Novelties in “ incertae sedis ” Vriesea (Bromeliaceae: Tillandsioideae): Redescriptions, new combinations and nomenclatural revision
Author
Kessous, Igor M.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Botânica), Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, CEP 20940 - 040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Author
Costa, Andrea F.
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, 20940 - 040, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
text
Phytotaxa
2023
2023-02-27
585
2
71
101
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.585.2.1
journal article
53472
10.11646/phytotaxa.585.2.1
f648d987-0485-4e81-a650-dec255e19aa8
1179-3163
7681555
4.2
Werauhia swartzii
(Baker) Kessous
& A.F.Costa,
comb. nov.
(
Fig. 9
)
Basionym:
—
Tillandsia swartzii
Baker (1888: 12)
.
Type
:
—
JAMAICA
.
Without
exact locality.
Swartz
s.n.
(
holotype
BM #923958
!, isotype S! #S-R-10050).
≡
Vriesea swartzii
(Baker)
Mez (1935: 400)
.
=
Tillandsia paniculata
Sw. ex
Baker (1888: 12)
.
nom. illeg. et nud. pro syn.
Description:—Plant
terrestrial, flowering ca.
1.3 m
high.
Leaves
ca.
25 in
number, forming an infundibuliform rosette;
sheath
oblong-obovate, 11−16 ×
7.5−10 cm
, densely lepidote on both surfaces;
blade
linear-oblong, triangular attenuate toward the apex, 35–51 ×
4–5 cm
, apex acute, green, sparsely lepidote on both surfaces.
Inflorescence
compound, once-branched, ca. 60-flowered, ca.
70–110 cm
long, very lax, erect;
peduncle
erect, ca.
30 cm
long,
6.5–8 mm
in diameter, glabrous;
peduncle bracts
the lower ones foliaceous and imbricate, suberect to erect, the upper narrow and exposing the peduncle in part distally, triangular-lanceolate, ca. 10 ×
1.2 cm
long, glabrescent to sparsely lepidote;
main axis
slightly sinuose, ca.
70 cm
long,
4–7 mm
in diameter, glabrous;
primary bracts
deciduous in some branches, lanceolate (lower ones) to narrowly ovate (upper ones), ca. 70 ×
8.5 mm
(lower ones) and ca. 15 ×
5 mm
(upper ones), glabrescent to sparsely lepidote on both surfaces;
spikes
10–20 in
number (including the terminal one),
10–30 cm
long, in an angle of 30–70º to the main axis, then arching to horizontal, 2–6 flowered and with a sterile bract at the apex;
stipe
16–20 cm
long, ca.
2 mm
in diameter, with a sterile bract at the base;
rachis
sinuous,
5–12 cm
long, ca.
1.5 mm
in diameter.
Floral bracts
ovate, obtuse, 10–10.5 ×
6–7 mm
, ecarinate, much exceeded by the sepals, lepidote on both surfaces.
Flowers
distichous, suberect, downward secund,
27–32 mm
long,
10–15 mm
apart;
sepals
narrowly oblong-elliptic, 16–17 ×
4.5–6.2 mm
, free, ecarinate, symmetric, glabrous;
petals
narrowly oblong-ovate, ca. 35 ×
10 mm
, off-white to smoky-cream, each with a purplish strip in center, free;
petal appendages
ca. 5 ×
2 mm
, adnate to the base of petals for
4.4 mm
, entire, reduced dactyloid (one-fingered), with free lobe rounded (except the finger);
stamens
equaling the corolla;
filament
ca.
23 mm
long, complanate;
anther
dorsifixed near the base, ca. 7 ×
1 mm
, erect, incurved;
ovary
conical, ca. 6.2 ×
3.5 mm
;
style
ca.
23 mm
long;
stigma
cupulate, exceeding the anthers.
Fruits
fusiform, suberect ca.
2.3 cm
;
seeds
unknown.
FIGURE 9.
Werauhia swartzii
(Baker) Kessous
& A.F.Costa.
A.
Isotype,
Swartz sn
(S-R-10050; Scanned by Frida Eggens (S); Courtesy of the Swedish Museum of Natural History).
B.
Living specimen (Photo: Philip K. Nelson, courtesy of Smithsonian Institution).
C.
Petal with appendages, one appendaged had its outline highlighted (Photo and illustration: I.M. Kessous).
D.
Stigma (Photo: I.M. Kessous).
Distribution:
—This species occurs in northern
Jamaica
,
370–762 m
above sea level.
Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes:
—Downward-secund flowers as observed in this taxon are often observed in
Werauhia
species
with compound inflorescences, such as
W. gigantea
(Mart. ex Schult. f.)
Grant (1995a: 31)
and
W. sanguinolenta
(Linden ex Cogn. & Marchal)
Grant (1995a: 35)
, although in some members of
Vriesea
as well. Beside this characteristic present in both genera,
V. swartzii
has dactyloid (one-fingered) petal appendages (
Fig. 9C
), a cupulate stigma (
Fig. 9D
), and free petals, which lead us to propose this new combination in
Werauhia
. In addition, this taxon is restricted to
Jamaica
in the West Indies, one of the centers of diversity of
Werauhia
. The name
Tillandsia paniculata
Sw. ex Baker
is a
nomen nudum
and
pro synonymo
, not previously described and only cited (not accepted) as a synonym by
Baker (1888)
(Art. 38 of the Shenzhen code,
Turland
et al.
2018
).
Etymology:
—The specific epithet “
swartzii
” refers to the
type
collector, Olof Swartz (1760–1818).
Representative Specimens Examined:
—
JAMAICA
:
Rio Minho Valley
,
3 March 1910
,
Harris 10885 (
NY
);
St. Ann
; Jamaica; on road to Grier Mount,
Mt. Diablo
,
24 March 1967
, fl.,
Read 1850
(US); Trelawny, on limestone ridge above the Donkey trail,
1 mile
N
of
Burnt Hill
intersection.
26 May 1960
, past fl.
Read
1920
(US)
.