Doniophyton Weddell (1855: 7)

Ferreira, Paola De Lima, Antonelli, Alexandre & Groppo, Milton, 2021, Touch me carefully: a step towards understanding morphological diversity in the South American spiny sunflowers (Compositae, Barnadesioideae), Phytotaxa 518 (2), pp. 109-142 : 130

6. Doniophyton Weddell (1855: 7)

Type: — Doniophyton anomalum (D. Don) Kurtz

Subshrubs, up to 40 cm tall. Stems erect or decumbent, much-branched, lenticelate, cylindrical, scales imbricated at base, tomentose, velutinous, axillary spines in fascicles, straight, divergent or convergent, glabrous or rarely pubescent at base. Leaves alternate, sessile, persistent or deciduous, blade linear-lanceolate, chartaceous or coriaceous, pale or lustrous, glabrous or tomentose on both surfaces, base truncate, leaf margin revolute or plicate, ciliate, abaxial with prominent midvein, apex spiny; nervation hyphodromous. Capitulescence terminal, monocephalous. Capitula 40–135- flowered, heterogamous, disciform, sessile or shortly pedunculate, involucre hemispherical or campanulate, 4–7-seriate, phyllaries scarious, yellow or yellow and purple, erect or reflexed, hirsute or velutinous, lanceolate grading to linear, apex spiny, margin flat, ciliate. Receptacle flat or convex, alveolate or tuberculate, pubescent. Flowers heteromorphic. Ray flowers 10–40, pistillate, corolla narrowly tubular (5+0), 5-lobed, yellow, villous. Style cylindrical, yellow. Disc flowers 30–95, bisexual, corolla tubular (5+0), 5-lobed, yellow, villous. Anthers 5, apical appendage acute or rarely apiculate, basal appendage acute, ecalcarate, caudate, inserted at base of the corolla, filaments free, glabrous. Style cylindrical, yellow. Cypsela turbinate, densely villous. Pappus plumose, shorter than or equal to corolla length, bristles whitish. Pollen without intercolpal depression, scabrate-microechinate. (Suessy & Urtubey 2007). Chromosome number = 24, 25 ( Wulff 1990).

Fig. 7a–b ; 10d .

Distribution and habitat: — Doniophyton comprises two species found in dry open areas from northern Chile to Patagonian Argentina up to an altitude of 4,000 m ( Katinas & Stuessy 1997). The species occur in the Puna vegetation (highland and steppe) and in the Patagonian steppe and semidesert.

Notes: — Doniophyton is a xeromorphic genus that has always been proposed as being closely related to Chuquiraga and Duseniella by sharing drier habitats, long caudate anthers, yellow corolla, and pollen without intercolpal depression. However, this group has long been enigmatic, since previous phylogenetic studies have not resolved the relationships among these genera, recovering Doniophyton as either nested in Chuquiraga ( Gruenstaeudl et al. 2009, Padin et al. 2015b), or as sister to Chuquiraga (Gustaffson et al. 2001) . Morphologically, Doniophyton can be distinguished from Chuquiraga by the subshrub habit (vs. shrub), chartaceous leaves (vs. coriaceous), heterogamous and disciform capitula (vs. homogamous and discoid capitula), and female marginal flowers (vs. all flowers in the capitula are hermaphroditic), and from Duseniella by its chartaceous or coriaceous leaves (vs succulent leaves in Duseniella ), by its perennial subshrubs habit, up to 40 cm tall (vs annual herbs up to 10 cm in Duseniella ) and by the pappus scaly overlapped (vs a plumose pappus in Duseniella ).

Iconography: — Katinas & Stuessy (1997).

Accepted species:—6.1 Doniophyton anomalum (D. Don) Kurtz ; 6.2 Doniophyton weddellii Katinas & Stuessy.

Selected specimens examined: — ARGENTINA. Chubut: Laguiñeo, 12 December 1981, A.L. Cabrera 33104 ( SI; 6.1). 96 kms E of Sarmiento on rte 26 to Comodoro Rivadavia (ca. 56. kms W of Comodoro Rivadavia ) , 600 m, T.F. Stuessy 12939 ( WU; 6.1) . Jujuy: Cochinoca, Abra pampa, 20 January 1976, A.L. Cabrera 27396 (MO, SI; 6.2) . La Pampa: Utracán, General Acha, 05 November 1953, A. Burkart 19219 ( SI; 6.1) . Mendoza: Malargue, camino a la mina la Valenciana, 20 January 1982, A.L. Cabrera 33461 ( SI; 6.1). San Rafael, hotel Termas del Sosneado , 2180 m, 34°46’12”S, 70°03’33’‘W, 22 November 2010, F.O. Zuloaga 12385 ( SI; 6.1). Puente del Inca , 2700 m, 20 December 1946, B. Sparre 1515 (K). Neuquén: Collon Curá, RN 40 between bridge over Embalse Piedra de Aguila and Collon Curá , 640 m, 40°21’27”S, 70°39’46’‘W, 13 January 2002, M. Weigend 5871 (B; 6.1). Zapala, 01 November 1925, H.F. Comber 111 (K; 6.1). Río Negro: General Roca, Vicinity of General Roca , 250–360 m, September 1914 – February 1915, W. Fischer 7 ( MO; 6.1). Ñorquinco, entre Ruta Ruin y Manuel Chique, 11 December 1981, A.L. Cabrera 33045 ( SI; 6.1). Santa Cruz: Deseado , Caleta Olivia , 250 m, 20 November 1929, A. Donat 127 ( MO; 6.1). Ruta 40, 38 km al ESSE de la intersección com ruta 37, 3 km al sur de Ruta 40, 47°58’23.3”S, 70°58’45.8’‘W, 18 January 2002, M. Bonifacino 481 ( LP; 6.1). San Juan: Iglesia, quebrada del Agua Negra , 3800 m, 10 January 1976, A.L. Cabrera 27070 ( SI; 6.2). Pie de Palo, then 2 kms N toward the hills and sand dunes ( Médanos ) , 600 m, T.F. Stuessy 12887 ( WU; 6.1). Calingasta, Manatiales , 27 March 1971, Zardini 175 ( MO; 6.2) . CHILE. Atacama: Copiapó, Rio Turbío , Co. Cadillal , 3.000 m, January 1926, E. Werdermann 953 (K; 6.2). Vallenar, Vicinity of Laguna Valeriano , 4.000 m, 29°03’S, 69°52’W, I.M. Johnston 6073 (K; 6.2) . Coquimbo: Bãnos del Toro , 3500 m, December 1923, E. Werdermann 201 (K; 6.2). Elquí, Baños del Toro , 3200–3300 m, 05 February 1939, J.L. Morrison (K; 6.2). Cordillera Doña Ana, Cancha de Sky , 3400 m, 29°51’S, 70°03’W, 06 January 1988, F.A. Squeo 88001 ( MO; 6.2). 21.4 kms N of Junta del Toro (aduana chilena) on road to Baños del Toro , 3100 m, 20 January 1993, T.F. Stuessy 12780 ( WU; 6.2) .

Figures

FIGURE 7. Doniophyton and Duseniella. A–B: Doniophyton. C–D: Duseniella. A: Doniophyton anomalum. B: Doniophyton weddellii. C–D: Duseniella patagonica. Photos by Darwinion Institute.

FIGURE 10. Geographical distribution for the genera of Barnadesioideae. A: Dasyphyllum. B: Chuquiraga. C: Barnadesia (red dots) and Huarpea (blue triangle). D: Doniophyton (blue triangles); E: Archidasyphyllum (blue triangles); Fulcaldea (blue triangles)—these words (triagle) in plural (triangles).