Galianthe vaginata E.L.Cabral & Bacigalupo, 1997

Carmo, João A. M., Salas, Roberto M. & Simões, André O., 2016, An updated description of Galianthe vaginata (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae), a species endemic to the Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar, Southeast Brazil, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 89-94 : 90-93

Galianthe vaginata E.L.Cabral & Bacigalupo

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Serra do Itatiaia, ad marginem viae, ca. 1800 m, 25 May 1902, P. Dusén 109 (holotype R!). Figs. 1 , 2 .

Subshrubs or perennial herbs, up to 1 m tall. Stems simple or sparsely branched, rooting at basal nodes, decumbent, scandent or erect, tetragonal, glabrous, conspicuously winged at each angle, wings 0.3–2 mm wide, scabrous at margin. Stipular sheaths tubular, 3–12 mm long, covering part of the internode above the corresponding leaf pair, pubescent, deciduous at basal nodes, 7–12-fimbriate on each side of the stem, fimbriae 4–12 mm long, narrowly triangular to linear, glabrous to sparsely pubescent. Leaves sessile to petiolate; petioles (when present) up to 5 mm long, terete, glabrous; blades elliptic, ovate or lanceolate, 2.4–9 × 0.7–3.3 cm, discolorous, membranous to coriaceous, attenuate at the base, ciliolate at the margin, acuminate at the apex, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface glabrous, strigulose on the veins; secondary veins 4–5 on each side of the midrib, occasionally impressed on the adaxial surface, conspicuous on the abaxial surface. Inflorescences terminal, rarely axillary, compound cymes, partial inflorescences dichasial or monochasial cymes, with flowers arranged in fascicles separated by 0.1–3 cm; peduncles 2–7 cm long, winged, glabrous; bracts narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 2.5–5 × 0.8–1.5 mm, glabrous on both sides, margin strigulose. Flowers sessile to subsessile, distylous; hypanthium turbinate, 1.5–2 mm long, strigulose; calyx 4-lobate, with the lobes slightly unequal, in opposite pairs, the two larger ones ca. 1.7 mm long, the two shorter ones ca. 1.2 mm long, triangular, glabrous on both sides, margin strigulose. Corolla infundibuliform, 3–4 mm long, white, papillose outside, pubescent at the throat and lobe bases inside; lobes (3–)4, triangular, 2–3 mm long. Long-styled flowers: stamens included, filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, anthers ca. 1 mm long, style exserted, ca. 6 mm long, stigma 2-lobate, stigmatic lobes ca. 1 mm long. Short-styled flowers: stamens exserted, filaments ca. 1.5 mm long, anthers ca. 1.5 mm long, style included, ca. 3.2 mm long, stigma 2-lobate, stigmatic lobes ca. 1.5 mm long; nectariferous disk bipartite. Capsules septicidal, with indehiscent mericarps, 1.5–2 mm long, subturbinate, slightly compressed laterally, strigulose, calyx lobes persistent. Seeds 2, ellipsoid, 1.5–2 mm long, ventral surface with a longitudinal groove partially covered by strophiole, dorsal surface foveolate.

Ilustrations: — Cabral & Bacigalupo (1997): 874, fig. 10; this study, fig. 1.

Phenology: —Flowering from August to April and fruiting in April.

Distribution and ecology: — Galianthe vaginata is endemic to montane areas in Southeast Brazil, occurring at elevations from ca. 1,200 to 2,000 m. It occurs at six localities in the Serra da Mantiqueira ( Fig. 3A–F ) and one in the Serra do Mar ( Fig. 3G ): (A) Serra do Lopo, municipality of Extrema (MG); (B) district of Monte Verde, municipality of Camanducaia (MG); (C) Parque Estadual Campos do Jordão, municipality of Campos do Jordão (SP); (D) São Francisco dos Campos, municipality of Delfim Moreira (MG); (E) Serra Fina, municipality of Itamonte (MG); (F) Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (MG and RJ); and (G) municipality of Cunha (SP). Subpopulations are composed by a few to many individuals, which can be found solitary to aggregate ( Fig. 2A–B ). The species occurs in the campos de altitude vegetation, rocky outcrops and along trails in montane rainforest, generally in areas where the formation of mist is common and substrate is moist.

Conservation status:— Galianthe vaginata was assessed as Endangered (EN B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)) by Zappi et al. (2013). We expand the distribution of the species and record it in two Conservation Units, Parque Estadual Campos do Jordão and Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. Nevertheless, the IUCN (2014) states that the criteria for the threatened categories are to be applied to a taxon whatever the level of conservation action affecting it. We estimate the EOO and AOO, ca. 6487 km 2 and 32 Km 2, respectively (.kml file available at http://figshare.com/s/6c197a305f1b11e5ad6c06ec 4b8d1f61). These results differ in regards to the threshold of the B criterion for a species to be considered Endangered (EOO <5000 Km 2 and AOO <500 Km 2). Area of occupancy reflects the fact that species are often habitat specialists, and will not usually occur throughout the area of its extent of occurrence, which may contain unsuitable or unoccupied habitats ( IUCN 2014). This is the case for G. vaginata , which presents a fragmented distribution in specific habitats in montane areas, between the two largest urban centers in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Therefore, for the purposes of this evaluation, this species should still be considered Endangered (EN B2ab(iii)), based on its AOO, severe fragmentation of its subpopulations and continuous decline in extent and quality of habitat, due to its continuous degradation by anthropogenic fires, land use as pastures, and timber extraction in forested areas ( Zappi et al. 2013).

Specimens examined:— BRASIL. Minas Gerais: Camanducaia, Monte Verde, 20 Sep 2001, L. D. Meireles 608 ( UEC), 16 October 2001, L. D. Meireles 640 ( UEC), Pedra Partida , 2,080 m, 20 January 1996, Longhi-Wagner & Witten 2887a ( ICN), Platô, 22°53’15”S, 46°1’55”W, 22 August 2015, J. A. M. Carmo 401 ( UEC), trilha para a Pedra do Selado , 12 Apr 2012, J. A. M. Carmo 24 ( UEC), trilha para o Platô, 24 January 2013, J. A. M. Carmo 105 ( UEC), 18 December 2013, J. A. M. Carmo 140, 141, 142 ( UEC), trilha para Pedra Redonda, 9 September 2012, J. A. M. Carmo 71, 72, 74 ( UEC) ; Delfim Moreira , São Francisco dos Campos, 7 June 1950, M. Kuhlmann 3378 ( SP) ; Extrema , estrada para a trilha das pedras, 11 October 2014, G. Piassa 26 ( UEC) ; Itamonte, Hotel Casa Alpina, ao lado da estação meteorológica da cota 2100, 2100 m, 22°22’56”S, 44°49’9”W, 29 January 2011, T. A. Batista 265 ( ESAL, UEC), 2000 m, 22°22’27”S, 44°49’1”W, 19 February 2004, L. D. Meireles 1467 ( UEC) . Rio de Janeiro: Itatiaya, 13 May ?, H. Luederwaldt s.n. ( SP 11378 ) ; Parque Nacional do Itatiaia , 30 November 1985, D. Cesar 682 ( RB) . São Paulo: Campos do Jordão , January 1944, E. Friderich S. J. s.n. ( PACA 27764 , paratype) ; Parque Estadual de Campos do Jordão, Parque dos Lagos , São Bento do Sapucaí , subindo 9 km na trilha em direção ao charco, 12 October 1999, L. O. Anderson 109 ( UEC) ; Parque Estadual de Campos do Jordão , 9 April 2000, L. O. Anderson 00/34 ( UEC) ; Cunha, margens da Cachoeira do Barracão , 15 December 1996, J. P. Souza 931 ( ESA) .

Discussion:— The description of G. vaginata is here complemented by several features not previously observed, as bracts, short-styled flowers, fruits and seeds, as well as previously unobserved morphological variations, which are here described and illustrated for the first time ( Fig. 1 ). Following our morphological analysis, we confirm the positioning of this species in Galianthe subg. Ebelia , as proposed by Cabral & Bacigalupo (1997), because of the septicidal capsules with indehiscent mericarps and the ellipsoid, unwinged seeds ( Fig. 1G–H ). Deciduous stipules at basal nodes were observed ( Fig. 2C ), as they fall off by fragmentation before the leaves, and seems to be associated with the formation of axillary branches. Inflorescence peduncle and the distance between the fascicles vary in length ( Fig. 2E–F ), and heterostyly was confirmed for this species. Both long-styled and short-styled floral morphs were observed within the same population ( Fig. 2G–H ). The conspicuously winged stems and the pubescent stipules ( Fig. 1B , Fig. 2C–D ) of G. vaginata are useful diagnostic characters that can be used to distinguish it from G. polygonoides (holotype D.L.S. Braga 1741 [RB!]), which also presents tubular stipular sheaths covering part of the internode above the corresponding leaf pair.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Galianthe vaginata. A. Habit. B. Stipule. C–D. Long-styled flower. E–F. Short-styled flower. G. Fruit. H. Seed. (A–B, G–H, from Carmo 24; C–D, from Carmo 141; E–F, from Carmo 142). Illustration by Klei Sousa.

FIGURE 2. Galianthe vaginata. A. Population. B. Individual. C. Stem with deciduous stipules at basal nodes. D. Stipule. E–F. Inflorescences. G. Long-styled flower. H. Short-styled flower. (A–B, photographs by João Afonso Martins do Carmo; C–H, photographs by André Olmos Simões).

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Galianthe vaginata. A. Serra do Lopo, municipality of Extrema (MG). B. District of Monte Verde, municipality of Camanducaia (MG). C. Parque Estadual Campos do Jordão, municipality of Campos do Jordão (SP). D. São Francisco dos Campos, municipality of Delfim Moreira (MG). E. Serra Fina, municipality of Itamonte (MG). F. Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (MG and RJ). G. Municipality of Cunha (SP).