Heliconia venusta Abalo & G. Morales, Phytologia, 1982

Morales-Trujillo, Ángela María, Sepúlveda-Nieto, María Del Pilar, Tobón, Luis Hernando Hurtado, Katinas, Liliana & Apodaca, María José, 2019, Reawakening of the beauty: Heliconia montana is distinct from H. venusta (Heliconiaceae), Phytotaxa 400 (5), pp. 279-290 : 288-289

Heliconia venusta Abalo & G. Morales, Phytologia 51 (1): 60, fig. without number. 1982.

Type: Colombia. Dept. del Huila, Gigante, Vereda Cachaya, 2°23’43”N, 75°32’48”W, elev. 1700 m, 14 September 1980, L. Morales & J. Abalo 197 [holotype COL000000310 (inflorescence and leaf), COL000000311 (leaf); isotype US00345475 (leaf), US 00345476 (inflorescence and leaf), US00345477 (inflorescence and leaf)]. ( Fig. 1B, D )

Rhizomatous herb 1.5–4 m tall, cannoid habit. Pseudostem dark green with distinctive red spots toward the sheath, hirsute. Leaf sheath, completely green or green with red to dark brown spots, occasionally pruinose, margin dark brown, hirsute. Leaves blade elliptic-lanceolate, 48–69 × 11–14 cm, the margin red, upper surface dark green, glabrous, midrib furrowed, green, lower surface green, purple-red at the base, with midrib hirsute, conspicuous, green with red spots. Inflorescence terminal, erect, 19–21 cm long; peduncle 20 × 0.7–1 cm, tomentose; rachis red, tomentose, 1–4.5 cm between bracts; cincinnal bracts 5–7 per inflorescence, oriented 30º–45° to the axis of the inflorescence, with 4–8 bisexual flowers per cincinnus; basal bracts generally red, with green apex, externally with red margin and internally light red, 14–18 × 1.5–2.5 cm at the base, pubescent, margin entire, base revolute, apex acuminate to longly acuminate 9–21 × 2.7–7 cm; middle bracts externally purple-red, puberulous at the base and towards the middle of the bract, internally light red, glabrous, 7–10.7 × 1.5–2 cm at the base, margin straight to slightly revolute, apex acute to shortly acuminate; floral bracts yellow to cream, red at the base, dark brown to black with time, 3–4 × 0.8–1cm at the base, puberulous on the keel and occasionally on the margins. Flowers with pedicels pale green, purple-red at the apex, resupinate, 1.5–2.5 × 0.27–0.3 cm, hirsute; perianth straight to slightly parabolic, basally yellow, apically yellow-green, glabrous, 5.1–5.8 × 0.74–1.2 cm, at anthesis curved 33º–76.8°, tube 1.2–1.7 cm long, pilose to tomentose at the margin of the sepals, stamens pale yellow, triangular, ventrally planate, straight, 4.9–5.1 × 0.1–0.13 cm, glabrous; anthers pale yellow to light brown, 12.2–14.4 x 1–1.9 mm, glabrous, pollen light yellow or cream; staminode 1, attached 5.4–7.4 mm above the base of the perianth tube, pale yellow to cream, concave, conspicuously auriculate, apex longly cuspidate, 5.8–9.2 × 1.4–5.6 mm. Ovary pale green, purple-red with time, trilocular, 5.1–9.7 × 3.6–8.5 mm, glabrous to pubescent towards the middle and the apex; style 3-angled, winged angles, straight to curving upwards, 4.9–5.5 × 0.2 cm, pale yellow to cream with slight dark brown spots towards the stigma, glabrous; stigma capitate, papillose. Drupe first light green to purple-red, blue at maturity, 12–16 × 10–16 mm, glabrous; peduncle green at the base, purple-red at the apex, 1.3–2.5 × 0.27–0.48 cm, hirsute; seeds (pyrenes) 1- 3 per fruit, obovate, dorsally convex, ventrally planate to slightly concave, hard, dark brown, surface rugose, operculum in oblique position, 8.5–13.18 × 7.05–10.55 mm.

Distribution and ecology: —Endemic to the western slopes of the Central Andes of Colombia in the department of Huila ( Fig. 7 ), and of Ecuador in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Pichincha, Chimborazo, and Cañar. This species inhabits the interior of the forests in semi-open areas, on clay and on rocky soils on hillsides, in areas with high precipitations, at 1400–1800 m. Flowering from May to July and from September to December.

The natural populations of Heliconia venusta are increasingly being reduced by the destruction and transformation of its habitat. It is currently classified under the vulnerable risk category (VU) ( Olaya et al., 2002) of IUCN ( IUCN, 2001), but, at our discretion, is close to quantify for the endangered category (EN) in the near future if the threat to its populations continues. We failed to find populations of H. venusta in the original location, in Dept. Huila, Mun. Gigante, Vereda Cachaya, at 1700 m. However, we could find natural populations at the same department and municipality, in Finca Villa Angélica at ca. 2 km from Cachaya, at 1800 m. There are several possible reasons for the disappearance of the populations of H. venusta : the urban expansion in the area; the accelerated reduction of the native forests because of the establishment of monocultures (e.g., coffee, cocoa, plantain); and the fact that some species of Heliconia are carriers of pathogens that infect plantain crops of Musa spp. Therefore, farmers avoid the coexistence of Heliconia with plantations of commercial interest by eliminating their natural populations, which has put at risk not only H. venusta but other species of Heliconia that are in some category of threat.

Additional herbarium specimens examined:— Origin of the cultivated material: COLOMBIA. Dept. Huila, Municipio de Gigante, Finca Villa Angélica, 2°23’31”N, 75°32’46”W, elev. 819 m, accesion nº 000235 (HUQ).

COLOMBIA. Dept. Quindío: Mun. Armenia (cultivated), Campus Universidad del Quindío, alrededores del edificio Bienestar Universitario, 4°33’14”N, 75°39’36”W, elev. 1527 m, 22 July 2015, A.M. Morales-Trujillo 9 (HUQ!). Mun. Calarcá (cultivated), Jardín Botánico del Quindío, 4°30’41”N, 75°39’4”W, elev. 1492 m, 14 December 2014, A.M. Morales-Trujillo 7, 8 (HUQ!).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habit, inflorescence and infrutescence of Heliconia montana andH.venusta. A. H.montana,showing the opened inflorescence with the cincinnal bracts oriented 45º–50° to the axis of the inflorescence, and the lower surface of the leaves light green; B. H. venusta, showing a more closed inflorescence with the cincinnal bracts oriented 30°–45° to the axis of the inflorescence; C. Yellow immature fruits of H. montana; D. Green and purple immature fruits, and detail of the purple lower surface of the leaf of H. venusta.

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of Heliconia montana (green circles) and H. venusta (red circles) in Colombia, representing the analyzed material in this study. Heliconia venusta also distributes in Ecuador.