

South America: Brazil.

Ecology

Open sandy areas, often temporarily flooded.

Conservation

IUCN Red Book Data Category: Endangered, based on inferred population size and extent of occurrence (IUCN 2001).

Note

Sauvagesia ribeiroi can be distinguished from the other species of this subsection, mentioned here, by its longer, subsessile leaves, with lamina up to 19 mm long, with a weakly and shallowly crenate, sometimes involute margin and with a reddish gland in each sinus between crenulae. The inner staminodal whorl is truncate and not involute at the apex as in S. semicylindrifolia. From S. oliveiroi it can also be distinguished by its larger, more open, not campanulate nor nodding flowers, with the inner staminodal whorl c. 8 mm long, and from S. semicylindrifolia, to which it is most similar, also by the much shorter petiole and other anatomical characters. The leaves of Borba et al. 1801 and Giulietti et al. CFCR 1272 are slightly shorter and less spreading than in the type collection, but possess the glandular crenate margin, also the glands on the sepal margins are less conspicuous in Borba et al. 1801. S. ribeiroi has a distribution distinct from that of S. semicylindrifolia. While the latter is more widespread, especially in the western Chapada, extending eastwards to Lençois in the North, the former is restricted to the SE portion of the Chapada, from Mucugê to Barra da Estiva.