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| Hechtia cerrostlatilpae Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr., in Hernández Cárdenas, Serna, López-Ferrari, Valenzuela-Galván, Lara-Godínez et Siekkinen. 2024. |
Abstract
Background: As a result of botanical explorations carried out for the project Bromeliaceae of Mexico, we collected plants of the genus Hechtia within the Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve, in Xochipala, municipality of Tlaquiltenango, Morelos, Mexico. However, this plant does not resemble any known species.
Question: Do the Hechtia populations in Xochipala correspond to an undescribed taxon?
Studied species: Species of Hechtia previously reported from Morelos and all the taxa with greater morphological similarity to the new proposed taxon.
Study site and date: Xochipala, municipality of Tlaquiltenango, Morelos, Mexico, 2023.
Methods: Our research involved field work, review of herbarium specimens, protologues, and type material of all the species of Hechtia distributed in Morelos, in the neighboring states of Puebla and Guerrero, and of the most morphologically similar taxa.
Results: After a careful and detailed review of the living material and herbarium specimens, we conclude that those plants belong to an undescribed taxon that we propose here. A morphological description, images, and a distribution map of Hechtia cerrostlatilpae are included, as well as an identification key and a list of examined specimens of all Hechtia species known from the state of Morelos.
Conclusions: The discovery of a new species of Hechtia in Xochipala, Morelos, Mexico increases the plant diversity of Morelos, particularly at the Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve. Hechtia cerrostlatilpae presents unique vegetative and floral characters that allow its recognition as a new species within the genus.
Keywords: Balsas Basin, Monocots, Poales, saxicolous, Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve
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| Hechtia cerrostlatilpae Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr. A. Detail of pistillate spike. B. Pistillate flower. B1. Floral bract. B2. Sepals. B3. Petals. B4. Pistil. C. Detail of staminate spike. D. Staminate flower. D1. Floral bract. D2. Sepals. D3. Petals. D4. Stamens. (Photographs A, C by R. Cerros Tlatilpa; B-B4, D-D4 by R. Hernández Cárdenas). |
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| Hechtia cerrostlatilpae Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr. C. Rosettes in the type locality. |
Hechtia cerrostlatilpae Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr., sp. nov.
Diagnosis. The new species is similar to Hechtia medusae Hern.-Cárdenas, Siekkinen, López-Ferr. & Espejo (Hernández-Cárdenas et al. 2020) but differs in the arrangement of the staminate and pistillate inflorescences (twice branched vs. once branched), in the number of primary branches in staminate inflorescences (10-15 vs. 20-25), in the shape of staminate floral bracts (widely ovate vs. triangular to ovate), and in the shape of petals of the pistillate flowers (triangular vs. ovate).
Etymology. The specific epithet honors Dra. Rosa Cerros Tlatilpa, botanist colleague and friend, who has made significant contributions to the knowledge of the flora and vegetation of the state of Morelos and the Sierra de Huautla region, where the new species grows.
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| Distribution map of the Hechtia species present in the state of Morelos and of H. isthmusiana, H. medusae, and H. mooreana. |
Rodrigo Alejandro Hernández Cárdenas, Adolfo Espejo Serna, Ana Rosa López-Ferrari, David Valenzuela-Galván, Sofía Ana Lucrecia Lara-Godínez and Andrew Siekkinen. 2024. Hechtia cerrostlatilpae (Hechtioideae; Bromeliaceae), A New Species from Morelos, Mexico. Botanical Sciences. 102(4); 1353-1362. DOI: doi.org/10.17129/botsci.3513