[Botany • 2022] Utricularia elephanthoides (Lentibulariaceae) • A New Species from the Guayana Shield

Utricularia elephanthoides J.R. Grande,

in Grande Allende, 2022. 

DOI: 10.21829/abm129.2022.2049  

  Researchgate.net/publication/361119050

Abstract:

Background and Aims: Utricularia (Lentibulariaceae) includes ca. 240 carnivorous species of cosmopolitan distribution. The Guayana Shield has 48 species, about 20% of the world total. Of the 35 groups into which the genus is divided, Utricularia sect. Orchidioides is one of the best known and studied, as it usually has large and striking flowers. In this paper, the identity of one of the species in this section, present in the Guayana Shield, is clarified. Methods: The taxonomic literature, herbarium material, and photographs of cultivated plants from the study area (Bolívar and Amazonas states of Venezuela, in the central portion of the Guayana Shield) available on the internet, were reviewed. Additionally, and for comparative purposes, material from the most closely related species (Utricularia asplundii, U. jamesoniana and U. uxoris) was also reviewed.

Key results: Utricularia elephanthoides sp. nov., which is characterized by the photosynthetic organs with an acute apex, upper lip of the corolla shallowly tetralobulate, applied to the lower lip, and spur ≤1.5 times the length of the lower lip of the corolla, is described and illustrated. This new species, together with Utricularia asplundii, U. jamesoniana and U. uxoris, forms a natural group with relatively small flowers and deeply trilobulate lower corolla lobe, which is named here “U. jamesoniana complex”. A table of morphological characters, a key and two maps are presented, by means of which these four species can be compared and differentiated.

Conclusions: The Guayanan populations of Utricularia sect. Orchidioides with a deeply trilobulate lower corolla lip and a spur with basal (conical) and apical (subulate) portions of similar length should be assigned to the new concept (U. elephanthoides), so far only known from Venezuela. This species is part of the “Utricularia jamesoniana” complex, which is monophyletic and widely distributed in the Neotropics.

Key words: Guayana, Pantepui, tepui, Utricularia sect. Orchidioides, Venezuela.

Utricularia elephanthoides J.R. Grande.
A. habit; B. flower at anthesis; C. upper lip of corolla; D. lower lip of corolla; E. calyx; F. spur; G. trap or utricle; H. bract (center) and bracteoles (left and right); I. scale of the peduncle.

 (A and G-I: based on the holotype; A (flower) and B: based on Welge and Teichert, 2003-2004; C-F: based on F. Cardona 851 (VEN)).

Utricularia elephanthoides J.R. Grande, sp. nov.  

Etymology: the epithet “elephanthoides” (from Greek ἐλέφας, elephant; ἄνθος, flower; -ειδής, similar) alludes to the curious morphology of the flowers, which resemble the head of a proboscis.

José Ramón Grande Allende. 2022. Utricularia elephanthoides (Lentibulariaceae), especie nueva del Escudo Guayanés. [Utricularia elephanthoides (Lentibulariaceae), A New Species from the Guayana Shield]. Acta botánica mexicana. 129[Epub 30-Jun-2022]. DOI: 10.21829/abm129.2022.2049  

  Researchgate.net/publication/361119050_Utricularia_elephanthoides_especie_nueva_del_Escudo_Guayanes

 

[Botany • 2020] Epidendrum katarun-yariku (Orchidaceae) • A New Species of the Schistochilum group from the Tepuis of the Guiana Highlands in South America

 Epidendrum katarun-yariku Hágsater & Wrazidlo

in Hágsater & Wrazidlo, 2020.

DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.472.1.4 

facebook.com/MateuszWr 

Abstract

Epidendrum katarun-yariku is hereby described and illustrated as a new species of Orchidaceae native to the summits and upper slopes of the sandstone tabletop mountains (tepuis) in the Guiana Highlands in South America.

Keywords: Monocots, Guiana Shield, Secundum subgroup, Venezuela, Brazil, Guayana, tepuy, Acopán-tepuí, Arekuna

Plate of  Epidendrum katarun-yariku Hágsater & Wrazidlo.
A. Habit. B. Inflorescence. C. Flower, frontal view. D. Flower, longitudinal section. E. Column. F. Dissected perianth. G. Anther and pollinia.

 Photographs by Mateusz Wrazidlo. 

Edited by Anaís Cisneros.

 Epidendrum katarun-yariku Hágsater & Wrazidlo. 
A. Plant in its natural habitat on Abacapá-tepuí, Chimantá Massif, Venezuela (photographed by Brad Wilson). 
B. Inflorescence photographed on a wild plant on Amurí-tepuí, Chimantá Massif, Venezuela (photographed by Martin Hingst). 
C. Flower on a specimen from Acopán-tepuí 

(photographed by Mateusz Wrazidlo).

Epidendrum katarun-yariku Hágsater & Wrazidlo, sp. nov. 

Epidendrum katarun-yariku is similar to E. secundum Jacq. but the sepals and petals yellow, the lip white, callus massive, deep yellow (vs. flowers entirely pink with a massive callus, pale yellow at the base center, the apical 2/3 white). 

Etymology:— From the indigenous Pemón Arekuna language, katarun (high), and yariku (flower), meaning high flower, in reference to this species being found only on the summits and upper foothills of the tepuis. The name was chosen in consultation with members of the Pemón Arekuna community of Paruima, to honor the indigenous heritage of the Guiana Highlands. 

 Distribution and habitat:— Known currently from the “high-tepui belt”, especially summit plateaus and upper talus slopes of the tepuis in the southwestern part of the states of Bolívar and Amazonas, Venezuela: Chimantá Massif (Acopán-tepuí, Amurí-tepuí, Apacará-tepuí, Abacapá-tepuí), Auyán-tepuí, Ptari-tepuí, Camarcaibarai-tepuí, Meseta del Jaua, Sierra de la Neblina and Cerro Duida (Fig. 3) as well as the neighboring area around Pico da Neblina in Brazil. Terrestrial in wet savanna; “praderas húmedas y arbustales enanos sobre turberas, bosquecillos ribereños y vegetación sobre rocas abiertas”, at 1380 to 2400 m altitude, with the lowest occurrences recorded on Cerro Sarisariñama. Flowering throughout the year. From records in Reflora and AMO-DATA, it does not appear to be present in Serra do Aracá in Brazil. The plates by Barbosa-Silva & Forzza (2016: fig. 73) only show a white flowered species of this group. None of the specimens mentioned in the Appendix 1 of Barbosa-Silva et al. (2020, Appendix 1), correspond to this entity. 

Epidendrum katarun-yariku.
 A. Plant in its natural habitat on Abacapá-tepuí, Chimantá Massif, Venezuela (photographed by Brad Wilson). B. Inflorescence photographed on a wild plant on Amurí-tepuí, Chimantá Massif, Venezuela (photographed by Martin Hingst). C. Flower on a specimen from Acopán-tepuí (photographed by Mateusz Wrazidlo).

Eric Hágsater and Mateusz Wrazidlo. 2020. Epidendrum katarun-yariku (Orchidaceae), A New Species of the Schistochilum group from the Tepuis of the Guiana Highlands in South America. Phytotaxa. 472(1); 33–40. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.472.1.4

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