Gymneia moniliformis Harley, 2013

Harley, R. M., 2013, Notes on the genus Gymneia (Lamiaceae: Ocimeae, Hyptidinae) with two new species from Brazil, Phytotaxa 148 (1), pp. 57-64 : 58-59

Gymneia moniliformis Harley , spec. nov.

Inter species Gymneiae habitu inflorescentiae et tubo calycis fructificantis infra faucem valde deflexi conveniens sed spica inflorescentiae graciliore 8–10 mm lato, numquam 15–30 mm lato et tubo calycis fructantis usque ad 3 mm longum numquam 4–6.5 mm et cum lobis subulatis 1.6–2 mm longis numquam 3.5–5 mm a speciebus ceteris distinguenda.

Type:— BRAZIL. Pará: Município of Novo Progresso, Serra do Cachimbo , estrada Santarem−Cuiaba , BR-163, km 794, base aerea, margem do Rio Braco-Norte , afluente do Rio Curua , 9º 22' S, 54º 54' W, 26 April 1983, Amaral, Silva, Monteiro, Lima, Brako, Reese, & Dibben 963 (holotype MG!; isotypes F!, K!, NY!, RB!) .

Herb or subshrub up to c. 1 m tall, stems woody and branched below, 4–5 mm diam., quadrangular with faces 1- to 2-ribbed, upper (flowering) stems unbranched, c. 2 mm diam., often purplish tinged, with very elongate internodes and leafless nodes, hairy on the faces with slender, white, elongate, appressed hairs, angles glabrescent. Leaves borne towards base, opposite, petiole 7–30 mm long, distinctly grooved above, with indumentum as on stems, lamina 3.5–7.5(–9.5) × 1.8–4.5(–6.0) cm, broadly ovate to ovate oblong, membranous, discolorous, apex somewhat rounded, base cordate or ± truncate, margin irregularly toothed with many small serrate to serrate-dentate teeth, very variable in size and shape, the upper leaves smaller and narrower and more shortly petiolate, upper surface of lamina dark green with thickened cuticle and impressed veins, thinly hairy, with short, erect, broad-based hairs, lower surface white-tomentose, with long, slender, weak, curled hairs, veins prominent, reticulate. Inflorescence a terminal, erect, elongate, unbranched, spiciform thyrse, 16–37 × 0.8–1.0 cm of ± remote, sessile verticillasters, becoming more remote as inflorescence axis elongates, the lowest <2 cm apart, composed of dense cymules of subsessile flowers, bracts scale-like, sometimes vinaceous, inconspicuous, 3.0–3.75 × 0.4–0.7 mm, lanceolate, concave on inner surface, with slender acuminate, rigid apex, midrib thickened, ½ width of bract, outer surface with scattered, white hairs especially on upper ⅔, otherwise glabrous, inner surface with long, white, curled hairs, densely so toward base, margin densely ciliate with very long, curled white hairs near base, bracteoles similar but smaller and narrower, <2.8 × 0.4 mm. Flowers subsessile, calyx at anthesis c. 3.3–3.5 mm long, tube 1.0− 1.5 mm long, narrowly infundibular, slightly hooded around posterior lobe, just below oblique throat, and longer on posterior side, thin-walled, externally thinly lanate with long, white, slender hairs, denser at base, and with scattered sessile glands, internally ± glabrous, lobes 1.5–1.7 mm long, unequal, triangular acuminate with posterior lobe longer and broader, lobes ciliate on margin with long, slender, white, curled hairs, calyx in fruit accrescent, 4.2–5.0 mm long, tube 2.3–3.0 mm long, inflated, ellipsoid-urceolate, slightly contracted and strongly deflexed just below oblique throat, thin-walled below and crustaceous in upper portion, lobes 1.6–2.0 mm long, rigid; corolla c. 3.7 mm long, lilac, with darker markings on posterior lip, stamens with anterior filaments thickened, ± glabrous, but with few long, hairs at junction with anther, posterior filaments more slender, hairy, style glabrous, stylopodium absent, stigma lobes almost obsolete, forming a scarcely bilobed terminal swelling. Nutlets c. 1.0 × 0.6–0.7 mm, oblong-ovoid with slightly truncate apex, weakly rugulose, glabrous, mid-brown, apparently not mucilaginous when wet. ( Fig. 1 ).

The newly described species is characterized by its very slender spikes of remote verticillasters of congested flowers, borne on an erect axis, with the leaves near the base of the stem. Unfortunately the leaves in the available material have been partly eaten and are poorly preserved. It agrees with the other species of the genus in having a long spike-like thyrse of verticillasters, the flowers strongly congested and with subulate bracts and bracteoles, and with the fruiting calyx strongly deflexed just below the throat. It differs from all other species in the much more slender spike 8–10 mm wide, as opposed to 1.5–3 cm in the other species, fruiting calyx with tube 2.3–3 mm long in G. moniliformis , as opposed to 4−6.5 mm long in the other species, and with subulate, spreading lobes 1.6–2 mm long (3.5–5 mm in other species).

Phenology:—The single collection, made in April, bears both flowers and fruit, but the phenological range of flower and fruit production must await further collections.

Distribution:—Only known from type material from the Serra do Cachimbo, Pará State, Brazil.

Note:— Gymneia moniliformis was detected while preparing an account of the Labiatae of Amazonian Brazil (see Harley 2012) and is known only from the type material. Confined to the Serra do Cachimbo in Pará State , it represents a remarkable northern range extension for the genus. The locality on the herbarium label gives the Município as Itaituba. However, in 1993, the new Município of Novo Progresso, which includes the Serra do Cachimbo, was created. The Serra do Cachimbo is an extensive mountain area in western Pará , east of the Rio Teles Pires and where the state of Pará meets those of Mato Grosso and Amazonas.

Habitat:—Geologically the area where the plant was collected appears to be primarily composed of sandstones, with a covering of well developed terra firme forests, although it can be surmised that there are also savanna areas present. The area is still poorly known botanically and further novelties can be expected.

Conservation status:—With only one collection known, and no other record in the last 30 years, from an area not well collected, it seems best to register it as Data Deficient, according to IUCN Red List Criteria ( IUCN 2001), with the hope that further observations will enable a reliable evaluation of its status.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Gymneia moniliformis. A. habit; B. part of inflorescence; C. close-up inflorescence; D. corolla; E. stigma; F. calyx opened out; G. fruiting calyx; H. nutlet; J. detail of distal leaf upper surface; K. detail of leaf underside; L. close-up hairs, underside. All from Amaral et al. 963 (type). Drawn by Margaret Tebbs.