Abstract
Clusia nubium from southwestern Ecuador is described as a species new to science. It grows as a hemiepiphyte in lower montane cloud forest. The species belongs to Clusia sect. Retinostemon, a largely Andean group characterized by male flowers with a resin-secreting synandrium of completely fused stamens and sometimes also anthers and staminodes. It differs from all other species in that section by the combination of creamy-white petals; male flowers with a dome-shaped synandrium with numerous fused stamens surrounding a group of resin secreting staminodia; and large fruits with 9–15 peltate stigmata forming a ring.
References
Armbruster, W.S. (1984) The role of resin in angiosperm pollination: ecological and chemical considerations. American Journal of Botany 71: 1149–1160.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2443391
Borchsenius, F. (1997) Patterns of plant species endemism in Ecuador. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 379–399.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018312724137
Gustafsson, M.H.G. & Bittrich, V. (2003) Evolution of morphological diversity and resin secretion in flowers of Clusia L. (Clusiaceae): Insights from ITS sequence variation. Nordic Journal of Botany 22: 183–203.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2002.tb01364.x
Gustafsson, M.H.G., Bittrich, V. & Winter, K. (2007) Diversity, phylogeny and classification of Clusia. In: Lüttge, U. (Ed.) Clusia: a woody Neotropical genus of remarkable plasticity and diversity. Ecological Studies, Vol. 194. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 95–116.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37243-1_7
Linnaeus, C.V. (1753) Species Plantarum, 1. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae, pp. 1–560.
Planchon, J.E. & Triana, J. (1860) Mémoire sur la famille des Guttifères. Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, series 4 13: 306–376.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2443391
Borchsenius, F. (1997) Patterns of plant species endemism in Ecuador. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 379–399.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018312724137
Gustafsson, M.H.G. & Bittrich, V. (2003) Evolution of morphological diversity and resin secretion in flowers of Clusia L. (Clusiaceae): Insights from ITS sequence variation. Nordic Journal of Botany 22: 183–203.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2002.tb01364.x
Gustafsson, M.H.G., Bittrich, V. & Winter, K. (2007) Diversity, phylogeny and classification of Clusia. In: Lüttge, U. (Ed.) Clusia: a woody Neotropical genus of remarkable plasticity and diversity. Ecological Studies, Vol. 194. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 95–116.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37243-1_7
Linnaeus, C.V. (1753) Species Plantarum, 1. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae, pp. 1–560.
Planchon, J.E. & Triana, J. (1860) Mémoire sur la famille des Guttifères. Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, series 4 13: 306–376.