Dinizia jueirana-facao
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| GP Lewis & GSSiqueira |
Dinizia jueirana-facao is a species of tree in the legume family from the subfamily of the mimosa family. The species was only discovered and newly described in 2017. It is only known from two locations in the Atlantic rainforest in southeastern Brazil and is considered to be critically endangered immediately after its discovery.
features
Dinizia jueirana-facao is a forest tree species with heights of growth of 19 to 40 meters, with a chest height diameter of up to 1.56 m. Old trees have a crown diameter of 10 to 20 meters, the trunk only branches at a height of 10 to 22 meters, it does not form buttress roots . The bark is gray-brown and dissolves in coarse, plate-like scales, the plant has a clear, milky sap .
The leaves are arranged alternately to spirally. They are bipinnate with a total length of 35 to 96 centimeters (rarely a little less), including the 5.5 to 10 centimeter long petiole. The leaves are glandless and without stipules . The leaf stalk and the leaf spindle ( rachis ) are furrowed on the upper side. There are about 15 to 19 first-order leaflets, which are alternately or almost opposite to each other on the leaf spindle, the size of which decreases towards the base and tip of the leaf. These are each divided into approx. 15 to 23 sitting leaflets, these are rhombic and asymmetrical, with the distal side wider, somewhat leathery and bare.
The terminal inflorescence is a large, upright, multi-flowered and dense cluster , which often sit in twos or more on a common, woody and long, hairy stalk and protrude prominently from the foliage. The rust-brown color of the stem contrasts with the light flower color. The individual grapes reach approx. 28 to 35 centimeters in length by 3 to 4.5 centimeters in width and each bear hundreds of individual flowers. The hermaphroditic flowers with a double flower envelope are bright yellow in color. They are 8.5 to 10 millimeters long. The bell-shaped, somewhat leathery calyx has five short and pointed calyx tips and is hairy with felt hair. The free, somewhat roof-shaped petals sit on the edge of the bowl-like flower cup , they are 5.5 to 7 millimeters long and 3 to 3.5 millimeters wide. The slightly turned back, ciliate petals are bare on the inside and covered with white hair on the outside. The ten free stamens are arranged in two circles. The medium-sized, short-stalked and elongated ovary wearing a short style with a tubed scar .
The saber- to sickle-shaped, smooth, bare, quite wide legumes lignify with thickened seams. They are yellowish when unripe, dark brown to black when ripe and reach a length of 40 to 46 centimeters. They contain 13–15 hard, black and 2.5–3 cm large seeds without a pleurogram.
Flowering time and time of fruit ripening are hardly known for this species and may be irregular. Blooming trees have so far been registered in July and October.
Dinizia jueirana-facao differs from its much more widespread sister species, the larger Dinizia excelsa, among other things, in the higher number of leaflets on the leaves, the noticeably longer inflorescence, the larger single flowers and the longer, woody fruits when ripe.
Distribution and location
The species is only known from two growing locations, both of which are located in the state of Espírito Santo in southeastern Brazil. The distribution area is far from the known distribution of the sister species Dinizia excelsa and is separated from it by several hundred kilometers. One place of growth is within the Vale reserve in Linhares in the north of the federal state, the other close by outside of it, in the hamlet of Santa Luzia Sooretama. The tree belongs to the dominant tree layer or protrudes beyond it as an overhang . It is a deciduous Atlantic rainforest, which was once widespread along the Brazilian Atlantic coast, but is now highly endangered and melted into relic stocks, mostly in protected areas.
The occurrence within the reserve consists of only 12 trees, which are interspersed in a forest area of 43 hectares. The population outside is just as small. This means that fewer than 25 individual mature trees of this new species are known. According to the IUCN criteria, the species must be classified as critically endangered. The protected area with a forest area totaling around 22,000 hectares has the largest remaining population of the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil.
The area within the protected area in which the tree occurs is owned by the mining company Vale and is therefore also endangered in the long term, as it is known that protected areas in Brazil could also be revoked at the urging of influential economic interests.
Literature and Sources
- GP Lewis, GS Siqueira, H. Banks, A. Bruneau: The majestic canopy-emergent genus Dinizia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), including a new species endemic to the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. In: Kew Bulletin. 72, 2017, 48, doi: 10.1007 / s12225-017-9720-7 . (open access)
Web links
- Top 10 new species 2018 , by Eleanor Imster at EarthSky, May 29, 2018.