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Meliosma stellata, a new species of Sabiaceae of Ecuador

Abstract:

Meliosma stellata Cornejo & Bonifaz, a new species of Sabiaceae from the Andean montane forests of southwestern Ecuador, is described and illustrated. The new species resembles the Colombian species M. violacea Cuatrecasas & Idrobo but differs by having smaller fruits, ca. 1.5 cm (vs. 2.6 cm) long, without its characteristic purple sap, and mainly by having highly distinctive sclerotic 4-branched stellate trichomes. This last feature is a significant character previously not recorded for species within this genus.