Neo-uvaria sparsistellata : Chaowasku 2011, sp. nov.

Neo-uvaria sparsistellata Chaowasku, sp. nov. (Figs. 1E, F; 2; 3) Neo-uvaria viridifolia proxima, praecipue petalis minoribus, staminibus carpellisque paucioribus differt. TYPE: — THAILAND. Phatthalung Province: Si Ban Phot District, Khao Pu / Khao Ya National Park, headquarters, August 2005, Gardner et al. ST 1894 (holotype L!, isotypes BKF, K), in flower and fruit (quite young). Medium-sized trees, ca. 15 m tall, ca. 24 cm in dbh, all parts generally covered with stellate hairs intermixed with simple hairs. Young twigs tomentose. Petioles 2.0– 4.5 mm long, densely tomentose. Leaves elliptic, 10.2–32.3 × 3.3–10.1 cm, base (broadly) wedge-shaped, apex generally (narrowly) acuminate, lamina (very) sparsely (appressed-)puberulous above, indumentum mostly on the lower half near the midrib, sparsely puberulous below, upper surface of midrib slightly sunken, (sparsely) (appressed-)tomentose, lower surface of midrib raised, (sparsely) tomentose, secondary veins 15–21 pairs per leaf, angle with midrib 35°–43°. Flowers solitary, axillary, pedicels (in flower and in fruit) (3–)5–6(–8) mm long, densely (appressed-)tomentose, bracts ca. 2 per flower, rather inconspicuous, at the base of the pedicels. Sepals broadly triangular, ca. 2.1 × 2.5 mm, persistent in fruit, outside and margin densely tomentose, inside glabrous. Outer petals elliptic-ovate, 5.2 × 2.8–3.0 mm, outside and margin tomentose, inside glabrous at the base, indumentum of the rest same as outside. Inner petals ovate, 4.0–5.0 × 2.5 mm, apically thickened, indumentum same as outer petals. Stamens 12–15 per flower, ca. 1.4 mm long, connective tissue flat-topped. Carpels 4–6 per flower, stigmas subgloboseellipsoid, ovaries appressed-tomentose, ovules 1 per ovary, basal. Torus more or less flat, sparsely puberulous, slightly enlarged in fruit. Monocarps 1–3 per fruit, sessile, ellipsoid, 3.1–3.3 × 2.0– 2.5 cm, surface (sparsely) tomentose-villous. Seeds 1 per monocarp, ellipsoid, 2.6–2.8 × 1.6–2.1 cm. Distribution: —Peninsular Thailand [Phatthalung Province (Fig. 3)] [only known from two collections (Chaowasku 99 and Gardner et al. ST 1894) collected from the same individual]. Habitats and Phenology: —Occurring in aggrading evergreen/deciduous forests amongst limestone outcrops. Elevation ca. 120 m. Flowering August, December. Fruiting August, December. Field notes: —Bark grey; inner bark brownish-yellow. Petals white maturing yellow. Monocarps pale green with white and pale brown hairs. Etymology: —The epithet refers to the sparse stellate indumentum on the lower leaf surface. Vernacular names: —Ma-Khiew (Thai). Observations: —This new species seems very close to Neo-uvaria viridifolia from the Philippines. They both possess a (very) sparse stellate indumentum on the lower leaf surface whereas it is (much) denser in the other species. In addition, a single stellate hair on the lower leaf surface of both species is relatively (much) smaller than that of the other species. N. sparsistellata, however, principally differs from N. viridifolia in having smaller petals (outer petals 5.2 × 2.8–3.0 mm, inner petals 4.0–5.0 × 2.5 mm in N. sparsistellata vs. outer petals (7.0–)10.2 × (3.6–) 4.1 mm, inner petals (6.7–)9.5 × 3.4–3.7 mm in N. viridifolia), fewer stamens per flower (12–15 in N. sparsistellata vs. ca. 31 in N. viridifolia) and carpels per flower (4–6 in N. sparsistellata vs. ca. 12 in N. viridifolia). Besides, N. sparsistellata always has solitary flowers while N. viridifolia often have two (or three) flowers per inflorescence.Published as part of Chaowasku, Tanawat, KEssLER, Paul J. A., Punnadee, Suwit & Van Der Ham, Raymond W. J. M., 2011, Taxonomic novelties and pollen morphological study in the genus Neo-uvaria (Annonaceae), pp. 27-42 in Phytotaxa 32 on page 29, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.32.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/489453