Friday, December 15, 2023

[Botany • 2023] Stachytarpheta meninii (Verbenaceae) • A New micro-endemic and Threatened Species from the Diamantina Plateau in Minas Gerais State, Brazil


Stachytarpheta meninii  P.H.Cardoso, 
in Cardoso, Gonzaga et Trovó. 2023. 
  

Abstract
Stachytarpheta is mainly distributed in Brazil, where the knowledge of species richness is still in progress. Here, we describe Stachytarpheta meninii, a new micro-endemic species from the Diamantina Plateau, Espinhaço Range. It is a shrub that can reach up to 1.8 meters in height, with abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes, viscous, aromatic leaves, inflorescences with oblong-triangular bracts, and blue corollas, with a tube that is barely exserted from the calyx. The new species has been recorded from two gatherings from the same locality in the municipality of Serro, Minas Gerais state, and can be considered Critically Endangered (CR). Illustrations and a distribution map are provided for the recognition of S. meninii, along with an identification key for species of the genus found in Diamantina Plateau.

Keywords: Brazilian flora, conservation, endangered species, endemism, Espinhaço Range

 Stachytarpheta meninii sp. nov.
(a) Branch with inflorescence, (b-c) leaf, abaxial surface, (c) detail of indument, (d-e) leaf, adaxial surface, (e) detail of indument, (f ) flower with bract, (g) bract, abaxial surface, (h) calyx, adaxial view, (i) corolla tube, (j) dissected corolla, showing the androecium, gynoecium and indument, (k) fruit.
(P. H. Cardoso and W. Picanço 88 -CESJ. Illustrated by Samyra Furtado).

  Stachytarpheta meninii sp. nov.
(a) Habitat and habit, (b) branch with inflorescence, (c-d) inflorescences, (e) detail of indument of the bract and calyx, (f ) detail of the corolla and calyx.

Stachytarpheta meninii P.H.Cardoso sp. nov. 

Diagnosis: A species similar to S. hispida Nees and Mart., but differing in having viscous branches, leaves, bracts, and calyces, with abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes, oblong-triangular floral bracts, shorter calyx and corolla tube, and narrower corolla lobes.  

 
Pedro Henrique Cardoso, Diego Rafael Gonzaga and Marcelo Trovó. 2023. Stachytarpheta meninii (Verbenaceae), A New micro-endemic and Threatened Species from the Diamantina Plateau in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Nordic Journal of Botany. DOI: 10.1111/njb.04200