Vriesea saltensis Leme & L. Kollmann, 2013

Leme, Elton M. C. & Kollmann, Ludovic J. C., 2013, Miscellaneous New species of Brazilian Bromeliaceae, Phytotaxa 108 (1), pp. 1-40 : 33-35

Vriesea saltensis Leme & L. Kollmann , sp. nov. ( Figs. 20 A–C , 21 A–G )

This new species differs from Vriesea eltoniana by the distinct larger size when in bloom, longer leaf blades, longer peduncles, inflorescence with more numerous flowers, ovate lanceolate floral bracts, which are longer, and by the longer sepals.

Type: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Santa Maria do Salto, ca. 6 km after the city toward Talismã , 712 m elevation, 16º 17.16’ S 40º 08.28’ W, 25 March 2010, E . Leme 8248 & L . Kollmann (holotype RB!) .

Plants terrestrial, flowering ca. 80 cm high. Leaves ca. 20 in number, rosulate, arcuate, forming a funnelform rosette; sheaths elliptic-ovate, 13–14 × 6–6.5 cm, subdensely and minutely pale brown lepidote, purplish; blades linear, not narrowed at the base, 35–46 × 3.5-4 cm, thin in texture, inconspicously and sparsely white lepidote abaxially, glabrescent adaxially, green toward the apex and reddish-purplish toward the base and along the margins, conspicuously reddish nerved mainly toward the base, apex acuminate. Peduncle ca. 45 cm long, 4–5 mm in diameter, erect, glabrous, red; peduncle bracts lanceolate, acute to acuminate, 3.8–6 × 1.5–2 cm, erect, distinctly to slightly longer than the internodes and almost completely covering the peduncle, inconspicuously and sparsely white lepidote to glabrescent, red. Inflorescence simple, densely flowered, erect, 18 × 5–6 cm, narrowly ovate to sublinear, strongly complanate, apex subrounded, much exceeding the leaf blades, rachis partially exposed at the base and completely covered by the floral bracts toward the apex at early anthesis; rachis subangulose, flexuous, red, glabrous, 3–5 mm in diameter, internodes 5–10 mm long; floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, acute, 35–38 × 20–22 mm, suberect, base truncate, slightly (basal ones) to distinctly (upper ones) incurved near the apex, almost completely enfolding the sepals except for their apices, laterally compressed and not inflated, strongly carinate toward the apex mainly before anthesis, thinly coriaceous, yellow except for the red base and the greenish apex, glabrous abaxially, inconspicuously and sparsely white lepidote adaxially, slightly shorter to slightly exceeding the sepals, strongly imbricate before anthesis. Flowers distichous, divergent, not secund, 19–23 in number, odorless, densely arranged before and at anthesis, 52–53 mm long, the basal ones slightly apart from each other at anthesis, the upper ones contiguous before anthesis, pedicels stout, ca. 6 mm long, 6.5 mm in diameter at distal end, reddish toward the apex, whitish near the base, glabrous; sepals suboblong, apex narrowly obtuse, 35 × 9–10 mm, glabrescent, free, ecarinate, reddish at the base and yellow toward the apex except for the slightly green central-apical portion, coriaceous with thin margins, cymbiform; petals sublinear, apex rounded, 45–46 × 8 mm, yellow except for the green apices, forming a slightly recurved tubular corolla, bearing at the base 2 ca. 10 mm long appendages with free blades broadly elliptic, obtuse, entire, ca. 5 × 2.5 mm; stamens shorter than to slightly exceeding the petals; filaments terete, yellowish; anthers linear, ca. 6.5 mm long, base distinctly bilobed, apex obtuse, dorsifixed near the base; style exceeding the petals, ca. 55 mm long, yellow; stigma convolute-bladed, spreading-recurved, densely papillose, green, lobes 1.5–2 mm long. Capsules unknown.

Distribution and habitat:—The only known population of Vriesea saltensis was found in the county of Salto da Divisa, Minas Gerais State, with exclusively terrestrial individuals forming small group of plants in shady condition, in Atlantic Forest developed on shallow soil on the top of an inselberg.

Etymology:—The name chosen for this new species refers to the county of Santa Maria do Salto, Minas Gerais state, where it was originally collected.

Observations:— Vriesea saltensis is closely related to V. eltoniana E. Pereira & I.A. Penna ( Pereira & Moutinho-Neto 1981: 213) differing by the obviously exclusive terrestrial habit (vs. prevailingly epiphytic habit), the distinct larger size when in bloom (ca. 80 cm vs. 40–55 cm high), longer leaf blades (35–46 cm vs. 25–30 cm long), longer peduncles (ca. 45 cm vs. 25–37 cm long), inflorescence with more numerous flowers (19–23 vs. 9–19 in number) as showed in a photo of V. eltoniana provided by Leme (1982) portraying the variation of inflorescence size and number of flowers observed in the type population. Also, V. saltensis differs by the ovate lanceolate floral bracts (vs. ovate), which are longer (35–38 mm vs. ca. 30 mm long), as well as by the longer sepals (ca. 35 mm vs. 27–31 mm long). While V. eltoniana is a endemic species of the coastal Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State, between the counties of Niterói (the southmost limit) and Arraial do Cabo (the northernmost limit), this new species is known from countryside areas of the state of Minas Gerais, not far from the border of Bahia State, about 120 km from the sea and about 780 km distant in straight line from the northernmost populations of V. eltoniana .

Figures

FIGURE 20. A–C. Vriesea saltensis (Leme & Kollmann 8248). A. Habit. B. Detail of the inflorescence. C. Population at type locality in post-flowering state.

FIGURE 21. A–G. Vriesea saltensis (Leme & Kollmann 8248). A. Leaf blade apex. B. Floral bract. C. Side view of floral bract. D. Flower. E. Sepal. F. Petal with appendages and one outer and inner stamen each. G. Anther. H–L. Vriesea sanctaparecidae (Leme et al. 8707). H. Leaf blade apex. I. Floral bract. J. Flower. K. Sepal. L. Petal with appendages and one outer and inner stamen each. Scale bars = 1 cm.