Micromeria hierrensis (P. Pérez) Puppo 2015

Puppo, Pamela & Meimberg, Harald, 2015, New species and new combinations in Micromeria (Lamiaceae) from the Canary Islands and Madeira, Phytotaxa 230 (1), pp. 1-21 : 9-10

Micromeria hierrensis (P. Pérez) Puppo , comb. et stat. nov.

Basionym:— Micromeria varia Bentham (1834: 374) subsp. hierrensis P. Pérez (1978: 184) . Satureja ericifolia (Roth) R.H. Willemse (1991: 83) subsp. hierrensis (P. Pérez) R.H. Willemse (1991: 84) ; Satureja varia Webb & Berthelot ex Briquet in Engler & Prantl (1896: 299) subsp. hierrensis (P. Pérez) A. Hansen & Sunding (1993: 7) . Type:— SPAIN. Canary Islands: “Ex Insula Hierro dicta, in rupibus abruptis super pagum Sabinosa dictum proclivibus ad nebulas diurnas exposistis”, July 1973, P. Pérez 11 (TFC!; isotypes: TFC!, MA, TFMC).

Subshrub, 10–60 cm high, highly branched; branches persisting and entangled, semi prostrated or ascending, tomentose, villous, incanous or lanuginose. Leaves sessile or inconspicuously petiolated; blades herbaceous 2–5 × 0.5–2 mm, green sometimes tinged with red, glabrate, sparsely strigose or lanate, linear to ovate, revolute. Cymes sessile or shortly pedunculated arranged on the tip of young branches; peduncles less than 2 mm long when present. Calyx more or less rounded, tubular to slightly campanulated, green or tinged with purple, pubescent to sparsely pilose, up to 3 mm long, calyx apices lanceolate to subulate, acute, ciliate or not. Corolla white or slightly pink, 2.5–3.5 mm long, barely exerted. Anthers slightly pink or lilac, included or barely exerted. Style included or exerted.

Notes: — Pérez de Paz (1978) recognized two taxa in El Hierro. One he described as a new subspecies of M. varia ( subsp. hierrensis ), as it presents green leaves, reduced pubescence, and slightly pink flowers. This taxon is restricted to both extremes of El Hierro, growing in two localities: Sabinosa and Mirador de la Peña. Pérez de Paz identified the second taxon as M. hyssopifolia due to the morphological similarities between it and plants from Tenerife also referred to this species. This taxon has a grayish appearance due to the pubescence of its branches and leaves, imbricate branches, white flowers, and is distributed throughout the island (i.e. Costa de Valverde, La Restinga, Malpaso). Molecular studies ( Meimberg et al. 2006, Puppo et al. 2015) have shown that both M. varia and M. hyssopifolia are endemic to Tenerife and specimens growing in El Hierro constitute different taxa. These studies also suggest a single lineage in El Hierro. Here, we propose a new combination and status for subsp. hierrensis , raising it to the rank of a species, endemic to the island of El Hierro. We recognize two subspecies to reflect the two morphological forms found in the island: subsp. hierrensis (former M. varia subsp. hierrensis ) and subsp. incana (former M. hyssopifolia from El Hierro).