Vol. 48 No. 187 (2024)

Cordia nicandroides, a striking new species of Cordiaceae from northern Colombia

The fruits and seeds on the cover correspond to the new tree species from northern Colombia, Cordia nicandroides (Cordiaceae), described in this issue.

Of the 350 known species in the pantropical genus Cordia L., 32 had been recorded to date in Colombian territory, but none had the large, drupaceous, nuciform fruits protected by a pentacostrate, girdled, acrescent calyx, which evokes a type of hydrocoral dispersal and which characterizes this new species as its most distinctive feature. To our surprise, this species associated with watercourses and primarily humid forests in Colombia only presented a clear morphological relationship with two species (C. oncocalyx and C. glazioviana) endemic to the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, which show anemochorous dispersal -species that for a long time formed the endemic genus Auxemma Miers, which today is considered part of the genus Cordia-.

Based on the known field information, a threat category of EN B2 (endangered) is proposed for this new species, according to the IUCN criteria

Figure 5. The series of photographs shows some details of the particular fruiting in this species. Wide acrescent and parchment-like fruiting calyx - to which the name given to the species alludes -, the drupaceous and nuciform fruit, the suberose mesocarp, the woody monopyrene with radial ridges, which encompasses the 2-4 developed seeds.

Photographs by Á. Cogollo-Pacheco and J.L. Fernández-Alonso. From collections Cogollo 14260 (JAUM, MA) and Cogollo 14256 (JAUM).