Myrcia skeldingii

Myrcia skeldingi (synonym: Myrcia skeldingii ) is an extinct species of the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae ). She was endemic to Jamaica in the Mason River savanna. The specific epithet honors the botanist Arthur Donald Skelding, who pointed for the first time on the botanical diversity in the type locality.

Features

Myrcia skeldingi was a small tree, reaching a height of 5 meters. The most recent branches, the pedicels, the midrib on the underside of leaves and the upper inflorescence branches were covered with fine line bristles. The bar bristles disappeared with age. The leaves were leathery and had no translucent points. The nearly fixed leaves were 5.5 to 10 centimeters long and 3.5 to 6 inches wide. The thick petioles were 1 to 2 millimeters long. The leaf shape was broadly elliptic to ovate - elliptic. The leaf blade was mainly rounded or blunt at the tip. The leaf base was rounded or almost cordate. The midrib was pressed on the upper leaf surface and protruding on the underside of leaves. The feinnetzige Blattaderung stepped on both leaf surfaces produced on the underside of leaves but stronger. The terminal, broad, many-flowered panicles were 7 to 14 inches long. The peduncle was 0.5 to 1 inches long. The outermost branches ended in a dichasium with three to five flowers. The 1.5 mm long calyx tube was hairless and prolonged above the ovary. The four sepals were about 0.75 millimeters long. The petals were white and hairless. The dust bag was zweikammerig. The approximately 3.5 mm long stylus had a shield-shaped scar. The spherical berries had a scope of about 6 mm and were deep red when ripe. They involve one to three seeds with a length of 3 to 4 millimeters.

Extinction

The last population was discovered in bushes along the banks of the Mason River on the border between the Clarendon Parish and Saint Ann Parish. Since 1972, the species was not detected and is considered probably extinct.