Nahuatlea: a new genus of compositae (Gochnatieae) from North America
Author
Funk, Vicki A.
Author
Sancho, Gisela
Author
Roque, Nadia
text
PhytoKeys
2017
91
105
124
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.91.21340
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.91.21340
1314-2003-91-105
957354088108FFA2FFB72519DE2E8D07
1138363
6.
Nahuatlea hypoleuca (DC.) V.A.Funk
comb. nov.
Figs 3A
, 8
Moquinia hypoleuca
DC., Prodromus 7(1): 23. 1838.
Gochnatia hypoleuca
(DC.) A. Gray, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 19: 57. 1883.
Type.
Mexico. Neuvo
Leon
: Monterrey, January 1828,
Berlandier 1391
(Holotype: G 00223915; Isotypes: BM 000947902, GH 00010616, K 000502540, MO 100221306, NY 00230667, P 00703318, P 00703319, P 00703320, US 00119521). [There is a second specimen at NY that is a possible isotype NY 00230666; the specimen from HAL 0112991 may be an isotype but the dates
don't
match and the number is listed at "1391 s.n."]
Description.
Shrub
or small tree, 2
-5(-
7) m tall;
leaves
coriaceous, 2-5
x
0.9-1.5 cm, narrowly elliptic, apex obtuse, mucronate, attenuate at base, glabrous adaxially, cinereous-tomentose abaxially; heads sessile or very short pedunculate, in clusters of 5-15 heads at apices and axils of branches, many clusters per plant;
involucre
narrowly obconic, 4-7 mm tall
x
ca. 3 mm wide, bracts in ca. 3-5 series, ciliolate-tomentose on the margins but otherwise glabrous;
flowers
5-7 per head;
corollas
white, 10-12 mm long;
anther
base caudate, tails ca. 1 mm long, fimbrillate;
pappus
ca. 6.5-7.5 mm long, bristles biseriate, of various lengths and broadening slightly at the tips.
Figure 8.
Photos of
Nahuatlea hypoleuca
from southern Texas. Habit photo from La Puerta, Texas; Fruiting photo from Vaquillas Road, Texas; Flowers from Yturria Brush, Texas. [photos by T. F. Patterson.]
Figure 9.
Photos of
Nahuatlea obtusata
, all from Oaxaca, Mexico, showing habit and flowering heads of different ages. [photos by V. A. Funk.]
Distribution.
Mexico: Coahuila, Nuevo
Leon
, Tamaulipas, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Hidalgo, and
Michoacan
. United States: Arizona, Texas.
Remarks.
According to the Texas A&M University website (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/gochnatiahypole.htm) the common names for this shrub in Texas are Chomonque and Ocote. The website goes on to say that it is an "attractive, little-known shrub native to extreme South Texas, Chomonque flowers in the winter and has striking bi-colored leaves, very dark green on top and white and feltish underneath. The white flowers that appear from November to February are weakly fragrant and attract bees and many species of butterflies. It grows on gravel and caliche in South Texas shrub lands, and is extremely drought and heat tolerant. A specimen at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens has proved cold hardy and evergreen, but its cold-hardiness farther north is untested." The website lists the USDA hardiness zone 9.