Minasia ramosa Loeuille, Robinson & Semir, 2011

Loeuille, Benoît, Robinson, Harold & Semir, João, 2011, Minasia ramosa (Asteraceae: Vernonieae), a new species from the Serra do Cabral, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Phytotaxa 25, pp. 18-22 : 19-21

Minasia ramosa Loeuille, Robinson & Semir , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Species M. cabralensi similis sed inflorescentia paniculata (non capitulo plerumque solitario) et foliis longioribus differt.

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais : Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral , início da subida, 900 m, fl. fr., 14 April 1996, G. Hatschbach, A. Schinini & J. M. Silva 64718 (holotype ESA, isotypes CTES [not seen], MBM, US [× 2]) .

Perennial herb to 1.5 m; xylopodium obconic or napiform; stem 2.5–8.0 cm tall, obscured by surrounding leaf sheaths. Leaves forming rosettes, simple, sessile, sheaths 0.4–1.5 cm long, whitish lanulose, rarely glabrescent; blade 6.18–26.20 × 0.11–1.25 cm, very narrowly ensiform, rarely lanceolate, usually carinate, argenteus to dark green tomentulose on both sides, T-shaped hairs, densely appressed, midrib prominent and furrowed beneath, slightly prominent above, venation pinnate, ascending veins inconspicuous, margins entire, apex attenuate, base slightly truncate. Inflorescence scapose, 50.8–88.4 cm long, scape partially leafy, 1 or 2 per rosette, greyish to ferrugineous tomentose, panicle sparsely branched, internodes 1.64–10.28 cm long, lateral branches 2–9 cm long, with 2 to 8 capitula, more or less congested; bracts sessile, linear to narrowly elliptic, 0.75–8.40 × 0.08–0.30 cm. Capitula homogamous, discoid, sessile to pedunculate, peduncles up to 2 cm long; involucre campanulate, 5–11 × 4.2–10.0 mm; phyllaries 5–6-seriate, weakly imbricate, outer phyllaries narrow to widely ovate, sometimes triangular, 2.0–4.1 × 0.9–2.6 mm, apex obtuse, rarely acute, densely tomentose, stramineous with apical portion usually dark brown, margins membranaceous and fimbrillate, inner phyllaries lanceolate, rarely narrowly elliptic, 6.2–7.8 × 0.9–1.5 mm, apex acute, glabrous except apical portion densely pilose, stramineous with apical portion dark brown, margins slightly fimbrillate; receptacle flat, glabrous, fimbrillate with fimbriae unequal in length up to ca. 2 mm. Florets 24 to 46, hermaphrodite, fertile; corolla actinomorphic, 5-lobed, lilac, corolla tube 5.3–7.7 × 0.5–1.3 mm, glandularpunctate, corolla lobes 2.2–3.5 × 0.4–0.7 mm, apices acute, tomentulose; apical anther appendages narrowly ovate, more or less twice as long as wide, basal anther appendages sagittate; style 0.9–1.4 cm, style shaft glabrous throughout except for pubescent upper ca. 2 mm beneath style arms, style base glabrous, lacking basal node, with nectariferous disc, style arms 1.7–2.9 mm long, short pubescent outside throughout. Cypsela 2.1–3.6 × 0.9–1.3 mm, 4-angled, 10-ribbed, setuliferous indumentum usually denser towards the base, twinhairs with cells fused to near the tip, glandular-punctate; carpopodium annular; pappus biseriate, setose, pale stramineous, rarely reddish, straight or slightly twisted, persistent, outer series 1.1–2.3 mm long, barbellate, inner series 5.2–7.3 mm long, barbellate, apices slightly dilated.

Distribution: —Currently known only from Serra do Cabral in the Espinhaço range, Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil. It grows in campos rupestres, frequently found in small areas of white sand, at 900–1050 m elevation.

Conservation Status: —The new species, according to IUCN Red list category ( IUCN 2010), is considered Vulnerable (B1a, B2a)), since its area of occurrence is smaller than 20,000 km 2, its area of occupancy is smaller than 2,000 km 2, and it is known from no more than ten localities.

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to the branched pattern of the inflorescence of the species.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Joaquim Felício, estrada pela Serra do Cabral , 17 April 1981, L . Rossi et al. CFCR 1064 ( K, SPF); Serra do Cabral, curva do Córrego Jucão , 17° 41' 49.8" S, 44° 16' 42.6" W, 27 April 1997, T. M . Lewinsohn et al. PIC97001 ( UEC); Serra do Cabral , 17° 41' 51.6" S, 44° 15' 47.4" W, 27 April 1997, T. M . Lewinsohn et al. PIC 97013 ( UEC); Garimpo , próximo a casa do garimpeiro, 17° 41' 36" S, 44° 11' 31.8" W, 28 April 1997, T. M . Lewinsohn et al. PIC 97019 ( UEC); Paredão do Topo , 17° 42' 27" S, 44° 11' 31.2" W, 28 April 1997, T. M . Lewinsohn et al. PIC 97022 ( UEC); Serra do Cabral , 2 May 2000, E. L . Borba 572 ( UEC); estrada Joaquim Felício–Várzea da Palma , 17° 42' 27" S, 44° 11' 37.1" W, 1026 m, 3 June 2008, B . Loeuille et al. 432 ( HAW, K, MO, SPF, US) ; 8.4 km além da ponte sobre o Córrego da Onça , 17° 41' 34'' S, 44° 11' 41.5" W, 986 m, 3 May 2009, R . Mello-Silva 3223 ( SPF) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Minasia ramosa. A. Habit. B. Leaf. C. Capitulum. D. Corolla. E. Stamen. F. Style. G. Cypsela with pappus; A–G. from Hatschbach et al. 64718 (ESA).