Tuesday, April 9, 2024

[Botany • 2019] Calliandra estebanensis (Fabaceae) • A narrowly endemic New Species of Calliandra series Racemosae from Sinaloa, Mexico


 Calliandra estebanensis H.M. Hern.,

in Hernández et Gómez-Hinostrosa, 2019. 
Drawn by Albino Luna.

Abstract
Calliandra estebanensis, a new species
 of Fabaceae, mimosoid, from a remote locality of Sinaloa, Mexico, is here described and illustrated. The new species is probably closely related to C. grandiflora, an extremely common species frequently found in oak, pine and pine-oak forests, from northwestern Mexico, in Durango, Sinaloa and Sonora, to Honduras and El Salvador. The new species is distinguished from C. grandiflora by its flowers with longer peduncles, shorter pedicels, and larger calyces and corollas, and by the much denser white-sericeous vestiture covering all reproductive structures. Excluding the longer pedicels, C. grandiflora has smaller flower parts, which are covered with a finer vestiture of shorter, variably-colored trichomes.

Keywords: Calliandra longipedicellata, Calliandra palmeri, Leguminosae, legumes, Sierra de Surutato, taxonomy, Eudicots

 Calliandra estebanensis H.M. Hern.
A. Branchlet with inflorescence at anthesis and developing pod. B. Leaflet. C. Detail of calyx and corolla. D. Dissected flower showing the staminal tube and pistil. E. Detail of the ovary. F. Pod.
 Vouchers: A-E, E. Martínez et al. 4180 (MEXU); F, H.S. Gentry 6330-A, (MEXU). 
Drawn by Albino Luna.

Calliandra estebanensis H.M. Hern., sp. nov.  

 Calliandra estebanensis is closely related to C. grandiflora L’Héritier (1788: 30) Bentham (1840: 139) from which it could be distinguished by having flowers with longer (1.1–2 cm vs. 0.6–1.2 cm) peduncles, shorter (4–6 mm vs. 6–10 mm) pedicels, and larger calyces (2–4 mm vs. 1–2 mm) and corollas (10–16 mm vs. 8–12 mm), prominently covered by a much denser white-sericeous (vs. white, black or ferruginous pilose) vestiture.


Etymology:—This species in named to honor Esteban Martínez S. (1954–), a Mexican botanist based at the National Herbarium of Mexico (MEXU), who over the last 36 years has produced tens of thousands of botanical collections from all over Mexico and described numerous taxa, greatly contributing to our knowledge of the flora of this country.


Héctor M. Hernández and Carlos Gómez-Hinostrosa. 2019. A narrowly endemic New Species of Calliandra series Racemosae (Fabaceae) from Sinaloa, Mexico. Phytotaxa. 401(1); 49–54. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.401.1.4