Pitcairnia ripicola Gouda & Manzanar., 2024

Gouda, Eric J. & Manzanares, José, 2024, Confusion about Pitcairnia aphelandriflora Lem. and a new well known related species, Phytotaxa 675 (2), pp. 115-121 : 117-120

Pitcairnia ripicola Gouda & Manzanar. spec. nov. Figure 2 , 3 & 4

Type: — Ecuador: Prov. Morona-santiago, Limón Indanza, Cordillera del Cóndor region. Centro Shuar Kuankus , Río Coangos , at river crossing, below suspension footbridge, 310 m. elev., 03°02’22”S 78°12’37”W, growing in dense clumps of 10–20 stems on limestone rocks on banks of Río Coangos ; probably underwater at periodic flood stage. 20-9-2005. David Neill 14668 (Holotype: QCNE!; Isotypes: F!, NY!)

Diagnosis: — Pitcairnia ripicola is morphologically closely related to P. punicea but differs in its general length 100–150(–300) cm (vs. 30– 40 cm tall), the abaxial indument of the leaf-blades glabrous (vs. with a thin pale membrane of coalesced trichomes), inflorescence dense with imbricate floral-bracts (vs. inflorescence lax with the floral-bracts remote), large ovate floral-bracts mostly exceeding the sepals (vs. smaller, lanceolate, shorter than the pedicel of the flower), flower subsessile (vs. long pedicellate), sepals elliptic (vs. ovate-lanceolate).

Plants flowering 100–150(–300) cm tall, rosulate and slenderly caulescent, stems often branching. Stems slender, covered with the remains of dead sheaths, with only rosulate leaves on distal part. Leaves spreading and often recurved, monomorphic, persisting, margins serrulate (at least in some parts). Leaf-sheaths ovate, 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, margin entire or in upper part serrate, glabrous, pale green and sometimes with a dark brown band at the base. Leaf-blades slightly narrowed at the base but not petiolate, linear, 20–25(–32) cm long, 0.8–1.5 cm wide; margins sometimes slightly undulate, minutely and laxly serrulate especially distally; spines of 0.5 mm long, midvein prominent, apex long attenuate and acute, glabrous on both sides, adaxially dark green and paler abaxially. Inflorescence simple, erect, dense or rarely subdense, 10–21 cm long, 2.2 cm wide, cylindrical, polystichously (8–)14–23 flowered, slightly lepidote or glabrous. Peduncle totally covered by its bracts, erect, 3–7 cm long, 5 mm in diameter. Peduncle bracts nearly all or the lower ones foliaceous decreasing gradually in size to ovate, erect, exceeding the internodes, imbricate, 2.5–3 cm long, 1.3 cm wide, apex acuminate or the lower ones caudate (laminate), red with green blade or apex or green. Rachis erect or slightly curved ascending and slightly angled, red, glabrous. Floral bracts ovate, suberect with divergent apex, (15–) 25–40 mm long, (7–) 10–33 mm wide, sometimes slightly shorter than to distinctly exceeding the sepals (the lower ones sometimes even exceeding the flower), imbricate, ecarinate, nerved, margins entire or irregularly and sparsely serrulate, apex acuminate (the lower sometimes caudate or laminate) and upper ones acute, glabrous, olive green or red often with green acumen. Flowers up to 5 cm long, sub-sessile, pedicel 2 mm long, corolla zygomorphic, pistil and stamens included. Sepals elliptic, 15–36 mm long, 5–10 mm wide, adaxial ones (and others) ecarinate, apex acute, glabrous, green. Petals curved, 4.5–5 cm long, lanceolate, with one ligule at the base, ligules 8 mm long, ligules denticulate at apex, cinnebar red (yellowish at base). Stamens and pistil included but emerging below the petal cap, slightly shorter than the petals. Pistil ovary two third superior, three angled, ovules obtuse. Seeds slightly alate.

Etymology: —The epithet ‘ripicola’ refers to the riparian (ripicolous) growth of the species, often growing along riverbanks or areas that get flooded regularly.

Distribution and habitat: —The species is found in following countries and divisions PANAMA: Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Veraguas, Coclé. ECUADOR: Napo, Morona-Santiago, Zamora-Chinchipe. PERU: Amazonas,

Loreto, Ucayali, often along riverbanks in primary forest or low mountain forest from 120–1350 m elevation. It forms clusters of many stems.

Specimen examined:— PANAMA. Bocas del Toro: 15-11-1971, H. Kennedy & R. L. Dressler 1248 ( F!) ; Chiriquí: La fortuna hydroelectric project, on forested slope south side of river, and upriver from camp, 20- 03-1978, B. E. Hammel 2096 ( MO, USF!) ; Veraguas: Santa Fe, Valley of río Dos Bocas along road between Escuela Agricola Alto Piedra and Calovebora, 15.6 km northwest of Santa Fé ; along trail to Santa Fé , steep forested hill east of river, 31-08-1974, T. B. Croat 27699 ( MO!) ; Santa Fé, Vicinity Santa Fé, along road between Santa Fé and Calovebora, 1.7 miles past Alto Piedra school, 1.5 miles beyond quebrada Cosilla (previously referred to as río Primero Braso ), 13-07-1994, T. B. Croat & guang hua zhu 76848 ( MO, USF!) ; Santa Fé, Forest at base of Cerro Tuti [Tute], 6.5 Km outside of Santa Fé , 06-05-1977, J. P. Folsom 3060 ( MO!) ; Santa Fé, NW of Santa Fé. 11 km from Escuela Agricola Alto de Piedra, in valley of Rio Dos Bocas. Atlantic slope, 20-12-1974, S. A. Mori, J. A. Kallunki, B. A. Cochrane, T. S. Cochrane, B. F. Hansen, R. R. Kowal & M. Nee 3877 ( MO, WIS!) ; Santa Fé, Parque Nacional Santa Fé. Bermejo. Parte baja del Salto , 19-05-2004, R. Aizprúa & I. Alvarez B4181 ( F!, MO, PMA) . ECUADOR. Napo: Napo, near Mishualli. growing in riverbed, 10-05-1988, E. J. Gouda & R. Verwer 6 ( U!) ; Río Napo, sin loc, 03-1983, A. C. Hirtz 848 ( MO, SEL!, US) . Morona-Santiago: Río Itzintza, Cordillera Cutucú, (“ Oriente ”), 17-11-1944, W. H. Camp E-1238 ( MO, NY!, US) ; Road from Méndez to Morona , about km 100, Santiago-Yaupi , 08-1989, A. C. Hirtz 4390 ( QCA, SEL!) ; Centro Shuar Kankaim , (Cangaime) ; 20k nw de Taisha , 17-09-1985, D. Shiki 112 ( NY!) ; Via de Patuca a Morona Santiago km 76.5. Terrestre, crece en márgenes de pequeños ríos, caulescente, tallo ramificado. Inflorescencia roja con flores violáceas, 700 m, 28-08-1996, J. M. Manzanares, H. Van Durme & P. Manzanares 6156 ( QCNE!) ; Limón Indanza, cerca de Limón Chiriaza. Forma densos grupos, caulescente. Inflorescencia con brácteas florales rojas y flores violáceas, 1300 m, 10-1999, A. Hirtz 7042 ( QCNE!) ; Limón Indanza, Cordillera del Cóndor, Centro Shuar Warints. Tributary of Río Warints , 04-10-2002, D. A. Neill, Shuar conservation interns, 14075 ( MO, NY!, QCNE!, SEL!) ; Palora, Río Pastaza y Río Tuna Chiguaso , 08-1994, J. M. Manzanares, K. Bracke, Pablo, Nele, & Rebeca Manzanares 5175 ( MO, QCNE!, SEL!) ; Cordillera de Cutucú, Western slopes, along a trail from Lograño to Yaupi , in the general region of coordinates below. Common along rocky river banks, Río Chihuasi , 11-1976, M. T. Madison, E. O. Bush III, E. W. Davis, 3628 ( SEL!) ; Tiwintza, Región de la Cordillera de Cutucú, al norte del río Santiago , cantón Tiwintza , Centro Shuar Yapapas. Bosque húmedo tropical, de tierras bajas, en bosque maduro, medianamente intervenido, por el sendero que conduce desde la carretera a la comunidad. Informante : Diego Mariana , 28-10-2005, C. Morales & grupo Shuar de conservación 1445 ( AAU, HUT, LOJA, MO, QCNE, SEL!) . Zamora-Chinchipe: Nangaritza, Cordillera del Cóndor, “Area de Conservación Los Tepuyes”. Along banks of the Río Nangaritza , in the sandstone-walled canyon between Miazi and Shaime, 17-09-2007, D. A. Neill, C. Davidson, S. Christoph & W. Quizhpe 15797 ( MO, QCNE!, SEL!) ; Nangaritza, Río Nangaritza , on rocks ; scape bracts red; flowers not present; 04°15’35”S 78°39’23”W, 852 m, 17-09-2007, T. B. Croat & G. Ferry 98734 ( QCNE!) . PERU. Amazonas: Bagua, Dtto. Imaza. Comunidad Aguaruna de Kusd-Listra. Cerro Apág , margen derecha Quebrada Kusd. Bordes Quebrada Kusd , 19-09-1996, C. Diaz S., A. Pena, Ruben Tiwi & David Shuwin, 8286 ( MEXU, MO, SEL!) ; Condorcanqui, Río Cenepa, vicinity of Huampami , ca. 5 km. east of Chávez Valdívia , camino de Chigkan Entsa. En bosque primario, 08-01-1978, E. Ancuash A. 1237 ( F!, MO) ; Condorcanqui, Río Cenepa region, Quebrada Nahem , Monte , 15-07-1974, R. Kayap 1805 ( F!, MO). Loreto: Río Pumayacu , Balsapuerto, 30-08-1938, C. A. W. Sandeman 136 ( K, MO, P!). Ucayali: Padre Abad, Distr. Padre Abad. Carretera a Alto Miraflores, cerca al Río Negro , 13-09-2004, J. Schunke V., J. G. Graham, 15927 ( BRIT, F!, G, MOL, SEL!) .

Observations: —The newly described species that grows from Panama to Peru differs from Pitcairnia aphelandriflora in having broad floral bracts that are imbricate and mostly fully covering the sepals and bright red bracts (vs. relatively narrow green floral bracts that are exposing part of the sepals and are not imbricate at all), the flowers are zygomorphic with the petals strongly curved, forming a cap above the anthers that are not exceeding the petals, but exposed below the petal cap stamens (vs. actinomorphic flowers with straight convergent petal apices with the exerted anthers and the stigma exceeding the stamens), and is flowering with a few flowers open at one time (vs. all/many flowers in the spike or raceme seems to flower at about the same time), additionally, the peduncle of the inflorescence is up to 7 cm long (vs. very short or lacking).

Remarkable is that this new species is not yet found in Colombia, but is expected there, especially in the Amazonian region. The material from Panama does not seem to be very different from the Ecuadorian material although one specimen from the prov. Veraguas was observed with green floral bracts, but others (e.g. R. Aizprúa B4181) also from Veraguas are reported to have red floral bracts. The species is close to Pitcairnia punicea that grows in a similar habitat and elevation in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, but is larger in size and has imbricate often red floral bracts that are exceeding the sepals of the (sub)dense subsessile flowers, vs. green and shorter than the pedicels of the remote flowers (see also diagnose and table 1). No detail information about P. aphelandriflora is known and there for not included in table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Pitcairnia ripicola in habitat on a river bank close to Limón Chiriaza, voucher: A. Hirtz 7042 (QCNE!). A. overview of the many stemmed specimen; B. the top op the leafy stem with elongate inflorescence; C. detail of an inflorescence and flowers, showing the zygomorphic aspect of the corolla and stamens. Photos by Alexander Hirtz.

FIGURE 3. Holotype of Pitcairnia ripicola at QCNE. Photo José M. Manzanares.