Phytotaxa 400 (3): 191–202 https://www.mapress.com/j/pt/ Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press Article PHYTOTAXA ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition) ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition) Accepted by Gabriel Ameka: 14 Mar. 2019; published: 5 Apr. 2019 https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.400.3.6 191 Taxonomic novelties in Clusia (Clusiaceae) from Venezuela JOSÉ E. DO NASCIMENTO-JR 1 , VOLKER BITTRICH 2 & MARIA DO CARMO E. AMARAL 3 1 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, C. P. 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Current address: Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Av. Rio Paranaíba 1295, 38280-000, Iturama, MG, Brazil. E-mail: jenascimentojr@gmail.com 2 Rua Dr. Mario de Nucci 500, 13083-290, Campinas, SP, Brazil. 3 Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, C. P. 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas-UNICAMP, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil Abstract Although a comprehensive taxonomic treatment of the genus Clusia in the Venezuelan Guayana was published 20 years ago, much taxonomic work remains to be done regarding the genus in the region, including description of new species. In this pa- per we describe and illustrate five new species of Clusia sect. Oedematopus (Clusia dickinsoniana, C. donramonii, C. peter- stevensii, C. punctata and C. tetramera), which are characterized by their small flowers without resin or nectar secretion. Keywords: Oedematopus, tepuis, Venezuelan flora Resumo Embora um bom tratamento sobre as espécies de Clusia da Guiana Venezuelana tenha sido publicado há 20 anos, muito ainda precisa ser feito em relação a taxonomia do gênero na região, incluindo a descrição de novas espécies. Neste artigo nós descrevemos e ilustramos cinco novas espécies de Clusia sect. Oedematopus (Clusia dickinsoniana, C. donramonii, C. peterstevensii, C. punctata e C. tetramera), as quais são caracterizadas por suas pequenas flores sem resina e néctar. Palavras-chave: flora venezuelana, Oedematopus, tepuis Introduction The genus Clusia Linnaeus (1753: 509) is characterized mainly by dioecious species (with few exceptions) with strong variation in floral morphology, particularly in staminate flowers, thick leaves with a multi-layered hypodermis, and succulent capsules with usually few to many seeds surrounded by a nonvascular orange to red aril. The genus is represented by about 300–400 species distributed from the state of Florida in the United States to the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil ( Gustafsson et al. 2007). According to Gustafsson et al. (2003), the countries with the largest number of Clusia species are Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela. Regarding Venezuela, the most important taxonomic treatment about Clusia was provided by Pipoly et al. (1998), which included 68 species and proposed the synonymization of the genera Havetiopsis Planchon & Triana (1860: 246), Quapoya Aublet (1775: 897) and Oedematopus Planchon & Triana (1860: 249) under Clusia, treating them as sections. Phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequence data (Gustafsson et al. 2003, 2007) demonstrated that Clusia is monophyletic when these taxa are considered to be included in the genus. Of these sections, sect. Oedematopus (Planchon & Triana) Pipoly (Pipoly et al. 1998: 269) is the largest group, and until the treatment of Pipoly et al. (1998) included 16 species. Gustafsson et al. (2003) indicated that sect. Havetiopsis (Planchon & Triana) Pipoly (Pipoly et al. 1998: 269), which includes one species, should be synonymized under sect. Oedematopus, and we have also accepted this proposal. Subsequently, Nascimento Jr et al. (2016, 2017) described Clusia ucamira J.E. Nascim. & Bittrich and Clusia goscinnyi J.E. Nascim. & Bittrich, increasing the number of species known for the section to 19.