Harpochilus corrugatus (Acanthaceae), a new and endangered chiropterophylous species from the highlands of central-southern Bahia, Brazil
Author
Silva, Fabio Araújo
0000-0002-1944-7246
Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia / Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas & fabioaraujo. bio @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 1944 - 7246
fabioaraujo.bio@gmail.com
Author
Albuquerque-Lima, Sinzinando
0000-0001-5808-8269
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Laboratório de Biologia Floral e Reprodutiva, Centro de Biociências, Avenida Professor Moraes Rego 1235, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50670 - 901, Brazil. & sinzinandoufpe @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 5808 - 8269
sinzinandoufpe@gmail.com
Author
Taylor, Nigel P.
0000-0002-8162-0505
University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Botanic Gardens campus, ‘ The Alameda’, Red Sands Road, PO Box 843, GX 11 1 AA, Gibraltar. & nigelcactus. taylor @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8162 - 0505
nigelcactus.taylor@gmail.com
Author
Zappi, Daniela C.
0000-0001-6755-2238
Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia / Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas & Universidade de Brasília, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Caixa Postal 04457, Brasília, DF, 70910 - 970, Brazil. & danielazappi 14 @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 6755 - 2238
danielazappi14@gmail.com
text
Phytotaxa
2022
2022-05-10
545
2
151
162
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.545.2.4
journal article
55576
10.11646/phytotaxa.545.2.4
b511a683-235c-4f73-b0b5-7aa29e1a6597
1179-3163
6534664
Harpochilus corrugatus
Zappi & F.A. Silva
sp. nov.
Type:—
BRAZIL
,
Bahia
: Mun. Caetité, 1,
5 km
ao sul
de Brejinho
das Ametistas,
900 m
,
14º 9’ 0” S
,
42º 28’ 60” W
,
11 April 1980
,
R
.
M
. Harley,
G
. Bromley,
A
.
M
. Carvalho,
J
.
L
. Hage &
H
.
S
. Brito 21212
, fl., fr. (
holotype
:
RB00035784
!; isotypes:
CEPEC00025754
,
IPA
49664,
K001046211
image!,
MO1404739
image!,
NY000484263
image!,
SPF
!,
UEC
39262 image!, US2950612 image!)
.
Diagnosis
:—The new species is closely related to
Harpochilus neesianus
, but differs by its sessile or nearly sessile distal leaves (not petiolated with geniculated petiole), blades deltoid, sometimes clasping the stem, strongly corrugated (not ovate-lanceolate, flat), calyx-lobes lanceolate (not triangular), corolla yellow, purple-brown tinged (not green throughout).
Description
:—Scandent, poorly branched shrub to
3.5 m
tall, all parts more or less shortly sericeous and velvety to the touch, eglandular trichomes articulate, glandular trichomes inconspicuous and less numerous than eglandular (except from the corolla), stems cylindrical, fistulose,
4–7 mm
diam., densely sericeous, hairs turned distally. Leaves sessile, sometimes semi-amplexicaul, seldom petiolated in the lower branches, blades 3–6(–9) × 1.5–3(–4.6) cm, narrowly deltoid, strongly corrugated, grey-green (living specimens), slightly shiny and sericeous above, matt and strongly sericeous below, chartaceous, cystoliths inconspicuous, with 6–12 pairs of arcuate, brochidodromous veins, sunken adaxially, raised abaxially. Inflorescences in axillary dichasia, flowers paired, opposite or alternate; peduncle 1.0–
1.8 cm
long, sericeous; pedicel
3–7.6 mm
long, sericeous. Bracts 2, inconspicuous, 1–7 ×
1–2.3 mm
, narrowly triangular, sericeous, rhachila absent or to
10 mm
long; bracteoles to
1.3 mm
long. Calyx 5-lobed, lobes equal, erect, 12–17 ×
2.6–3.8 mm
, lanceolate, adaxially sparsely strigose, abaxially strigose, wide at base and forming a sinus at anthesis, apex acute, 1–3 veined, pale green. Flower-buds strongly curved. Corolla pale-yellow, with purple tinge towards the base, deeply bilabiate, internally glabrous to sparsely puberulous, externally puberulous with glandular and eglandular trichomes, upper lip
6.5–8.5 cm
×
2.5–2.6 mm
, and with wavy margins partly enclosing the filaments and style, bilobed at apex, the lobes c. 0.6 ×
0.6 mm
, the lower lip
2.2–2.5 cm
long, 3-lobed, lobes pendent and curled up at anthesis,
6–7.6 cm
long,
3–5.1 mm
wide near the apex. Stamens 2, filaments
7.5–8.7 cm
long, pubescent, connected to the upper third of the tube, exserted portion
22–25 mm
long, anthers 6.4–8.1 ×
3.1–3.2 mm
, thecae 2, parallel, subequal; Pollen grains isopolar, with radial symmetry, 3-colporate, surface reticulated, endoaperture lalongate, a single row of areoles on a microreticulate tectum flanking the colporus, with a bireticulate continuum band in the mesocolpus area. Nectar-disk olive-green, and brown in fruit (living specimens), ring-shaped, fleshy,
4.4–5.3 mm
diam. Ovary green (living specimens), 3.7–4 ×
2–2.6 mm
, ovoid, glabrous; style
10–10.5 cm
long, distally pubescent, proximally glabrescent, exserted portion cream, turning purplish (living specimens), 3.0–
3.5 cm
long, stigma punctiform. Capsules stipitate, ovate, acute at apex, glabrous, rugose (in dry specimens) without, basal portion 9–12 ×
4 mm
, apical portion 14–15 ×
7–9 mm
, turning pale brown when ripe and releasing 4 flattened, suborbicular, notched seeds
7–7.6 mm
diam., thicker at the margin, testa pale brown.
Distribution and Habitat
:—The distribution of
H. corrugatus
is associated with the Serra do Espinhaço that divides
Minas Gerais
and
Bahia
and turns north in the region of Licínio de Almeida continuing until Ibotirama (as the Serra da Garapa and Serra do Poção). The populations are discontinuous, and there is a single outlier population where the Serra do Espinhaço comes closer to the Serra das Almas, at the base of the Estrada Real, linking Livramento de Nossa Senhora to the town of Rio de Contas. It grows on rocky slopes of shrubby
caatinga
and
campo rupestre
on quartzitic/sandstone rock crevices in full sun, ranging from
650 to 980 m
a.s.l. (
Fig. 4
).
Conservation Status
:—So far, the extent of occurrence (EOO) of the species is
7,501,601 km
2
, while the area of occupancy (AOO) is only
36,000 km
2
. It is difficult to estimate how discontinuous the species distribution really is, though we know that it occurs only on slopes, associated with rocks and shrubby
caatinga
and in the ecotone with
campo rupestre
, and it does not grow in the lowlands between the mountain ranges. Throughout its distribution we find habitat destruction by mining (around Brejinho das Ametistas, Caetité,
Bahia
), increasing amount of land being taken over for tropical fruit culture (nearby Livramento de Nossa Senhora,
Bahia
), and degradation by cattle-farming and increased risk of local fires throughout its range. The existing evidence places this species as Endangered (EN – B2 a,b(ii)) according to the
IUCN (2014)
guidelines.
Phenology and Ecology
:—Flowering from September to May, fruiting from March to May.
Harpochilus corrugatus
has floral attributes associated with bat pollination (
Fig. 2 A–C
). These are
styliflory
, as the plants present their inflorescences and flowers on long branches above the vegetation (
Diniz
et al.
2019
) and semi-nocturnal flowers that last a single night, their anthesis starting after midday. The nectar is secreted and stored at the base of the tube with an average of 30 µl and a concentration of 21.5%. During a few hours of observation, a nectarivore Glossophaginae bat visited the flowers of
H. corrugatus
(
Fig. 5
) confirming the predictions of chiropterophily for the species.
Etymology
:—The specific epithet refers to the corrugated leaf as seen with the naked eye on both young and mature leaves.
Additional specimens examined (
paratypes
)
:—
Bahia
,
Mun. Boquira
,
Torre
da TELEBAHIA,
22 October 1993
,
G
.
Hatschbach
et al. 65990
, fl. (
CEPEC
,
MBM
,
US
); same locality,
Serra Geral
,
Serra do Brejo Grande
,
11 March 1998
,
G
.
Hatschbach
et al. 67634
, fl. (
MBM
); same locality, caminho para a
Torre de Comunicações
,
5 March
2021
, 950m,
D.
C
.
Zappi
et al. 5117
, fl., fr. (
UB
,
UFPE
);
Mun. Caetité
,
Brejinho das Ametistas
,
18 September 1978
,
A
.
M
.
Carvalho
et al. 1777
, fl. (
CEPEC
,
HUEFS
,
US
); same locality,
26 July 1989
,
D.
C
.
Zappi
172
, fl., fr. (
SPF
); same locality,
1 January 1991
,
N
.
P
.
Taylor
et al. 1533
, fl. (
CEPEC
,
K
,
SPF
); same locality,
11/02/1997
,
M
.
L
.
S
. Guedes et al. in
PCD
5441
, fl. (
ALCB
,
CEPEC
,
HUEFS
,
RB
); same locality,
13 March 2002
,
N
.
Roque
et al. 634
, fl. (
SPF
); same locality,
14 April 2002
,
F
.
França
et al. 3744
, fl., fr. (
HUEFS
,
UB
,
UEL
,
UFRPE
); same locality,
10 January 2008
,
A
.
L
.
Côrtes
et al. 66
, fl. (
HUEFS
); same locality,
851 m
,
1 March 2017
,
G
.
M
.
Antar
et al. 1392
, fl., fr. (
CEN
,
SPF
); same locality,
11 March 2021
,
D.
C
.
Zappi
et al. 5133
, fl., fr. (
UB
,
UFPE
);
Mun. Caetité
,
Santa Luzia
, c.
16 km
da cidade,
10 May 1994
,
V
.
C
.
Souza
et al. 5413
, fl., fr. (
ESA
,
MBM
,
UFRN
);
Mun. Licínio de Almeida
,
11 March 2021
,
D.
C
.
Zappi
et al. 5134
, fl., fr. (
UB
,
UFPE
);
Mun. Livramento de Nossa Senhora
/
Rio de Contas
, no início
da Estrada Real
,
5 March 2021
,
D.
C
.
Zappi
&
S
.
Albuquerque-Lima
5115
, fl., fr. (
UB
,
UFPE
);
Mun. Rio de Contas
,
Trilha da Estrada Real
,
2 January 2005
,
J
.
U
.P.
Souza
et al. 5221
, fl. (
ESA
)
.