Increasing knowledge on the diversity of canelas-de-ema in the campo rupestre: two new species of Vellozia (Velloziaceae) from the southern Espinhaco Range, Brazil Author Cabral, Andressa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4330-0946 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany acabral@outlook.com.br Author Albuquerque Magri, Renato https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3080-7329 Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Author Lopes, Jenifer de Carvalho https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6485-9023 Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil text Plant Ecology and Evolution 2022 2022-09-07 155 3 343 352 http://dx.doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.94326 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.94326 2032-3921-3-343 3D06F3E2F55152558A0CDE7931F3E66C 7076645 Vellozia albohexandra Mello-Silva ex Andr.Cabral & Magri sp. nov. Figs 1 , 2A-D , 3 Type . BRAZIL - Minas Gerais • Cristalia , Jacuba , estrada Cristalia-Botumirim , proximo ao corrego Jacuba ; 700 m ; 28 Sep. 1997 ; fl. and fr.; Mello-Silva 1449 ; holotype : SPF; isotypes RB, R, SP, BHCB . Figure 1. Vellozia albohexandra . A - B . Habit. C . External view of the flower with detail of the apex of the sepal and petal. D . Detail of hypanthium emergences. E . Longitudinal section of ovary. F . Sepal. G . Petal. H . Stigma. Drawn by Rogerio Lupo based on Mello-Silva 1449 . Table 1. Morphological comparison among the species of the Vellozia luteola group.

-	V. albohexandra	V. armata	V. inselbergae	V. luteola	V. mellosilvae
Leaf length (cm)	3.7-9.4	2.5-11	15.9-21.3	4-20	11.9-29
Leaf width (mm)	4.7-7.7	4-8	7-13.9	6-14	5.6-13.2
Leaf furrows	present	absent/reduced	present	absent	present
Pedicel length (cm)	flowers sessile	ca 1.5	12.3-18.5	ca 2.5	1.6-4.3
Perianth colour	white	violet	predominantly white	yellow	violet
Sepal and petal length (cm)	0.9-1.3	1.5-2.3	6.9-10.5	1.5-2.5	2.5-4.2
Sepal and petal width (mm)	1-2	5	19.7-33.7	4-7	9-12.7
Number of stamens	6	18	24	15	18-20
Anthers length (mm)	3.6-4.5	ca 7	16.5-22.7	4-7	6-11
Style length (mm)	9.1-10	ca 15	40.7-61	10-25	14.6-23
Stigma diameter (mm)	1.3-1.4	2-3	7-10	ca 6	2.4-4.0
Capsule dimensions (mm)	5.7-6.7 x 5.3-6.2	ca 10 x 6-9	20.3-28 x 15.3-17.7	7-11 x 4-10	8-18 x 6-10

Diagnosis. Vellozia albohexandra is similar to V. armata by the tristichous leaves roughly of the same dimensions. However, V. albohexandra has sessile flowers (vs pedicel approx. 1.5 cm long in V. armata ), white sepals and petals (vs violet in V. armata ), 6 stamens (vs 18 stamens in V. armata ), and capsule 5.7-6.7 x 5.3-6.2 mm (vs 10 x 6-9 mm in V. armata ). Description. Stems 3.8-15 cm long. Leaves tristichous; leaf lamina 3.7-9.4 x 0.5-0.8 cm, linear-triangular, caudate, arcuate, involute, sparsely serrate on margins and midrib on abaxial side, abscission line absent, the old laminae marcescent and reflexed. Flowers solitary, sessile; hypanthium ca 0.5 x 0.2 cm, obtriangular, densely covered with subulate emergences, green. Perianth white; sepals 0.9-1.3 x ca 0.2 cm, oblanceolate, margin and midrib of apex and base sparsely covered with subulate emergences on abaxial side, adaxial smooth; petals 1.0-1.2 x 0.1-0.2 cm, narrowly-obovate, smooth or sparsely covered with subulate emergences on the base of abaxial side, adaxial smooth. Stamens 6, appendages absent; filaments separated, 2.5-4.0 mm long, colour not seen; anthers 3.6-4.5 mm long, basifixed, colour not seen. Style 9.1-10 mm long, white-yellowish; stigma 1.3-1.4 mm diam., trilobate-peltate, yellow. Capsule loculicidal, ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, 5.7-6.7 x 5.3-6.2 mm, ochre. Seeds not seen. Leaf and pedicel anatomy. Blade dorsiventral (Fig. 2A ). Abaxial furrows about one fifth thickness of blade (Fig. 2A ). Cuticle slightly thickened on both surfaces (Fig. 2A ). Adaxial epidermis 2-4-seriate (Fig. 2A-B ), abaxial epidermis uniseriate (Fig. 2A ). Stomata paracytic, confined to furrows (Fig. 2D ). Cells elliptically clustered present on adaxial epidermis (Fig. 2C ). Aquiferous uniseriate hypodermis present on adaxial surface, extending adaxially to the bundle sheaths as aquiferous parenchyma (Fig. 2A-B ). Palisade mesophyll 3(-4) cell-layers thick (Fig. 2A-B ). Fibro-vascular bundles surrounded by a unique bundle sheath, 1-3 large vessels present in each fibro-vascular bundle (Fig. 2A ). Phloem strands 2, separated (Fig. 2A ). Bundles of sclerified cells 2-7 cells thick present on the adaxial epidermis, spaced each 3-6 epidermal cells (Fig. 2A-B ). Blade borders with large and rounded fibro-vascular bundles, conduction tissues present (Fig. 2A ). Distribution and habitat. Vellozia albohexandra is endemic to the southern Espinhaco Range in Cristalia municipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Fig. 3 ). The species occurs in rock cracks of campo rupestre areas, at elevations around 700 m. Figure 2. A-D is Vellozia albohexandra ( Mello-Silva 1449 ) and E-I is Vellozia mellosilvae ( Mello-Silva 4347 ). A - B . Cross section of the middle region of leaf. B . Detail of sclerified cell bundles in adaxial epidermis (arrow). C . Leaf adaxial epidermis, arrow showing the cells elliptically clustered. D . Leaf abaxial epidermis, detail in the top right showing the paracytic stomata. E . Cross section of the middle region of leaf. F . Leaf adaxial epidermis, arrow highlighting the cells elliptically clustered. G . Leaf abaxial epidermis, arrow highlighting the cells elliptically clustered, detail in the top right showing the paracytic stomata. H - I . Pedicel cross-section. Black scale bars in A-G, I = 100 μm ; grey scale bar in H = 250 μm . Figure 3. Distribution of Vellozia albohexandra (star) and V. mellosilvae (dots) in the Espinhaco Range, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Phenology. Collected with flowers and fruits in September. Etymology. The epithet refers to the flowers with white perianth and six stamens. Preliminary IUCN conservation assessment. To date, Vellozia albohexandra is known only from the type locality and is therefore classified as Data Deficient (DD). Notes. Vellozia albohexandra can be easily distinguished from the other species of the V. luteola group by its sessile flowers, with white and smaller petals and sepals, six stamens, and smaller style and stigma (Table 1 ). The combination of sessile white flowers with six stamens is rare among the species of Vellozia . Vellozia sessilis L.B.Sm. ex Mello-Silva has a white perianth and six stamens, but despite its specific epithet, this species has pedicels with ca 1 cm long that is hidden among the old persistent laminae ( Mello-Silva 1997 ). Vellozia sessilis is distinguished from V. albohexandra mainly by its long hypanthium tube and general plant size and habit ( Mello-Silva 1997 ).