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| Hechtia mixtecana Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr., in Hernández-Cárdenas, Espejo- Serna, López- Ferrari, Lara- Godínez et Siekkinen, 2026. |
Abstract
Botanical explorations carried out in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, led to the discovery of a new Bromeliaceae: Hechtia mixtecana,which is here described and illustrated. The new taxon is compared with the morphologically similar Hechtia fragilis, Hechtia lyman-smithii, and Hechtia minuta. Hechtia mixtecana differs from these taxa by the orientation of the leaves (ascending to divaricate), by the architecture of the staminate (twice branched) and pistillate inflorescences (once to twice branched), and by the length of the primary branches of the pistillate inflorescence (15–28 cm). A complete morphological description, images, and a geographic distribution map of the new species are included, as well as a list of examined specimens.
Keywords: Balsas Basin Province, endemism, Monocots, Poales, Sierra Madre del Sur Province
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| Hechtia mixtecana sp. nov. (a) Staminate and pistillate plants in bloom, (b) staminate primary branch, (c) staminate flower, (c1) floral bract, (c2) sepals, (c3) petals, (c4) stamens, (d) pistillate primary branch, (e) pistillate flower, (e1), floral bract, (e2) sepals, (e3) petals, (e4) pistil, (f) fruit, (g) seed. Illustration drawings a, b, c, d, e, f, g by M. T. Jiménez Segura; photographs c1–c4, e1–e4 by R. Hernández-Cárdenas. |
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| Hechtia mixtecana sp. nov. (a) Staminate flowers, (b) pistillate flowers. Photographs by R. Hernández-Cárdenas. |
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| Hechtia mixtecana sp. nov. (a–b) Rosettes at the type locality. Photographs by R. Hernández-Cárdenas. |
Hechtia mixtecana Hern.-Cárdenas, Espejo & López-Ferr. sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Hechtia mixtecana is similar to H. fragilis but differs in the inflorescence of the staminate plants (twice branched versus once branched), in the presence of indument on its peduncle and floral bracts (glabrous versus lepidote), in the shape (elliptic versus broadly ovate to oblong) of the petals of the staminate flowers; in the length of the primary branches of the pistillate plants (15–28 versus 1–6 cm), and in the presence of indument on its floral bracts (glabrous versus lepidote).
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to and honours the Mixtec culture from Mexico. One of the regions occupied by the Mixtec ethnic group is located in northwestern Oaxaca, the area in which the type locality of the new species is found.
Rodrigo Alejandro Hernández- Cárdenas, Adolfo Espejo- Serna, Ana Rosa López- Ferrari, Sofía Ana Lucrecia Lara- Godínez and Andrew Siekkinen. 2026. Hechtia mixtecana sp. nov. (Hechtioideae; Bromeliaceae), from Oaxaca, Mexico. Nordic Journal of Botany. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/njb.05137 [02 February 2026]
