Callitriche quindiensis Fassett (1951: 185

Lansdown, Richard V. & Hassemer, Gustavo, 2021, The genus Callitriche (Plantaginaceae: Callitricheae) in South America, Phytotaxa 501 (1), pp. 85-118 : 107

17. Callitriche quindiensis Fassett (1951: 185 , t. 1173[14])

Type: — COLOMBIA. CALDAS: Páramo del Quindío, 15–20 August 1922, F.W. Pennell & T.E. Hazen 9850 (holotype GH barcode 00002216!; isotypes BM!, K!, NY barcode 00248746!, US!).

Description: —Stem and leaf scales present. Leaf bases connate. Lingulate leaves 0.3–0.7 × 3.3–4.9 mm, expanded submerged or floating leaves spathulate or oblanceolate-obovate, 1.0–2.8 × 1.7–3.0 mm, petiole 1.2–1.4 mm, venation simple, apical leaves forming a floating rosette, leaves of terrestrial plants unknown. Flowers solitary. Bracts lacking. StYle erect, persistent, ≤ 1.8 mm. Filament ≤ 2 mm; anther 0.5–0.6 mm diameter; pollen Yellow. Fruit not strumose, subsessile, slightly wider than high, tapered toward base, steely grey-brown when mature, 1.1–1.2 × 1.25–1.40 mm, unwinged.

Illustrations: —plate 1173(14) in Fassett (1951); Figure 5 (f).

Distribution: —This species is known from a single gathering from the Paramo del Quindío, Caldas Department, Colombia ( Fassett 1951). There is a suggestion that it may occur in the Pantanos del Quindío associated with the Laguna la Virgen in the Parque de los Nevados ( Sanabria & De Wilde 1998), but there is no evidence that material has been critically determined from this site. There is also a reference to the occurrence of Callitriche in the Laguna Las Muchachas ( Sanabria & De Wilde 1998), again without further information, but may involve this species and merits investigation. Known altitudinal range: 4100–4300 m. See map on page 173 in Fassett (1951).

Notes: — Callitriche quindiensis differs from all other Callitriche species in the fruit which is greater than 1.1 mm wide, lacks a wing and is wider at the apex than the base, appearing almost the shape of a stylised heart.

Conservation status: —Information on this species is inadequate to derive an informed assessment and so it is classed as Data Deficient (DD) (Lansdown 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Fruits of South American Callitriche: a—C. lechleri, b—C. mandonis, c—C. nubigena, d—C. oblongicarpa, e—C. praetermissa, f—C. quindiensis, g—C. rimosa, h—C. schotsmaniana, i—C. stagnalis, j—C. terrestris, k—C. turfosa.