Chresta filicifolia Siniscalchi & Loeuille, 2016

Siniscalchi, Carolina Moriani, Loeuille, Benoit Francis Patrice & Pirani, José Rubens, 2016, A new species of Chresta (Vernonieae, Asteraceae) endemic to the Mata Atlântica Domain, Brazil, Phytotaxa 244 (1), pp. 80-88 : 81-85

Chresta filicifolia Siniscalchi & Loeuille , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Species Chrestae harleyi et item C. hatschbachii simile sed foliis longioribus latioribusque profunde lobatis, flosculis majoribus, cypselis longioribus et carpopodiis conspicuis asymmetricis differt.

Type: — BRASIL. Minas Gerais, Conselheiro Pena, Parque Estadual de Sete Salões, trilha para o Córrego da Onça , afloramentos rochosos quartzíticos em área de floresta estacional semidecidual, 513 m, 19º15’03”S ; 41º22’29” W, 5 August 2014, C. M. Siniscalchi, B. Loeuille & C. T. Oliveira 512 (holotype SPF!; isotypes to be distributed to K!, MBM!, R!, RB!, SP!, US!).

Description: —Perennial herb from a stout branched woody rootstock, up to 1.0 m, base branched; stems 6–23 cm tall, striate, brown-yellowish, with conspicuous leaf scars. Leaves forming a rosette at top of stem, simple, petiolate, petiole 0.4–2.1 cm long, densely whitish tomentose, hairs T-shaped, blade 4.2–19.1 × 1.8–4.4 cm, pinatilobate to pinatifid, margins with 4 to 8 oblong to deltoid lobes on each side, sinuses reaching from midway to midvein, upper blade shallowly lobed with dissimilar lobes, apex acute, base attenuate, membranaceous, upper surface grayish to green (brown when dried), glandular-punctate, pubescent, hairs appressed, T-shaped, lower surface glandular-punctate, densely sericeous, hairs appressed, T-shaped, midrib prominent beneath, with denser pubescence above, venation pinnate, lateral veins ascending, slightly conspicuous. Inflorescence scapose, 21.1–40.4 cm long, canescent, hairs T-shaped; syncephalia solitary, 2.1– 1.9 cm tall, 2.4–3.9 cm diam., hemispherical, with capitula slightly adpressed at base; secondary bracts 1.3–2.0 mm, linear, villous. Capitula 8–22 per syncephalium, homogamous, discoid, sessile; involucre cylindrical, 14.5–16 × 3.4–3.5 mm; phyllaries 5- or 6-seriate, outer phyllaries narrowly elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, 3.6–6.0 × 1.1–1.3 mm, apex aristate, pilose, stramineous with purple apical portion, margins membranaceous, inner phyllaries narrowly oblong to linear, 11.5–14.9 ×1.2–2.0 mm, apex aristate, glabrous except pilose apical portion, stramineous, apical portion purple, margins membranaceous; receptacle flat, glabrous, slightly fimbrillate. Florets 8, bisexual, fertile; corollas actinomorphic, 5-lobed, tube 8.0–9.0 × 0.35–0.5 mm, glandular-punctate, lilac, throat 0.4–2.4 × 0.4–0.6 mm, white, lobes 3.5–3.7 × 0.8 mm, spreading, lilac, whitish at base, apex acute, glandular, stipitate glands, margins thick; apical anther appendages obtuse, cell walls not thickened, basal anther appendages auriculate; style 13.5–14.0 mm, style shaft glabrous throughout except for pubescent distal portion (ca. 0.3 mm beneath style arms), style base glabrous, lacking basal node, with nectariferous disc 0.7–0.8 mm long, style arms 3.8–4.0 mm long, short-pubescent outside throughout, hairs lageniform. Cypselae 3.0–4.5 × 0.9–1.2 mm, ca. 20-ribbed, slightly obconic, densely sericeous, twinhairs with cells fused to near tip, glandular-punctate; carpopodium 0.3–0.5 mm long, 0.6–0.7 mm diam., conspicuous, asymmetrical, yellowish, glandular towards apex; pappus triseriate, white to stramineous, straight, serrulate, persistent, outer series 0.81–0.87 mm long, linear, paleaceous, median series 1.5–5 mm long, lanceolate, paleaceous, inner series 10.1–12.0 mm long, setose, apices slightly tapering.

Distribution and habitat: — Chresta filicifolia is known from two records from open vegetation on top of quartzitic outcrops surrounded by cerrado and semideciduous forest in Eastern Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. All collections were made inside the Sete Salões State Park, on Serra das Onças, at elevations between 400 and 600 m ( Fig. 2 ).

Flowering and Fruiting: —Flowering and fruiting specimens were found in May and August ( Fig. 3 ).

Conservation status: —According to results obtained through GeoCAT analysis (EOO = 0 km 2; AOO = 4 km 2; using a cell size of 2 km 2), the species is classified as Critically Endangered. Nevertheless, the only two known collections of the species may not allow a confident evaluation of its conservation status. Thus, we suggest this species should be classified as Data Deficient (DD).

Etymology: —The epithet filicifolia refers to the leaves of this species, which are deeply lobed and reminiscent of those of a fern ( Fig. 1 H , 3 C ).

Additional collection examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Conselheiro Pena, Parque Estadual de Sete Salões , área com Floresta Estacional Semidecidual e com palmeira ( Attalea sp. ) e cactus, nas margens do córrego da Onça, além de afloramentos rochosos no entorno, 19º15’09.4”S ; 041º23’37.1”W, 7 May 2006, A. Salino, T. E. Almeida & G. Heringer 10883 ( BHCB!, RB!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Chresta filicifolia.A. Habit. B. Capitulum with open corollas. C. Outer phyllary. D. Inner phyllary.E. Open corolla, with style arms not totally exerted. F. Cypsela. G. Detail of carpopodium. H. Adaxial surface of leaf. Drawing by Hiroe Sasaki.

FIGURE 2. Currently known distribution of Chresta filicifolia and its closest taxa (blue square: C. filicifolia; white circles: C. harleyi; red triangle: C. hatschbachii). Upper right corner: previously known distribution of Chresta (blue shading), with expansion represented by the new species (red solid shading).

FIGURE 3. Morphology of Chresta filicifolia.A, B. Habit. C. Detail of leaves. D. Inflorescence. E. Cypsela. F. Detail of lageniform hairs on the outside of style arms.All pictures by the first author.