Lychnophora haplopappa Loeuille, Semir & Pirani, 2019

Loeuille, Benoît, Semir, João & Pirani, José R., 2019, A synopsis of Lychnophorinae (Asteraceae: Vernonieae), Phytotaxa 398 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

8. Lychnophora haplopappa Loeuille, Semir & Pirani , sp. nov. Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Alvarenga, Pico da Aliança , 19°23’47.98”S, 41°40’19.65”W, 1300 m, 4 August 2014, B. Loeuille et al. 902 (holotype: SPF [ SPF216064 ]; isotypes: K, RB, UEC, UFP, US) ( Fig. 25 C–D , 26 ).

Species Lychnophorae pohlio simile, sed seriebus bractearum involucratarum 3–4 (non 5–6), floribus 1 (non 3–4) et pappo uniseriali (non biseriali) differt.

Treelet, 1.5–1.9 m tall, erect, ericoid; branches tomentose, surface tessellate, brownish to greyish; leaf scars triangular, without tuft of trichomes. Leaves sessile; blade narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly obovate or narrowly ovate, frequently angular, 1.4–3.8 cm × 1.8–4.7 mm, venation hyphodromous, midrib prominent abaxially (frequently concealed by indumentum), adaxially canaliculate, usually sericeous, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or glabrescent, abaxial surface dirty white, lanate, apex acute to slightly obtuse, spiniform with small pungent mucro, unfrequently absent, base rounded or slightly attenuate. Inflorescence a solitary syncephalium (second-order), terminal on side branches 1.6–9.8 cm long. Syncephalium 0.8–1.6 cm tall, 1.1–2.1 cm diam., hemispherical, surrounded by foliage leaves. Capitula ca. 50, closely appressed, interspersed by foliage leaves; involucre cylindrical 6.2–8.1 mm tall, 1.2–2.5 mm diam., phyllaries 3–4-seriate, weakly imbricate, light stramineous, apex acute, brown; outer phyllaries lanceolate to linear, rarely ovate, 2.5–4.5 × 0.4–0.9 mm, villous, frequently restricted to upper part; inner phyllaries very narrowly elliptic to linear, 6.5–7.7 × 0.6–0.9 mm long, glabrous; receptacle flat, naked. Florets 1; corolla purple, glabrous, sparsely glandular-punctate, corolla tube 4.1–5.5 × 0.6–1.3 mm, corolla lobes 3.5–4.3 × 0.7–1 mm, apex acute; anther dark purple, apical anther appendages triangular, acute, anther base shortly sagittate, obtuse; style shaft 7–9.5 mm long, purple, glabrous throughout except for pubescent upper ca. 1.5 mm beneath style-arms, style-arms 2.3–4 mm long. Cypsela cylindrical 2.3–3 × 1–1.5 mm, 10-ribbed, glabrous, glandular-punctate; pappus uniseriate, stramineous, paleaceous, setae 0.1–0.3 mm, free or partially fused, apex rounded or truncate, erose.

Distribution and habitat: — Brazil (Minas Gerais, known only from the Pico da Aliança). Campo rupestre; 1300–1446 m.

Conservation status: —The species is known from a single locality and population, which is not situated within any protected area. According to results obtained through GeoCAT analysis ( Bachman et al. 2011) (EOO = 0 km 2; AOO = 4 km 2; using a cell size of 2 km 2), the species is classified as Critically Endangered. Nevertheless, the only known population of the species may not allow a confident evaluation of its conservation status. Thus, we suggest this species should be classified as Data Deficient (DD) ( IUCN 2017).

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to the single series of pappus setae.

Taxonomic Notes: — Lychnophora haplopappa is similar to L. pohlii but it is set apart by its 5–6- seriate involucre (vs. 3–4), number of florets per head (1 vs. 3–4) and uniseriate pappus (vs. biseriate). Another similar species is L. rosmarinifolia but this species is easily distinguished by its lanceolate leaves with cordate (vs. narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly obovate or narrowly ovate), biseriate pappus with coroniform outer series (uniseriate pappus of free to fused bristles). The two other species of Lychnophora with an uniseriate pappus ( L. grisea and L. uniflora ) have a caulirosulate habit (vs. treelet).

This new species is a microendemic of Pico da Aliança (Minas Gerais State) which is a poorly collected area, and several species of angiosperm families such as Asteraceae , Droseraceae , Orchidaceae and Bromeliaceae have been recently described from this peak or from the proximate Pico do Padre Angelo (Campacci 2014, Gonella et al. 2015, Leme et al. 2013, 2014). However, Lychnophora haplopappa is absent from the latter peak. The same distribution pattern has been observed for Eremanthus ovatifolius ( Loeuille & Pirani 2016) . This is the easternmost record of a Lychnophora species.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Alvarenga, Pico da Aliança , 19°23’43.22”S, 41°40’8.93”W, 1430 m, 9 July 2014, P. M . Gonella et al. 698 ( SPF, UFP); ibid., 19°23’42.91”S, 41°40’9.8”W, 1446 m, 4 August 2014, B . Loeuille et al. 905 ( K, SPF, UFP, US).

Figures

FIGURE 25. Lychnophora pohlii. A. Habit. B. Syncephalia. L. haplopappa. C. Leaves. D. Habit. E. Syncephalium. L. rosmarinifolia. F. Leaves. A.–B. by J. Lovo. C.–F. by B. Loeuille.

FIGURE 26. Holotype of Lychnophora haplopappa Loeuille, Semir & Pirani (SPF216064).