Lavoisiera belinelloi A. B. Martins & Almeda, 2017

Martins, Angela B. & Almeda, Frank, 2017, A Monograph of the Brazilian endemic genus Lavoisiera (Melastomataceae: Microlicieae), Phytotaxa 315 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

5. Lavoisiera belinelloi A. B. Martins & Almeda , sp. nov.

Dichotomously few-branched subshrubs 0.4–0.8(–1) m tall, essentially glabrous. Branches sometimes leafy to the base or defoliating basally with age. Leaves sessile, flat or slightly keeled, margins entire, callose-thickened, flushed pink, glabrous except for a few strigose trichomes on the abaxial surface of upper leaves, 1-nerved (vaguely 3-nerved on a few leaves). Flowers 8-merous, solitary. Hypanthium glabrous, constricted above the ovary. Petals pink with a U-shaped white patch at the base, falling away together with stamens after anthesis. Ovary 8-locular, 3/4 inferior.

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Municipio de Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, 5 km S of Armazém da Laje and 17.9 km N of Joaquim Felício , elev. 1188 m, 17°41'42" S, 44°15'25"W, brejo adjacent to gallery forest surrounded by recently burned

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MARTINS & ALMEDA campo rupestre, 18 October 2001, F. Almeda 8532, A. B. Martins, P. W. Fritsch & R. Belinello (holotype: UEC!; isotypes: CAS-2!, MBM!, MO!, RB!, SPF!, US!) .

Erect, few dichotomously branched subshrubs 0.4–0.8(–1) m tall, essentially glabrous. Branches and branchlets subquadrangular to rounded, longitudinally furrowed on opposite faces, yellowish-green to brown, defoliating and decorticating basally with age, sometimes leafy to the base; internodes 5–12 mm long, with knobby thickenings that persist where a leaf has fallen away, nodes with reddish glandular-hirtellous trichomes. Leaves sessile, semi-amplexicaul, spreading to subimbricate apically; blade 15–45 × 8–20 mm, subcoriaceous, flat or slightly keeled, green to yellowish-green, oblong-elliptic to obovate or narrowly oblong, base subrounded, inconspicuously subauriculate to attenuate, apex obtusely rounded and shortly mucronulate, margins entire, callose-thickened, sometimes flushed pink, glabrous on both surfaces except for some clustered golden-brown glands and a few strigose trichomes on the abaxial surface of upper leaves, obscurely 3-nerved. Flowers 8-merous, solitary, terminal at the ends of branchlets but becoming central by elongation of lateral shoots, sessile. Bracts subtending the flowers several, 2 to 4 pairs, suborbicular 7–9 × 6–7 mm, acuminate at the apex, margins subcallose and reddish when young, with ferrugineous or golden-brown clustered glands on both surfaces of young bracts, in old bracts less conspicuous and white. Hypanthium (at anthesis) 7–9 × 8–9 mm (14 mm wide distally), campanulate, constricted above the ovary, glabrous but somewhat granulose, yellowish-green turning to light brown. Calyx tube ca. 1–2 mm long; calyx lobes (at anthesis) 3–4 × 2.5 mm, chartaceous, oblong-acuminate, apex slightly keeled and ending with a trichome 0.8 mm long that is caducous on maturing hypanthia, margins entire and narrowly callose or irregularly beset with caducous setose eglandular trichomes 0.5 mm long, sparsely punctate abaxially and beset with slender glands adaxially, tardily caducous or persistent. Petals 20–32 × 10–13 mm (adherent for a short distance basally and falling away together with stamens as a unit after anthesis), bright pink to pale pink, each one with a well-defined Ushaped white patch at the base, obovate to spatulate, apex truncate to emarginate, base attenuate, margin entire or inconspicuously glandular-ciliolate, venation conspicuous and translucent when fresh. Stamens 16, dimorphic: large (antesepalous) stamens 8, filaments 12 mm long, anther thecae 5 × 1 mm, oblong, yellow, rostrum ca. 0.6 mm long, pedoconnective 6 mm long, appendage 1.5 mm long, obscurely bilobed, yellow; small (antepetalous) stamens 8, filaments 8 mm long, anther thecae 4 × 0.8 mm, oblong, yellow, rostrum ca. 0.6 mm long, pedoconnective 1.5–2 mm long, appendage 1 mm long, rounded, yellow. Ovary 8-locular, 3/4 inferior, style straight, glabrous, yellow, stigma punctiform. Fruiting hypanthium (including calyx lobes) 12–15 mm long, oblong, sessile, strongly constricted above the ovary. Capsule (at maturity) ca. 10 mm long, urceolate, enveloped by the persistent hypanthium, dehiscing from the base to the apex, light brown. Seeds 0.98–1.65 × 0.62–0.68 mm, oblong to subreniform or somewhat L-shaped and ± angulate, dark grayish-brown, periclinal cell walls of the testa inconspicuously concave (foveolate), the raphal zone about 70% the length of the seed. Chromosome number unknown.

Illustration:— Figure 23 .

Photographic image:— Figure 1F .

Phenology:—Flowering in January and March to October; fruiting March and September.

Distribution and habitat:—Endemic to Serra do Cabral, Minas Gerais, in campo rupestre, sandy grassy campo, and brejo adjacent to gallery forest at 850–1100 m elev. Figure 20 .

Conservation status:—All of the known collections of this species with coordinate data appear to come from the same small population of less than a dozen individuals on the eastern side of Serra do Cabral just off the main road that runs north from Joaquim Felício. This locality is afforded some protection in Parque Estadual da Serra do Cabral. The EOO is 134 km ² and the AOO is 12 km ². This region is vulnerable to periodic fires and habitat degradation from crystal extraction activities. The dirt roads in the park are likely to be widened and paved to accommodate ecotourism. We recommend a classification of Endangered (EN): B1ab(iii).

Discussion:— Lavoisiera belinelloi is an erect, sparingly branched subshrub distinguished by its glabrous, oblong-elliptic to obovate or narrowly oblong mature leaf blades with a callose-thickened margin, 8-merous solitary and sessile flowers, pink petals with a U-shaped greenish-yellow or whitish-yellow patch at the base ( Figure 1F ), uniformly yellow androecium, glabrous sessile hypanthium, and 8-locular ovary. The petals of L. belinelloi are fused for a very short distance at the base and fall away as a unit together with the androecium following anthesis.

The only notable variation in this species involves leaf shape and size. The extremes include small (9 × 4 mm) oblong-elliptic leaves (Sakuragui CFCR 15252), long (28 × 8 mm) narrowly oblong leaves (Wanderley et al. 809), and wider (36 × 30 mm) obovate leaves (Cavalcanti et al. CFCR 8162).

LAVOISIERA ( MELASTOMATACEAE )

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Lavoisiera cogniauxana , L. macrocarpa , and L. pulcherrima are the only other species with modally 8-merous flowers and 8-locular ovaries. Interestingly, these three species also have the basally adherent petals that fall away as a unit with the androecium following anthesis. In L. cogniauxana the upper internodes and petioles are beset with spreading glandular trichomes, the calyx lobes are distally setose abaxially and along the distal margins, and the hypanthia which are somewhat fluted are covered with spreading glandular trichomes. Lavoisiera macrocarpa differs in its open divaricately branched habit, bluish-green glaucous foliage ( Figures 4A, C ), short-pedicellate flowers, and petals with a diffuse white band at the base ( Figure 4B ). The androecium of L. macrocarpa also differs in its color dimorphism. The smaller anther thecae are always yellow but the larger ones vary from orange-pink to red. Lavoisiera pulcherrima is also glabrous throughout. It can become a small tree 3–5 m tall but its modally oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves are glabrous and glaucous ( Figure 4F ), its floral bracts are not

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MARTINS & ALMEDA differentiated from the principal leaves as they are in L. belinelloi , its flowers are pedicellate (2–8 mm), its petals lack a well-defined band or patch of white or yellow at the base, and its androecium also exhibits color dimorphism with yellow smaller anther thecae and orange-pink larger anther thecae ( Figure 4G ).

Etymology:—We take pleasure in naming this striking species for Renato Belinello (b. 1963) of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Renato served as a field assistant and driver par excellence on all but one of our expeditions in search of Lavoisiera . He got us to far-flung sites in the back country of Brazil and helped with every aspect of our field work. He has also provided field assistance to many graduate students and staff at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) over many years. We could not have accomplished all of the field aspects of this project without his extraordinary and much appreciated assistance.

Additional specimens examined:— MINAS GERAIS: Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral. About 9 km from the town margin of Joaquim Felício enroute to the Armazém de Laje, 17˚42’27”S, 44˚11’32.1”W, Almeda et al. 9148 (BHCB!, CAS!, UEC!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral. Fazenda da Onça, Cavalcanti et al. CFCR 8162 (CAS!, SPF!, US!); 85 km N de Corinto. Serra do Cabral. Estrada para Joaquim Felício, Gibbs et al. 5001 (UEC!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, Hatschbach et al. 64744 (MBM!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, Hatschbach et al. 66205 (MBM!); Serra do Cabral, entre os rios Embalassaia e Rio Preto (Mun. Joaquim Felício), Hatschbach 73491 (MBM!); Serra do Cabral, Fazenda Riacho de Barro, cabeceiras do Rio Embalassaia (Mun. Joaquim Felício), Hatschbach et al. 77723 (MBM!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, estrada Armazém de Laje-Pedreira, 17°42’26”S, 44°11’31”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 01 (SP!, UEC!): Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, estrada Armazém de Laje-Pedreira, 17°40’28”S, 44°09’33”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 02 (BHCB!, RB!, UEC!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, estrada Armazém de Laje-Pedreira, 17°41’35”S, 44°09’29”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 03 (BHCB!, SP!, UEC!): Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, próximo à Pedreira, 17°43’34”S, 44°10’57”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 38 (RB!, UEC!): Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, estrada Joaquim Felício-Armazém de Laje, ca. 14 km de Joaquim Felício, 17°41’53”S, 44°16’08”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 51 (SP!, UEC!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, estrada Joaquim Felício-Serra do Cabral, ca. 18 km de Joaquim Felício, 17°43’51”S, 44°10’16”W, K. F. Rodrigues et al. 59 (BHCB!, SP!, UEC!); Mpio. Augusto de Lima, Serra do Cabral, ca. 12 km da cidade em direção à Fazenda Serra do Cabral, 18°0'S, 44°19'W, Sakuragui et al. CFCR 15252 (CAS!, ESA!, K!, SPF!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, estrada entre a cidade e o Córrego da Areia, arredores do córrego, Sakuragui et al. CFCR 15387 (ESA!, SPF!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, 17°42' S, 44°11'W, V. C. Souza & J. P. Souza 22025 (CAS!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, 17°42'S, 44°11'W, V. C. Souza et al. 22509 (ESA!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, Verola s.n. (CAS!); Mpio. Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, Morro da Onça, Wanderley et al. 809 (CAS!).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Images of Lavoisiera species. A. L. adamantium (Almeda et al. 8504). B–C. L. alba (Almeda et al. 9624). D–E. L. arachnoidea (unvouchered image). F. L. belinelloi (Almeda et al. 8532). G. L. bradeana (Almeda et al. 9718). H. L. canastrensis (Almeda et al. 7878). I. L. caryophyllea (Almeda et al. 9172). J–K. L. chamaepitys (Almeda et al. 8500). L. L. confertiflora (Almeda et al. 9725). Image credits: A–C, F–L. Frank Almeda; D–E. Karina Fidanza.

FIGURE 4. Images of Lavoisiera species. A−C. L. macrocarpa (Almeda et al. 9173). D. L. mucorifera (Almeda et al. 9607). E. L. pulchella (Almeda et al. 9830). F−G. L. pulcherrima (Almeda et al. 9666). H−I. L. punctata (Almeda 9709). J. L. rigida (Almeda et al. 9089). K. L. rigida (Almeda et al. 9604). L. L. rigida (Almeda et al. 9635). Image credits: A−L. Frank Almeda.

FIGURE 20. Distributions of Lavoisiera angustifolia, L. belinelloi, L. bradeana, L. punctata, L. sampaioana, L. scaberula, and L. tetragona.

FIGURE 23. Lavoisiera belinelloi. A. Habit. B. Adaxial leaf surface. C. Adaxial bract surface with enlarged detail of base (lower right). D. Flower. E. Hypanthium (at maturity) and calyx lobes with enlarged adaxial surface detail (left) and enlarged detail of calyx lobe apex (lower right). F. Ovary cross-section. G. Petal with margin detail (lower left). H. Lateral view of antesepalous stamen. I. Lateral view of antepetalous stamen. J. Seed. (Based on: A–J, Almeda et al. 8532, CAS, UEC.)