Flora of Ducke Reserve, Amazonas State, Brazil: Ulmaceae

Flora da Reserva Ducke, Estado do Amazonas, Brasil: Ulmaceae

Abstract:

Ulmaceae is a pantropical family of Urticales order, represented in Brazilian flora by two genera and six species. In the Amazonas State, Ducke Reserve represents one of the most studied places in the Amazon, where the ongoing project “Flora da Reserva Ducke” has been carried out. Here we aimed to present the taxonomic treatment of Ulmaceae of the Ducke Reserve. The study is based on the morphological analysis of materials deposited in herbaria and a literature review. A single species, Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm., is recorded in the area. This taxon is described, and information on its habitat, phenology, geographic distribution, and image of the species are provided.

Keywords:
Amazon flora; Ampelocera; Central Amazon; Taxonomy

Resumo:

Ulmaceae é uma família pantropical da ordem Urticales, representada no Brasil por dois geners e seis espécies. No Estado do Amazonas, a Reserva Ducke é um dos locais mais bem estudados da Amazônia, onde o projeto “Flora da Reserva Ducke” tem sido realizado. Nesta contribuição, trazemos o tratamento taxonômico da família Ulmaceae da Reserva Ducke. Este trabalho foi baseado em amostras de plantas depositadas em herbários e revisão de literatura. Uma espécie, Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm., é registrada para a area de estudo. O taxon é descrito morfologicamente e informações sobre seu habitat, fenologia, distribuição geográfica e imagem da amostra são apresentados.

Palavras-chave:
Amazônia Central; Ampelocera; Flora da Amazônia; Taxonomia

Introduction

Ulmaceae Mirb. is one of the smallest families in the Urticales order (Carauta 1974, Sytsma et al. 2002). After several controversies concerning the Urticales systematics (Zavada & Kim 1996, Wiegref et al. 1998, Sytsma et al. 2002), Ulmaceae is considered monophyletic in its current circumscription (Ueda et al. 1997, Wheeler & Manchester 2007, Judd et al. 2009). It has six genera and about 40 species (Judd et al. 2009) with pantropical distribution, being better represented in the temperate region of the Northern Hemisphere (Ribeiro et al. 1999, Judd et al. 2009).

In Brazilian flora, the family is represented by two genera - Ampelocera Klotzsch and Phyllostylon Capan. ex Benth. & Hook.f. - and six species, which usually are shrubs or trees, found in most regions of the country, except in the Southern (Machado 2022). Ampelocera differs from Phyllostylon by the stamens number in the male flower (6-15 vs. up to 5 in Phyllostylon) with the rudimentary gynoecium (vs. absent), and by the fruit type (nutlet vs. samara in Phyllostylon) (Todzia 1989, Machado 2022). For the Brazilian Amazon, a single genus is recorded, with three known species (Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm., A. glabra Kuhlm., and A. ruizii Klotzsch), comprising arboreal plants that occur in terra firme (non-flooded forest) and/or igapó forests (flooded forest along black water rivers) (BFG 2018, Machado 2022).

The Ducke Reserve is a 10,000-hectare protected area, comprising a forest remnant within Manaus city, Amazonas, Northern Brazil (Hopkins 2005). Botanical collections in this area go back to 1950s and were later intensified in the 1980s and 1990s due to the “Flora da Reserva Ducke” Project, which produced a checklist with about 2,000 vascular plant species, and a practical guide to species-level identification (Ribeiro et al. 1999, Hopkins 2005). The taxonomic treatment for the families is ongoing since 2005 (e.g., Pirani 2005, Forzza 2007, Maas et al. 2007, Taylor et al. 2007); new efforts have been made to encompass the still no monographed families (e.g., Martins et al. 2018, Amorim et al. 2020a, b, Araújo et al. 2020, Dávila et al. 2020, Cabral et al. 2021, Devecchi et al. 2022). Noteworthy is that new collections have been made after the publication of the checklist adding up the number of plant species to the area (e.g., Krahl et al. 2022).

In Ducke Reserve, the Ulmaceae family is currently represented by a single species, although Ribeiro et al. (1999) listed two species distributed in two genera - Ampelocera and Trema Lour. Today, based on molecular evidence, only the genus Ampelocera remains within Ulmaceae (Zavada & Kim 1996, Ueda et al. 1997, Wiegref et al. 1998). Trema, in turn, was included in Cannabaceae (Sytsma et al. 2002). Ulmaceae differs from Cannabaceae family by the leaves with secondary veins converging directly on the teeth (vs. veins forming a series of curves in Cannabaceae), dried fruits, usually samaras (vs. fleshy fruits), 4-6-pored pollen with rough exine (vs. 2-3-pored with smooth exine), presence of lignans, sesquiterpenes, and flavonoids (vs. breakachitol and glycoflavones), base chromosome number 14 (vs. 10,11), bisexual or unisexual flowers (vs. consistently unisexual flowers), flat seeds with a straight embryo (vs. globose seeds with a short embryo), and stylets with three vascular bundles (vs. with a single vascular bundle) (Judd et al. 2009).

Material and methods

For the taxonomic treatment, we analyzed specimens deposited at INPA herbarium (acronym according Thiers, continuously updated). The analysis of the botanical material for this study was performed with a stereomicroscope and the botanical terminology used in the descriptions is in accordance with Radford et al. (1974). The taxonomic nomenclature and geographic distribution followed Machado (2022) and POWO (2022). Todzia’s (1989) taxonomic treatment was used for identification. The descriptions (including family and genus levels) were made according to the analyzed material, the only exception was the seed morphology, which was based on Todzia (1989).

Taxonomic Treatment

Ulmaceae Mirb.

Trees, monoecious or dioecious, unarmed. Stipules free, persistent, or deciduous. Leaves simple, alternate, margin entire. Inflorescence axillary, paniculate. Flowers monoclinous or diclinous; actinomorphic, monochlamydeous; stamens free; ovary superior, unilocular, uniovular, placentation pendulous. Fruit drupaceous.

Ampelocera Klotzsch, Linnaea 20: 541. 1847.

Trees, leaf lamina oblong to elliptic, base slightly asymmetrical, glabrous to puberulent. Flowers with 4-5 sepals, 6-10 stamens. Fruit orange at maturity, globose to ellipsoid, asymmetrical to symmetrical.

Ampelocera comprises 11 species and is a neotropical genus, disjunct in Amazon and Atlantic Forest domains (Todzia 1989, POWO 2022). Four species are recorded in Brazil, three of them occur in the Amazon Forest (Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm., A. longissima Todzia, and A. ruizii Klotzsch) and the other is restricted to the Atlantic Forest and Pantanal (A. glabra Kuhlm.) (Machado 2022).

Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm., Annais Prim. Reu. Sul. Amer. Bot. 3: 75. 1940.

Figure 1

Trees up to 20 m tall; young branches cylindrical, glabrous, lenticellate. Leaves alternate, (7)9-12(19.5) × (3.5)4-5(9) cm, stipules strigose, ca. 4 mm long., lanceolate, deciduous, petiole 0.5-0.8 cm long., glabrous. Lamina chartaceous, oblong to elliptic, base cuneate slightly asymmetric, margin entire, apex cuspidate, adaxial side glabrous, bright, abaxial glabrous to covered by sparse simple trichomes, opaque; primary venation prominent on adaxial side, secondary with 6-8 pairs, arcuate. Inflorescence primary axe 1.5-3 cm long., glabrous to puberulent; bracteoles ca. 2 mm long., navicular to lanceolate. Flowers tetramerous, calyx lobes 1 mm long., lanceolate, glabrous to puberulent, apetalous; male flowers with stamens 6-8, 1-1.5 mm long, filament flats, apiculate connective ca. 0.5 cm spreading above the theca; ovary glabrous to puberulent; pistillate flowers not seen. Fruits 1.8-2.0 × 1.2-1.6 cm, yellow when fresh, ellipsoid, symmetrical or asymmetrical, glabrous to puberulent, scabrous. Seed globose.

Figure 1
Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm. - branch in fruit (Sothers et al. 1045 NY02429047)
Figura 1
Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm. - ramo em fruto (Sothers et al. 1045 NY02429047)

Taxonomic comments: Ampelocera edentula Kuhlm. is distinguish from other species of the genus in Brazil by the leaf blades with entire margins, inflorescence contracted, 6-8 stamens, and larger fruits (Todzia 1989; Machado 2022).

Distribution and habitat: It is near endemic of the Amazonian basin (Bolivia, Northern Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela), rarely reaching the western Andes (Choco) and coastal Caribe in Panama (POWO 2022). In Brazil occurs only the northern Region (Machado 2022), in the Ducke Reserve in terra firme forest over clay or sandy soils (Ribeiro et al. 1999), but also in igapó in other areas (Machado 2022). In Ducke Reserve is an occasional species, occurring inside the forest or in trails and road edges.

Vernacular name: Cafezinho, Pirarara and Envira-lobo (Machado 2022).

Phenology: Flowers from July to November; fruits from November to January.

Examined material: 23-VII-1997, fl., P.A.C.L. Assunção et al. 557 (INPA, NY, SP); 23-II-2002, fr., C.V. Castilho et al. 589 (INPA, UPCB); 10-VI-1976, st., A.R. Oliveira s.n. (INPA 59954 ); 2-IX-1976, st., A.R. Oliveira s.n. (INPA 58708); 7-XI-1994, fr., C.A. Sothers et al. 265 (INPA, SP); 21-XI-1997, fr., C.A. Sothers et al. 1044 (HFSL, IAN, INPA, US); 21-XI-1997, fr., C.A. Sothers et al. 1045 (INPA, K, MO, NY, SP); 11-VII-2004, st., V.C. Souza & D.A.C. Pinho 29999 (ESA, INPA).

Additional examined material: Pará: Tucuruí, 18-20-XI-1981, fl., D.C. Daly et al. 1461 (INPA). MATO GROSSO: Sinop, 5-X-1985, fl., C.A. Cid Ferreira et al. 6361 (INPA).

Acknowledgements

Gabriel Mendes Marcusso and Bruno Sampaio Amorim thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, for the postdoc fellowships (Process n. 88887.510188-2020-00) Programa de Desenvolvimento da Pós-Graduação - Amazônia Legal, and Process n. 88882.315044/2019-01, respectively). Gabriel Mendes Marcusso and Bruno Sampaio Amorim also thank, respectively, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (E-26/205.680/2022), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (Edital 016/2023, Process n. 72592. UNI978 58478.09092023-97041), for the postdoc fellowship. We thank Mike Hopkins, for permission to access the INPA herbarium, and the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ vh/), for allowing the use of the image in Figure 1.

Literature cited

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Acknowledgements

Gabriel Mendes Marcusso and Bruno Sampaio Amorim thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, for the postdoc fellowships (Process n. 88887.510188-2020-00) Programa de Desenvolvimento da Pós-Graduação - Amazônia Legal, and Process n. 88882.315044/2019-01, respectively). Gabriel Mendes Marcusso and Bruno Sampaio Amorim also thank, respectively, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (E-26/205.680/2022), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (Edital 016/2023, Process n. 72592. UNI978 58478.09092023-97041), for the postdoc fellowship. We thank Mike Hopkins, for permission to access the INPA herbarium, and the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ vh/), for allowing the use of the image in Figure 1.

Data availability statement

The dataset for this article is available in the SciELO Dataverse of Hoehnea, at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1590/2236-8906e392024.

• Editor científico responsável:
  Aline Melo Silva

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  06 Feb 2026
• Date of issue
  2025

History

• Received
  29 Apr 2024
• Accepted
  27 Dec 2024