Justicia cordifolia Rizzini (1952: 194) Funez & Braz

Funez, Luís Adriano & Braz, Denise Monte, 2021, Justicia cordifolia, a new combination in Brazilian Acanthaceae, Phytotaxa 494 (1), pp. 165-169 : 167-168

Justicia cordifolia Rizzini (1952: 194) Funez & Braz , comb. nov.

≡ Sericographis cordifolia Rizzini (1952: 194)

Type : — BRAZIL. PARANÁ: “Habitat ad viam Arraial, Botafogo , Morretes ”, 28 July 1946, G. Hatschbach 339 (holotype: RB! bacordes RB 58492 ) [ Fig. 1 ]; isotypes: RB barcodes RB76947 , US barcode US2282232 ) . ( Fig. 2 )

Description: —Shrubs 0.5–1.7 m high, stem 0.2–0.4 cm diameter, younger parts densely reddish-hispid to glabrous in older parts, quadrangular, woody at base. Leaves petiolate, membranaceous; petioles 15–55 mm, densely hispid; blades 35–125 × 24–59 mm, elliptic, apex acute to acuminate, base obtuse to cordate, hispid on both surfaces, cystoliths linear, conspicuous on both surfaces, secondary veins 5–7 pairs, brochidodromous. Inflorescences in terminal and axillary pedunculate cymes, 3–5-flowered, 44–73 mm long; peduncle 11–15 mm long; rachis reddish-hispid; bracts 11–17 × 3–9 mm, green, spathulate, hispid, reddish; bracteoles 10–11 × 2–3 mm, green, spathulate, hispid, reddish. Flowers subsessile; pedicel to ca. 1 mm; calyx green, 5-lobed to ca. 1.5 mm above base, lobes 6–8 × 1.1–1.2 mm, subulate, hispid; corolla orange, 3.7–4.3 cm long, sparsely glandular, bilabiate, upper lip triangular, 1.0– 1.4 cm long, 0.6–0.9 cm wide at base, 2-lobed, lobes ca. 0.5 mm long, lower lip 3-lobed, lobes oblong, 12–14 × 5–6 mm, apex truncate; stamens 2; filaments 3.2–3.5 mm long, inserted 1.4 cm above the corolla base, fused to corolla 1.4–1.6 cm, glabrous, anthers 2.6–2.9 × 1 mm, glabrous, thecae almost superposed, falciform, similar in shape, not appendaged; nectariferous disk expanded, ca. 0.8 mm tall; ovary deltoid, 1.2–1.5 mm long, 0.5–0.6 mm diameter, glabrous, style ca. 4.0 cm long. Capsules and seeds not seen.

Distribution and habitat: —This species has a restrict distribution between southern Paraná State, from Piraquara municipality to Vale do Itajaí region, up to northern Santa Catarina State, in Rio dos Cedros municipality. This species was only collected in the understory of pristine Atlantic rainforest.

Conservation status: — Justicia cordifolia has an extent of occurence (EOO) of 5,050 km ², and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 56 km ². Because this species grows in very fragmented habitat and was not recorded in any environmentally protected area, it is accessed to be Endangered (EN: B2 ab iii,iv,v) according to IUCN categories and criteria ( IUCN 2017).

Additional specimens examined:— BRAZIL. PARANÁ: Guaratuba: Serra de Araraquara , 25 June 1968, G. Hatschbach 19426 ( K). Morretes: Estrada Graciosa , Alta da Serra , 30 July 1968, G. Hatschbach 19756 ( RB). Morretes, 21 July 1985, J. Cordeiro 107 ( HEPH, ASU). Piraquara: Mananciais da Serra , 30 March 2003, M.G. Caxambú 63 ( HCF). 6 July 2002, R. Goldenberg & P. Labiak 576 ( UPCB). 25 June 1968, L.T. Dombrowski & P. Schrerer Neto 7505 ( MBM). SANTA CATARINA: Corupá: RPPN Emílio Fiorentino Batistella , 10 August 2007, A.L. Gasper et al. 531 ( FURB). UA 2/951 IFFSC, 29 July 2017, A. Kassner-Filho, D. Santos, G. Bollmann & D.A. Silva 607 ( FURB). Garuva: Monte Crista, rio do Cristo , 20 July 2006, F.C.S. Vieira 1812 ( JOI). Jaraguá do Sul: Morro da Antena , 28 May 2018, A. Kassner-Filho 2897 ( FURB). Joinville: Barragem do 8º Santo , Serra do Piraí , 18 August 2010, A. Korte & A. Kniess 4070 ( FURB). Cubatão , 6 July 2010, T.J. Cadorim, B. Grosch & C.P. Lopes 2914 ( FURB). Serra Queimada , 19 August 2010, A. Korte & A. Kniess 4148 ( FURB). Massaranduba: Morro da Boa Vista , 24 July 2016, P. Schwirkowski 1784 ( FURB). Rio dos Cedros: Vale dos Ventos , 23 April 2018, L.A. Funez & A.E. Zermiani 7699 ( FURB) .

Notes: —This species was original described as Sericographis cordifolia by Rizzini (1952) based on the specimens collected from Morretes Municipality, State of Paraná. Since them, few specimens were collected in Paraná and Santa Catarina States. Sericographis Nees von Esenbeck (1847: 107) was synonymized under Justicia by Graham (1988). Although the name Justicia cordifolia B.Heyne in Wallich (1830: n. 2482) was proposed for another species of the genus Justicia , this name is a nomem nudum, and not validly published. Thus, this epithet “cordifolia” available to the new combination Justicia cordifolia (Rizzini) Funez & Braz according to Art. 53.1 of the International code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants ( Turland et al. 2018).

Sericographis cordifolia was erroneously synonimized under Justicia brasiliana Roth (1821: 17) by Ezcurra & Kameyama (2008) in Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. Nevertheless, they are quite distinct speciesas pointed out by Profice (2010). Justicia cordifolia can be easily distinguished from J. brasiliana by its quadrangular stems, covered by dense reddish hispid trichomes; leaf blades elliptic, densely hispid, base cordate; inflorescences terminal and axillary; bracts and bracteoles spathulate, densely hispid; anthers with appendage absent, whereas Justicia brasiliana has cylindric and glabrous or glabrescent stems, leaf blades elliptic-lanceolate, base cuneate, inflorescences axillary, bracts and bracteoles subulate, glabrous or glabrescent, anthers with thecae basally appendiculate.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Justicia cordifolia (RB 58492). With permission by Rafalela Campostrini Forzza, from Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (RB Herbarium).

FIGURE 2. Justicia cordifolia. A. Inflorescence. B. Bracts and calyx lobes. C. Leaf blade. D. Stems.