Wedelia figueiredoana V. R. Bueno, 2024

Bueno, Vinicius R., Rodrigues, Leonardo S., Sousa, Francisco Diego, Souza, Izaías C., Marzinek, Juliana & Marques, Danilo, 2024, Wedelia figueiredoana (Asteraceae, Heliantheae), a winged cypselae new species of Wedelia for Brazil, PhytoKeys 249, pp. 37-49 : 37-49

Wedelia figueiredoana V. R. Bueno sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5

Type.

Brazil • Ceará: Graça, área de Cerrado rupestre ; 4°05'18.1"S, 40°43'25.4"W; 26 February 2023; L. S. Rodrigues 201 (holotype: HUFU 00082144 !, isotypes: HUVA!, HCDAL!, RB!) .

Diagnosis.

Wedelia figueiredoana morphologically resembles W. bonplandiana by 0.25–1.05 cm leaf blade width (vs. 1.5–2.6 cm), linear to narrow oblong leaf blade (vs. elliptic to spatulate), 3 - seriate involucre (vs. 2 - seriate), and cypselae 3.9–4 mm long (vs. 6–7 mm).

Description.

Herbaceous habit, prostrate, 0.15–0.3 m tall. Stems cylindrical, strigose to sparsely hirsute or densely hirsute, castaneous, internodes 0.84–6.7 cm long. Leaves decussate, rarely reduced in the base, sessile; blades 2.25–10.3 × 0.25–1.05 cm, linear to narrow oblong, base attenuate, apex attenuate, often acute, venation hiphodromous, often acrodromous basal, margins entire, flat; abaxial surface hirsute to densely strigose, veins hirsute to densely strigose, eglandular, adaxial surface hirsute to densely strigose, eglandular; olivaceous, concolorous to slightly discolorous, chartaceous. Capitula solitaries, terminal, peduncle (1.85 –) 5.3–13.2 cm long, sparsely hirsute to hirsute, often strigose to sparsely hirsute, eglandular. Capitula heterogamous, radiate; involucre campanulate, (5.3 –) 6.7–9.5 mm × 6.7–12.7 mm. Phyllaries 3 - seriate; blades lanceolate, margins entire, flat, eglandular surfaces; outermost series apex acute or attenuate, densely hirsute to hirsute or densely hirsute to densely strigose, first series blades 9.4–12 × 1.9–2.3 mm, margin ciliate or not ciliate, olivaceous, foliaceous; second series blades 7.6–10.7 × 2.2–3.1 mm, margin ciliate or not ciliate, olivaceous or pale yellow to olivaceous, foliaceous or scarious with apex foliaceous; innermost series blades 5.5–7.6 × 1.6–2.6 mm, apex attenuate, sparsely hirsute to strigose, pale yellow to olivaceous, scarious with apex foliaceous or scarious. Receptacle flat, holopaleaceous, paleae 6.7–8.9 × 2–2.6 mm, narrow elliptic or narrow oblong, apex acute, concave or conduplicate, pale yellow to yellow. Ray florets 6–8, neutral, corolla ligulate, 10.3–14.3 mm long, tube 1.2–2.5 mm long, limb 9.1–12.3 × 6–6.3 mm, obovate or wide elliptic, apex 3 - lobulate, 3–6 veins, tube pilose or glabrous, surface abaxial glabrous, surface adaxial glabrous, nerves sparsely pilose or glabrous, yellow. Disc florets 25–40, monoclinous, corolla tubular, 4.8–6.2 mm long, tube 1.3–1.9 mm long, lobes 0.9–1.1 mm long, glabrous, yellow; anthers 2.2–3 mm long, apical anther appendages ovate, black; style arms 1–1.2 mm long, linear, yellow. Cypselae 3.9–5.6 mm long, obovoid, flattened, densely sericeous, blackish, wings present throughout the pericarp, but apically pronounced, 0.04–0.4 mm long, yellow; pappus constrict at base, coroniform 0.5–0.6 mm long, 2 - aristate, bitypic, monolength or bilength, 1.2–2.9 mm long, yellow.

Distribution and habitat.

Wedelia figueiredoana is a microendemic species, which is known to occur exclusively in one municipality of Ceará state: Graça (Figs 3 , 4 ). The new species grows in ferruginous open areas of Cerrado enclaves in elevations around 370–600 m a. s. l .. These enclaves also occur in the Ibiapaba plateau ( Moura-Fé 2017), in the municipality of Graça, Ipu, Ipueiras, Pacujá, Pires Ferreira, and Reriutuba (municipalities from Ceará state). This new species occurs in testimonial hills and small inselbergs associated with the plateau ( Moura-Fé 2017; Claudino-Sales et al. 2020), forming a Cerradão interspersed with open areas, rocky outcrops and ferruginous soils. This area is a transition zone between the Caatinga vegetation in low-elevation areas to the humid and subhumid forests in the high-elevation areas.

Conservation status.

The GeoCAT analysis ( Bachman et al. 2011) considers that each collection point has 4.0 km 2 of Area of Occupancy, but the species occurs in patches of open areas in the midst of closed vegetation, which greatly restricts its habitat. The Extent of Occurrence ( Bachman et al. 2011) was not calculated because there were only two collection points available. Through satellite images and QGIS v. 3.0 mensuration, we believe that the areas so far known for the species are not larger than 0.5 km 2. According to the IUCN (2022) criteria, W. figueiredoana meets the following requirements for the Critically Endangered status: the criteria B 1 (less than 100 km 2 of extent of occurrence), B 2 (less than 10 km 2 of area of occupancy) and the condition A of criterion B (because it has one known location); criterion C (less than 250 mature individuals), conditions i and ii of C 2 (about 50 individuals were seen, all mature individuals); criterion D (about 50 individuals were seen). Therefore, Wedelia figueiredoana is proposed as Critically Endangered (B 1; B 2 a; C, C 2 i, ii; D).

Phenology.

The specimens were collected with florets and fruits in February.

Etymology.

The epithet “ figueiredoana ” is in honor of Dr. Marlene Feliciano Figueiredo, born in 1963, a dedicated educator at Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú (UVA). Her dynamic engagement in teaching, research, and outreach, notably the Pensando Verde project, has left an indelible mark. Noteworthily, she was pivotal in founding and curating the Herbário Francisco José de Abreu Matos – HUVA (1998–2004), a vital botanical resource in Northwest Ceará. In botanical research, Figueiredo specializes in phanerogam taxonomy, floristics, ethnobotany, and seed germination ecophysiology, fostering a deep understanding of Northwestern Ceará’s intricate flora through her mentorship.

Figures

Figure 1. Wedelia figueiredoana sp. nov. A flowering branch B abaxial surface leaf C first series of phyllaries D second series of phyllaries E third series of phyllaries F capitulum with ray florets removed to show involucre, paleae, and disc floret arrangements G ray floret H disc floret J cypselae with apically pronounced wings K apically pronounced wing A – K drawn from L. S. Rodrigues 201 (HUFU) A – K millimeter scale. Illustration by Débora Dalzotto.

Figure 2. Wedelia figueiredoana sp. nov. A linear blade leaf B head (top view) C flowering branch D head and phyllaries (side view) E habit.

Figure 3. Geographic occurrence of Wedelia figueiredoana sp. nov. in Brazil. CE: Ceará, PB: Paraíba, PE: Pernambuco, PI: Piauí, RN: Rio Grande do Norte.

Figure 4. Wedelia figueiredoana sp. nov. habitat A enclaves of Cerrado B Wedelia figueiredoana in the ferrugineous soil C floral visitor in the W. figueiredoana D prostrate habit E solitary herbaceous individual of W. figueiredoana.

Figure 5. Cypsela of Wedelia figueiredoana sp. nov. in scanning electron microscope (SEM) (A – E) and light microscopy (F – K). A General view B apex detail C coroniform pappus detail, note the outer awn and inner bristles fused at the base D basal region detail, observe the presence of elaiosomes E indumentum detail highlighting the biserial tector trichomes F – H middle region F overview G pericarp detail, note the sclereids of the middle mesocarp and the presence of phytomelanin H lateral region detail, observe the vascular bundle immersed in the mesocarp I – K cypsela apex I general view J pericarp detail K lateral region detail. in: external mesocarp; ex. exocarp; im: inner mesocarp; mm: medium mesocarp; se: seed; arrow: vascular bundle; asterisk: crashed layer (part of the inner mesocarp and endocarp); black arrowhead: sclereid; white arrowhead: phytomelanin. Cypsela analyzed from L. S. Rodrigues 201 (HUFU).