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| Sarcoglottis neillii Salazar & Tobar
in Salazar, Tobar, Jiménez-Machorro, et al., 2019.
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Abstract
Recent exploration of the foothills of the Cordillera del Cóndor, southeastern Ecuador, led to the discovery of an unknown species of Sarcoglottis, and subsequent study in Peruvian herbaria permitted to record it in Peru. Here we describe it as Sarcoglottis neillii and provide a detailed drawing and color photographs taken from live plants. We compare its morphology with that of similar members of Sarcoglottis and conduct a preliminary assessment of its conservation status. Sarcoglottis neillii belongs to a small group of species including S. metallica, S. maroaënsis and S. stergiosii, differing from the former two species in leaf coloration and from the latter in flower size and labellum morphology. The single known Ecuadorian location of S. neillii was destroyed by extensive open pit-mining activities, but the several records from Peru suggest that the species is widespread; three locations occur within the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, but information on its actual range and potential threats is lacking and we suggest for it the category of Data Deficient (DD) until further field studies permit a better-informed assessment of its risk status.
Keywords: Amazon, Cordillera del Cóndor, Sarcoglottis maroaënsis, Sarcoglottis metallica, Sarcoglottis stergiosii, Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, Monocots
Sarcoglottis neillii Salazar & Tobar, sp. nov.
Type:— ECUADOR. Zamora Chinchipe: cantón El Pangui, estribaciones de la Cordillera del Cóndor, ..., 1600 m, collected 10 April 2017, pressed in cultivation 12 February 2018, Salazar et al. 9978 (holotype QCNE!).
Similar to S. metallica (Rolfe) Schltr. and S. maroaënsis G.A.Romero & Carnevali, differing from both in its bright green upper side of leaves densely streaked with silvery white and lower leaf surface homogeneously pale olive green (vs. upper surface of leaves reddish-, brownish-, or chocolate-purplish with irregular, bright green dots and spots and homogeneously purplish-red underside).
RECOGNITION. Sarcoglottis neillii is similar in floral structure to S. metallica, from the Guiana Shield and northwestern Amazonia—including its synonym, S. maasorum Pabst (1979: 21, fide Christenson 1999) and S. maroaënsis, from southern Venezuela (Romero-González et al. 2010). However, leaf coloration distinguishes S. neillii from the latter two species. In S. neillii, the upper surface of the leaves is bright green densely streaked with silvery white and its lower surface is homogeneously pale olive green. In contrast, the leaves of S. metallica and S. maroaënsis are reddish-, brownish-, or chocolate-purplish with irregular, bright green dots and spots on the upper surface and homogeneously purplish-red on the underside. Moreover, leaves of S. maroaënsis are ascending and proportionately narrower, elliptic-lanceolate to oblanceolate (vs. horizontal, elliptic to ovate). A further similar species is S. stergiosii, from southern Colombia and Venezuela, distinguished from S. metallica, S. maroaënsis and S. neillii by its much smaller plants and flowers, proportionately narrower perianth segments, and only slightly expanded apical lobe of the labellum (Carnevali & Ramírez 2003).
DISTRIBUTION. Know only from Ecuador and Peru, on the eastern (Amazonian) foothills of the Andes and on adjacent Andean tepuis, corresponding with the central and southern portions of the Andean Tepui Region proposed by Neill (2007) and Neill et al. (2014). The Andean Tepui Region consists a discontinuous series of mountain ranges located east of the main Andean cordillera and separated from it by low valleys. It includes, from north to south, the Serranía de la Macarena in Colombia, Cordilleras Galeras and Kutukú in Ecuador, Cordillera del Cóndor along the Ecuador-Peru border, Cerros de Kampankis in northern Peru (a southern extension of Kutukú), and Cordillera Escalera, Cordillera Azul and Cordillera de Yanachaga in Peru. This whole region holds an extraordinary biological diversity that has been only partially documented (Neill et al. 2014).
ETYMOLOGY. We name this species after Dr. David Neill, born in the USA but for many years living and working in Ecuador. He is Director of Conservation and Wildlife Management at the Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Puyo, and founder and Curator of the Herbario Amazónico (ECUAMZ). Dr. Neill has discovered and named many new plant species and several genera, and is a leading researcher of the flora and vegetation of the Andean Tepui Region, one of the less-known biodiversity hotspots of South America.
Recent exploration of the foothills of the Cordillera del Cóndor, southeastern Ecuador, led to the discovery of an unknown species of Sarcoglottis, and subsequent study in Peruvian herbaria permitted to record it in Peru. Here we describe it as Sarcoglottis neillii and provide a detailed drawing and color photographs taken from live plants. We compare its morphology with that of similar members of Sarcoglottis and conduct a preliminary assessment of its conservation status. Sarcoglottis neillii belongs to a small group of species including S. metallica, S. maroaënsis and S. stergiosii, differing from the former two species in leaf coloration and from the latter in flower size and labellum morphology. The single known Ecuadorian location of S. neillii was destroyed by extensive open pit-mining activities, but the several records from Peru suggest that the species is widespread; three locations occur within the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, but information on its actual range and potential threats is lacking and we suggest for it the category of Data Deficient (DD) until further field studies permit a better-informed assessment of its risk status.
Keywords: Amazon, Cordillera del Cóndor, Sarcoglottis maroaënsis, Sarcoglottis metallica, Sarcoglottis stergiosii, Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, Monocots
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| Figure 1. Sarcoglottis neillii (Ecuador, Salazar et al. 9978). A. Rosette of leaves in situ. B. Flowering plant removed from soil. C. Inflorescence. D. Close-up of flowers. E. Upper part of peduncle showing pubescence. F. Flower from front. G. Flower from side. H. Longitudinal section of flower from side. I. Labellum from above. J. Labellum from side. K. Column and upper part of ovary from side. L. Column from above. M. Column from below. N. Pollinarium from above. Photographer: Gerardo A. Salazar. |
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| Figure 2. Sarcoglottis neillii (Ecuador, Salazar et al. 9978). A. Habit. B. Floral bract spread out. C. Flower from front. D. Flower in oblique view. E. Flower from side. F. Flower from side with sepals and petals excised to show the labellum. G. Dorsal sepal. H. Petal. I. Lateral sepal. J. Labellum. K. Column from below. L. Column from above. M. Column from side. N. Pollinarium from above. O. Pollinarium from below. P. Pollinarium from side. Drawn with camera lucida by Rolando Jiménez-Machorro. |
Sarcoglottis neillii Salazar & Tobar, sp. nov.
Type:— ECUADOR. Zamora Chinchipe: cantón El Pangui, estribaciones de la Cordillera del Cóndor, ..., 1600 m, collected 10 April 2017, pressed in cultivation 12 February 2018, Salazar et al. 9978 (holotype QCNE!).
Similar to S. metallica (Rolfe) Schltr. and S. maroaënsis G.A.Romero & Carnevali, differing from both in its bright green upper side of leaves densely streaked with silvery white and lower leaf surface homogeneously pale olive green (vs. upper surface of leaves reddish-, brownish-, or chocolate-purplish with irregular, bright green dots and spots and homogeneously purplish-red underside).
RECOGNITION. Sarcoglottis neillii is similar in floral structure to S. metallica, from the Guiana Shield and northwestern Amazonia—including its synonym, S. maasorum Pabst (1979: 21, fide Christenson 1999) and S. maroaënsis, from southern Venezuela (Romero-González et al. 2010). However, leaf coloration distinguishes S. neillii from the latter two species. In S. neillii, the upper surface of the leaves is bright green densely streaked with silvery white and its lower surface is homogeneously pale olive green. In contrast, the leaves of S. metallica and S. maroaënsis are reddish-, brownish-, or chocolate-purplish with irregular, bright green dots and spots on the upper surface and homogeneously purplish-red on the underside. Moreover, leaves of S. maroaënsis are ascending and proportionately narrower, elliptic-lanceolate to oblanceolate (vs. horizontal, elliptic to ovate). A further similar species is S. stergiosii, from southern Colombia and Venezuela, distinguished from S. metallica, S. maroaënsis and S. neillii by its much smaller plants and flowers, proportionately narrower perianth segments, and only slightly expanded apical lobe of the labellum (Carnevali & Ramírez 2003).
ETYMOLOGY. We name this species after Dr. David Neill, born in the USA but for many years living and working in Ecuador. He is Director of Conservation and Wildlife Management at the Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Puyo, and founder and Curator of the Herbario Amazónico (ECUAMZ). Dr. Neill has discovered and named many new plant species and several genera, and is a leading researcher of the flora and vegetation of the Andean Tepui Region, one of the less-known biodiversity hotspots of South America.
Gerardo A. Salazar, Francisco Tobar, Rolando Jiménez-Machorro, Efraín Freire and Marcia Peñafiel Cevallos. 2019. Sarcoglottis neillii (Orchidaceae: Spiranthinae), A New Species from the Andean Tepui Region of Ecuador and Peru. Phytotaxa. 427(1); 1–8. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.427.1.1
