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| Hippeastrum velloziflorum Campos-Rocha & Meerow, in Campos-Rocha, Meerow, Machado, ... et Dutilh, 2022. |
Abstract
In 2015, Brazil faced the worst environmental disaster in its history, when the collapse of an iron ore dam dumped millions of tons of tailings into the Doce River. In this paper, we describe two Hippeastrum species native to localities directly involved in the tragedy. The dam was located in the foothills of Serra do Caraça, a mountain range in the state of Minas Gerais, from where we describe the endemic H. carassense; H. velloziflorum was first found on an inselberg located on the banks of the Doce River, in the neighboring state of Espírito Santo. Comments on their distribution, ecology, and phenology are provided, as well as comparisons with the most similar taxa. The conservation status of the two new species is preliminarily assessed, and both are considered threatened with extinction. We also compared their leaf anatomy and micromorphology with related species of Amaryllidaceae. Based on nrDNA ITS, we infer the phylogenetic position of H. velloziflorum, a taxon with several unique morphological characters for Hippeastrum, as the first branch in subgenus Hippeastrum. The placement of H. velloziflorum in Hippeastrum is also supported by anatomical and cytological data. The somatic chromosome number was 2n = 22, and the karyotype formula was 2n = 8m + 12sm + 2st chromosome pairs. An identification key to the species of Hippeastrum occurring in the Doce and Jequitinhonha River basins is presented.
Keywords: Atlantic forest, Endemism, Inselbergs, Leaf anatomy, Nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer, Systematics
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| Hippeastrum carassense Campos-Rocha & R.C.Mota a Habit. b Detail of leaf venation, adaxial surface. c Spathe bract. d Flower, frontal view. e Flower with removed perigone, showing stamens and style. f Longitudinal section of the ovary. g Stigma. h Sepals and petals: shape and apices. i1 Upper sepal. i2 Lateral petal. i3 Lateral sepal. i4 Lower petal. Drawn by Klei Sousa from R.C. Mota 2747 |
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| a View of Serra do Caraça from Bento Rodrigues, the first village hit and completely buried by the mudslide; Pico do Inficionado and Pico do Sol (arrows), part of Germano mining complex (asterisk). b–d Hippeastrum carassense. b Flowering plant. c–d Flower, frontal view (c; detail of paraperigone). e Flower, lateral view |
Hippeastrum carassense Campos-Rocha & R.C.Mota, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Hippeastrum carassense is similar to H. diniz-cruziae Dutilh & Semir, but differs by having a shorter tube (up to 0.8 cm long) and a scalelike paraperigone (vs. tube 0.9–1.8 cm and paraperigone of bristles in H. diniz-cruziae). It may be related to H. cipoanum (Ravenna) Meerow, from which it is readily distinguished by its lorate leaves (vs. linear leaves in H. cipoanum).
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to Serra of Caraça, the locality to which the new species is endemic.
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| Hippeastrum velloziflorum Campos-Rocha & Meerow. a Habit. b Leaf. c Detail of leaf venation, adaxial surface. d Inflorescence with floral buds. e Flower, frontal view. f Sepals and petals. g1 Upper sepal. g2 Lateral petal. g3 Lateral sepal. g4 Lower petal. h Distal portion of the flower in cross section. i Stigma. j Longitudinal section of the ovary. k Cross section of the ovary. l Capsule. m Seed. Drawn by Klei Sousa; a-g from A.P. Fontana 6070, h-m from A. Campos-Rocha 2772 |
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| Hippeastrum velloziflorum Campos-Rocha & Meerow. a Morro Maquiji (general view of the inselberg). b Granite extraction in the foothills of Maquiji. c Vegetation islands in the higher areas of Maquiji. d Plants in habitat. e Bulbs and flowers buds. f Detail of spathe bracts. g Flowers, back view. h Anthers nearly at the same height. i Flowering plants. j Mature fruits. k Detail of the surface of the seed. l–o Seed. Scale bars k 50 µm; l–o 2 mm; h 4 mm |
Hippeastrum velloziflorum Campos-Rocha & Meerow, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Hippeastrum velloziflorum has unique leaves and flowers among all Hippeastrum. Its leaves are falcate and somewhat fleshy, resembling the leaves of Worsleya procera (Lem.) Traub (tribe Griffinieae). The flowers of H. velloziflorum are erect, salverform, and nearly actinomorphic and exhibit an unprecedented arrangement of their stamens, which are quite short in length. It may be related to H. brasilianum, another white-flowered species endemic to inselbergs in southeastern Brazil, from which it is distinguishable even vegetatively by its conspicuously falcate, fleshy leaves (vs. lorate and papery in H. brasilianum).
Etymology: The specific epithet makes reference to the amazing resemblance of the flowers and those of some species of Vellozia Vand. (Velloziaceae), in particular white ones with hypanthia elongated into a tube. Vellozia is one of the most representative elements of saxicolous vegetation on inselbergs in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Porembski 2003), habitat where Hippeastrum velloziflorum is known to occur.
Antonio Campos-Rocha, Alan W. Meerow, Raquel M. Machado, Juliana L. S. Mayer, Rubens C. da Mota, André P. Fontana, Otávio B. C. Ribeiro, Nicolás B. García and Julie H. A. Dutilh. 2022. Out of the Mud: Two New Species of Hippeastrum (Amaryllidaceae) from the Doce and Jequitinhonha River Basins, Brazil. Plant Systematics and Evolution. 308: 22. DOI: 10.1007/s00606-022-01805-3
