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| Pinguicula panfetiae Panco, P.Temple & Y.Domínguez, in Pančo, Temple, Cobas, Lobaina, Matisova et Domínguez, 2025. |
Abstract
Background and aims – Pinguicula is a cosmopolitan genus of carnivorous plants with more than 100 species, most of them distributed in two centres of diversity: Europe and the Central American-Caribbean region. Fourteen species are reported for Cuba. During fieldwork to study Pinguicula populations in eastern Cuba, a white-flowered taxon, previously misidentified as Pinguicula albida or Pinguicula jaraguana, was collected in the mountainous regions of the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park. This taxon represents a new species for which we present a full description, a distribution map, illustrations, photographs, and a conservation status.
Material and methods – Living and preserved material of several populations of white-flowered Pinguicula from Cuba were analysed, measured, and described based on vegetative and reproductive characters. Statistical analyses were carried out to explore the differences among the collections. The preliminary conservation status of the new species was assessed based on the IUCN guidelines and criteria.
Key results – Pinguicula panfetiae is described as a new species endemic to eastern Cuba. It thrives on permanently wet, ferritic soils derived from serpentine bedrocks, on slopes above the banks of the River Toa in association with surrounding semi-arid montane serpentine shrubwood (charrascal). It differs from the closely related species, Pinguicula albida and Pinguicula jaraguana, primarily by its smaller rosettes with obovate, suberect to erect leaves, non-involute leaf margins, smaller flowers up to 1–1.3 cm including the spur, longer (0.6–0.7 mm) and wider (0.18–0.22 mm) seeds, and that it grows in full sun.
Conclusion – The newly described species increases the number of Pinguicula in the Cuban archipelago to 15. Pinguicula panfetiae is preliminarily assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.
Keywords: butterwort, carnivorous plant, critically endangered, endemic, Pinguicula albida, Pinguicula jaraguana, taxonomy
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| Pinguicula panfetiae based on type specimens (holotype HAJB [G 002601], isotypes B, BSC [22092]) and on living material. A. Habit, perennial herb with details of the trichomes of the leaf and the inflorescence scape (circles). B. Emerging leaf with involute margin. C. Frontal view of the flower. D. Lateral view of the flower. E1. Internal trichomes of the outer part of the corolla tube. E2. Internal trichomes of the middle part of the corolla tube. E3. Internal trichomes of the inner part of the corolla tube. F. Dissected flower with the persistent calyx and lateral view of the stamens and gynoecium. G. Fruit with persistent calyx. H. Lateral view of the seed. Illustration by Yoannis Domínguez. |
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| Pinguicula panfetiae at the type locality in the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, eastern Cuba. A. Habit. B. Frontal view of the flower. C. Lateral view of the flower. D. Dissected flower showing the persistent calyx and stamens and gynoecium. E. Lateral view of the fruit. F. Habitat at the banks of the River Toa. G. Regular rosettes with suberect leaves. H. Calathiform rosettes with erect leaves. Photos by Ivan Pančo (A–E, G–H) and Ivana Matisova (F). |
Pinguicula panfetiae Panco, P.Temple & Y.Domínguez, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Pinguicula jaraguana Casper affinis sed brevibus, foliis ovobatis, erectis suberectis, margine integerrima non involute, flores parvi 10–13 mm (calcari incluso), semina 0.6–0.7 mm longa (appendix incluso), 0.18–0.22 mm lata.
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| Distinct vegetative and reproductive morphological traits of related species. A. Pinguicula panfetiae. B. Pinguicula albida. C. Pinguicula jaraguana. Photos by Ivan Pančo (A, C) and Yoannis Domínguez (B). |
Etymology: Pinguicula panfetiae is named in honour of the late Cuban botanist, Prof. Dr Cristina Mercedes Panfet Valdés, to acknowledge her contributions to Cuban flora research, in particular, with regard to the carnivorous plant families for which she was the main Cuban specialist. Besides her research, Prof. Panfet dedicated most of her life to empowering many generations of Cuban botanists to achieve professional standing, which is also acknowledged herein.
Ivan Pančo, Paul Temple, Geovanys Rodríguez Cobas, Noel Coutin Lobaina, Ivana Matisova and Yoannis Domínguez. 2025. Pinguicula panfetiae (Lentibulariaceae), A New Caribbean Butterwort from eastern Cuba. Plant Ecology and Evolution. 158(3): 382-391. DOI: doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.161641
