Symphyllophyton, Gilg, 1897

Guimarães, Elsie Franklin, Alves, Ruy José Válka, Santos, Eduardo Ribeiro Dos & Silva, Nílber Gonçalves Da, 2021, Synopsis of the Brazilian genus Symphyllophyton (Gentianaceae) with four new species, Phytotaxa 521 (3), pp. 159-176 : 175

Notes on Symphyllophyton biology and conservation

Symphyllophyton seems to be an unfortunate genus, as it is distributed in the part of Brazil currently suffering from severe agricultural impact, transforming all flat surfaces on the summits of sandstone mesas and surrounding savannas into crop plantations, mostly of soybeans.

Due to the scarcity of collections (~30 for the entire genus) the environmental preferences of Symphyllophyton remain poorly known. Our field experience in the states of Goiás and Tocantins indicates that the species in those states are associated with sandstone and more rarely quartzite outcrops, growing in well-drained sandy soils on southward, half shaded slopes. On several distinct sandstone bluffs in Goiás, based on GoogleEarth images, active searches revealed that Symphyllophyton horologium was present on all southward slopes, but slopes oriented to directions other than south were devoid of populations. Based on the south slope of sandstone bluff premise, a new population of S. gradatum was located by our team near Lizarda, in the state of Tocantins.

A bee fly (cf. Exoprosopa Macquart , Bombylidae ), kindly determined by colleagues Dr. Carlos José Einicker Lamas (Museu de Zoologia - USP) and Dr. Neal Evenhuis (Bishop Museum), was the single insect observed and photographed visiting and probably pollinating S. horologium on Morro do Pequi, Mambaí, Goiás.