Paronychia ubinensis (Caryophyllaceae: Paronychioideae) a new species from Moquegua, South Peru Author Montesinos Tubée, Daniel B. Nature Conservation & Plant Ecology Group. Wageningen University, Netherlands. Droevendaalsesteeg 3 a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands. dbmtperu @ gmail. com, daniel. montesinos @ wur. nl & Naturalis Biodiversity Centre (section NHN), Herbarium Vadense, Generaal Foulkesweg 37, 6703 BL Wageningen, The Netherlands Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands text Phytotaxa 2013 124 1 50 54 https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/e47fa263-d3ff-3d2b-b58b-3ee6248e1480/ journal article 5585 10.11646/phytotaxa.124.1.6 fd069d4d-bfe7-4696-bd5c-6edd19bd00dd 1179-3163 5085114 Paronychia ubinensis Montesinos , spec. nov. TYPE :— PERU . Moquegua Department : General Sánchez Cerro Province , Ubinas District : Punku near Tassa locality, 16°10’30’’ S , 70°42’21’’ W . 4030 m , 6 April 2012 , Montesinos 3698 ( holotype WAG !, isotype USM ). Additional specimens examined: PERU , Moquegua Department , General Sánchez Cerro Province , Ubinas District : Roadside , Querala-Patune , 4340 m , 1 June 2011 , Montesinos 3164 ( USM ) . PERU , Moquegua Department , General Sánchez Cerro Province , Yunga District : Sura slopes, 4500 m , 28 March 2013 , Montesinos 4049 ( USM , CUZ , HSP ) . Herba perennis, 2–4 cm longa, folia relinquit subterminale glomerulus; bracteae oblongae ovatis; petalis obscure viridis colorem. Perennial herb with stem woody and branched at the base, decumbent, caespitose, densely congested and imbricate, forming pulvinate tufts, 2–4 cm long, with internodes < 0.5 mm long. Leaves disposed in subterminal glomerules. Leaves brown red to lilac red, stiff, linear to narrowly elliptic, 1.8–2.4 mm x 0.6–0.9 mm , apex acute, with translucid, 0.1–0.2 mm stout mucro (brown at the base) with few minute bristle hairs at the tip; margin glabrous and slightly folded, the base of the leaves deep red or pale purple, always darker than the lamina; stipules oblong-lanceolate, 1.8–2.2 mm x 0.6–1.0 mm, mostly equalling the leaves, tip aristate to acuminate, margin and tip with few minute bristle hairs, midrib with more bristle hairs than the lamina. Leaves subglabrous, with few minute hirtella on the mucro. Bracts oblong-ovate, 1.2–2.0 mm x 0.8–1.5 mm , slightly obtuse, with minute hirtella on margins and tip. Flowers few, 1.9–2.2 mm x 0.9–1.2 mm , glabrous and urceolate; receptacle ovoid, whitish, 0.8–1 mm x 0.6–0.8 mm ; sepals ovate, white, scarious, 1.6–1.8 mm x 0.8–1.4 mm , margins with < 0.1 mm long white bristle hairs; petals dark red to purple, concave, 0.2–0.4 mm x 0.1–0.2 mm , urceolate, glabrous, base pale green; filaments 0.1-0.3 mm long; anthers 0.1–0.2 mm x 0.05–0.1 mm and pale green; ovary oblong, pale white, 0.6–0.8 x 0.6–0.8 mm ; style < 0.1 mm long, stigma indistinctive. Fruit oblong-ovoid, 1-1.2 mm long, smooth, pale brown; seed c. 0.8-1 mm , subglobose to ovoid. Ecology and distribution: Paronychia ubinensis grows mostly on rocky slopes and plateaus with bare soils and is associated with chasmophyte vegetation. The plant was found at elevations of 4030–4500 m . This species is endemic to Peru and is known thus far only from two collections from Moquegua . Comparison: Paronychia ubinensis is closely related to the Andean Paronychia complex ( Chaudhri 1968 , MacBride 1937 , Alvarez 2010 , Kool 2012 ). The geographical parameters and habitats of Paronychia andina A.Gray , P. mandoniana Rohrb. , P. muschlerii Chaudhri , P. peruviana Chaudhri and P. weberbaueri Chaudhri are similar to the newly described species. However, these species differ in morphological characteristics, including leaves, flowers and ovary. Numerous herbarium specimens were examined from USM, HUSA, MO, F, WAG and L. None of the described Andean species of Paronychia has internodes shorter than 0.5 mm , the leaf shape linear to narrowly elliptic and size shorter than 2.2 mm , the sepals larger than 1.6 mm and the ovary not larger than 0.8 mm , all characters in P. ubinensis . Therefore, P. ubinensis has the shortest leaf size and larger ovary size of any known Andean Paronychia species. Another important parameter is the absence of pubescence and bristle hairs on the leaves of P. ubinensis . Trichomes are only present on the mucro; as opposed to the related Paronychia species , where pubescence in leaves and leaf indument is common. TABLE 1. Morphological comparison of Paronychia ubinensis , P. andina , P. mandoniana , P. muschleri , P. peruviana and P. weberbaueri .

Characters	P. andina	P. mandoniana	P. muschleri	P. peruviana	P. ubinensis	P. weberbaueri
Habit	pulvinate perennial herb	perennial herb, postrate to suberect	perennial herb	perennial herb, small and compact	perennial herb, branched at base	perennial herb, ascending or suberect
Glomerules	terminal, subterminal	dense, terminal- subterminal, 4-7 mm	stems prostrate, congested	suberect, 3.5-7.0 cm, ramified	dense, congested, imbricate	terminal
Internodes	glabrous, 1-2 mm	short, 1-5 mm	5-9 mm, pubescent to glabrescent with age	6 mm, oblong to ovate- <0.5 mm lanceolate		1-3 mm, puberulous, reddish with age
Leaf shape	elliptic-oblong to ovate	lanceolate	obovate-oblanceolate to narrow elliptic-oblong	elliptic, oblong to ovate- linear to narrowly lanceolate elliptic		elliptic oblong to ovate, concave
Leaf size (mm)	2.5-4 x 1.2-2	3-6 x 0.7-1.2	5-9 x 1.5-2.2	4-6 x 1.2-2.2	1.8-2.2 x 0.6-1.0	2.7-3.5 x 2-2.5
Leaf indument	glabrous or puberulous in the under side	scabrous-pubescent to puberulous	glabrous or sparsely pubescent (adaxial)	spare or subglabrus, ciliata on margins	glabrous, only with minute hirtella in mucro	hirtellous on both sides, margin sligthly hirsute
Stipules	ovate to oblong, 2-3(- 4) x 1.5-2(-2.5) mm	narrow, ovate- lanceolate. 4 mm	ovate-lanceolate	ovate or suboblong, 3.5 mm	oblong-lanceolate, 1- 8-2.2 x 0.6-1.0 mm	broadly ovaloblong 3.8 x 2.7 mm
Flower size (mm)	(2-)2.2-2.5(-3.2)	1.7-2	4-5	(2.2-) 2.4-3.0	1.9-2.2 x 0.9-1.2	2.2-2.3
Sepals	oblong, 1.3-1.5(-2) x 0.5-0.7 mm	oblong to lanceolate oblong 1-1.2 mm	oblong to ovate-oblong, 0.6-0.7 x 0.5 mm	pubescent, oblong, (1.2-) 1.4 mm	ovate, scarious, 1.6- 1.8 x 0.8-1.4	oblong, obtuse. 1.2-1.4 mm
Ovary	conical, 0.5-0.6 x 0.4- 0.5 mm	subsessile, 0.5 x 0.3 mm, ellipsoid	conical-ovoid, 0.5 x 0.4 mm	oblong, 0.6-0.8 x 0.6- conicum, 0.7-0.5 mm 0.8 mm		subquadrangular 0.5 mm in diam.

Paronychia ubinensis was also compared with the Paronychia species occurring in the Bolivian and Chilean Andes, with which significant morphological and geographical differences were found. For instance, P. communis Cambess. (Cabessèdes 1829) , P. chilensis DC. ( Candolle 1828 ) , P. johnstonii Chaudhrii ( Chaudhri 1968 ) and P. setigera (Gillies) F. Herm ( Hermann 1937 ) have larger leaf size (> 5 mm ) and longitudinal separation of the glomerules (> 1 cm ), and form more prostrate plants inhabiting disturbed areas in lower elevation regions. P. hieronymi Pax ( Pax 1894 ) forms dense woody stems, its leaf size is larger and has a pubescent surface, and it is restricted to Bolivia and Argentina . P. microphylla Phil. ( Philippi 1891 ) is characterized by a shrubby habit with larger leaf size and forms dense green glomerules, with a flower size larger than 4 mm . Therefore, Paronychia ubinensis can be classified as one of the smallest species from the Andean group. According to Alvarez (2010) , the genus Paronychia is polyphyletic and Paronychia andina and Paronychia weberbaueri form a clade. It is unlikely that the Andean Paronychia species form a monophyletic group (pers. comm. Anneleen Kool). Etymology: The specific epithet of the new species refers to the endemism in the Ubinas district, in the Moquegua department, southern Peru .