Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae N. Luna & Saka

Luna, Naédja, Pessoa, Edlley, Saka, Mariana N. & Alves, Marccus, 2016, A new species of Goeppertia (Marantaceae) from the Atlantic forest of northeastern Brazil, Phytotaxa 273 (2), pp. 122-126 : 122-123

Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae N. Luna & Saka , Fig. 1

Type:— BRAZIL. Pernambuco: Igarassu, Usina São José, Mata de Piedade, 07°50’35”S, 34°59’40”W, 79 m, 21 January 2014, N. K. Luna et al. 27 (fl.) (holotype: UFP, isotypes: NY, RB).

Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae resembles G. umbrosa ( Körnicke 1862: 137) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 635) , but differs by its glabrous petiole (vs. puberulous), leaf blades glabrous abaxially (vs. tomentose), adaxially glabrous midrib (vs. puberulous), longer inflorescence peduncle (12 − 21 cm long vs. 2 − 4.5 cm long), on a separate, non-leafy shoot (vs. terminal on a leafy shoot), two bracteoles to each pair of flower (vs. one), and abaxially glabrous sepals (vs. pubescent).

Perennial herbs, 0.5 − 0.8 m tall rhizome thick, sympodial, without tubers; cataphylls on the rhizome 1 − 3 × 0.5 − 1 cm, narrowly elliptical, apex acute, green, glabrous, margins sericeous; innermost (on reproductive shoot) cataphyll 8.5 − 17 × 1 − 2 cm, elliptical, apex acute, glabrous. Leaves rosulate, 3 − 5 per shoot; sheath not auriculate, dark green, slightly sericeous, 13 − 26 cm long; petiole dark green, glabrous, 18.5 − 55.5 cm long; pulvinus elliptical in cross section, light green, adaxially tomentose, 1 − 4.5 cm long; leaf blade chartaceous, elliptical to lanceolate, 26 − 36 × 4.5 − 8 cm, glabrous, sides unequal, apex acute, base cuneate at ca. 45 − 60º; discolorous, adaxially dark green, abaxially light green. Inflorescence 1 − 2 per vegetative shoot, basal, borne on a separate, leafless, reproductive shoot, ovoid to wideelliptical, 3 − 8 cm long; peduncle green, pubescent to tomentose, 12 − 21 cm long; bracts 20 − 40, spirally arranged, green, ovate to orbiculate, the uppermost the narrowest, each subtending 3 flower pairs, apex acuminate, attenuate or acute, 3 − 5 × 3 cm; margins and apex minutely tomentose, adaxial surface glabrous; prophyll bicarinate, membranaceous, yellow, elliptical to ovate, apex acute, margin minutely tomentose, adaxial surface glabrous, 2.3 − 3.4 × 1.5 cm, 0.4 cm wide from carina to carina; interphyll membranaceous, yellow, elliptical, apex acute to rounded, surface abaxially minutely tomentose, inner surface glabrous, 1.7 − 3.2 × 0.6 cm; bracteoles 2 per flower pair, channeled and claviculate, medial, glabrous, 1.5 − 2.1 cm long. Sepals membranaceous, narrowly elliptical to elliptical, apex rounded, yellowishgreen, glabrous, 13 − 16.2 × 1.5 − 3.5 mm; corolla yellow, tube 26 − 33 mm long, glabrous, upper adaxial surface pilose; corolla lobes elliptical to narrowly obovate, glabrous, apex rounded to cuneate, (8 −)10 − 16 × 2 − 4 mm; outer staminode obovate to spatulate, yellow, 10 − 13 × 4 mm; callose staminode petaloid, spatulate, yellow, 6 − 11 × 4 mm; cucullate staminode yellow, 7 − 9 × 2 mm, appendage 1 mm long; stamen with lateral petaloid appendage extending 1 mm past anther; anther yellow, 2 mm long; style and stigma yellow, 6 − 10 mm long; ovary white, glabrous, 1.5 − 2 × 1 mm. Fruits not seen.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— BRAZIL. Bahia: Una, Fazenda Bolandeira, 10 February 1999, fl., J. G. Jardim et al. 1994 ( CEPEC). Pernambuco: Igarassu , Usina São José , 10 January 2008, fl., N. A. Albuquerque 605 ( IPA) ; ibid., 4 March 2010, fl., J. D. García-Gonzales 1462 ( UFP) ; ibid., 28 January 2016, fl., N. K. Luna et al. 229 ( UFP) ; Sirinhaém, Usina Trapiche , 11 March 2016, fl., N. K. Luna et al. 259 ( UFP) .

Distribution and Ecology:— Known only from the lowland Atlantic forest of Pernambuco and southern Bahia, Brazil ( Fig. 2 ). The type location is a fragment of semideciduous lowland forest (terminology follows IGBE 2012), where populations of G. yoshida-arnsiae inhabit the understory, in a shadowy area, with elevated humidity and rich soil with high deposition of plant litter. This fragment is surrounded by sugar-cane plantations, and as a result it suffers from very high anthropogenic pressure ( Trindade et al. 2008). In Bahia this species occurs in arborescent ‘restingas’, on sandy soil. Flowers have be observed from January to March.

Conservation status:— Following the IUCN (2001) criteria, this species is considered vulnerable (VU): B1+(a)+(b): the Pernambuco population is known from only one fragmented area and the Bahia specimens are relatively old collections from fragments located in farming areas.

Etymology:— The species is named is in homage to Dr. Karla Norye Yoshida-Arns, a Brazilian taxonomist who worked with the family Marantaceae in northeastern Brazil for many years.

Morphological affinities:— Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae is morphologically similar to the species of Calathea sect. Breviscapus Bentham (1883: 654) , especially the ones with spirally arranged and all fertile bracts, and yellow to yellowish flowers with exserted corollas. Seven species from northeastern Brazil share these features: Goeppertia effusa ( Saka & Lombardi 2014: 46) is easily distinguished by its peduncle at least six times longer than the inflorescence (vs. peduncle 3 − 4 longer than the inflorescence); G. rufibarba (Fenzl 1879: 294) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 634) and G. sciuroides (Petersen 1889: 329) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 634) , differ by their rufo-hirsute midrib, inflorescence bracts, and peduncle (vs. midrib glabrous, inflorescence bracts with apex minutely tomentose, peduncle pubescent to tomentose); G. brasiliensis ( Körnicke 1862: 118) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 634) is distinguished by its lanceolate to narrowly ellipsoid inflorescence (vs. ovoid), and glabrous inflorescence bracts (vs. apex minutely tomentose); G. brevipes ( Körnicke 1862: 35) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 634) and G. oblonga ( Martius 1841: 59) Borchsenius & Suárez (2012: 634) differ by their strigose or villous petioles (vs. glabrous), strigose or villous leaf sheath (vs. minutely sericeous), entirely villous abaxial surface bracts (vs. apex minutely tomentose). G. umbrosa is the species morphologically most similar to G. yoshida-arnsiae , but differs mainly by its leaf indumentum, peduncle length, number of bracteoles per pair of flower, and sepals indumentum.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A−O. Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae. A. Habit. B. Inflorescence. C−D. Bracts. E. Prophyll. F. Interphyll. G. Bracteole. H. Flower. I. Detail of flower. J. Outer staminode. L. Callose staminode. M. Culullate staminode. N. Stamen with appendix. O. Style and stigma. (Drawn from the holotype by Ellisabeth Ferralc)

FIGURE 2. Known distribution of Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae.