Spathiphyllum frailescanense F.J.-Pérez, Díaz Jim. & Pérez-Farr

J. - Pérez, A. Fabian, Pérez-Farrera, Miguel Ángel, Jiménez, Pedro Díaz & Martínez-Martínez, Mauricio Gerónimo, 2023, Spathiphyllum frailescanense (Araceae), a new species from Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico, Phytotaxa 591 (2), pp. 164-170 : 165-168

Spathiphyllum frailescanense F.J.-Pérez, Díaz Jim. & Pérez-Farr ., sp. nov. ( Figs. 2 , 3 )

Spathiphyllum frailescanense can be confused with S. matudae , a morphologically similar species that is distributed from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to Guatemala. However, S. frailescanense differs in having oblong-elliptic or oblong-ovate blades (vs. lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, sometimes subovate), more pairs of primary lateral veins per side (up to 32 vs. 20–25), sessile spadix or with a short stipe (less than 12 mm vs. stipitate spadix with a stipe up to 20 mm) and the pistils not constricted between the ovary and the style (vs. constricted between the ovary and the style).

Type: — MEXICO. Chiapas: Municipio Villacorzo, Área de Protección de Recursos Naturales La Frailescana, Cerro El Tomate , approximately 3.6 km southeast of Nuevo Refugio and 1.5 km from Rancho San Pascualito , 15°58’05.5”N, 93°27’38.6”W, 1590 m, 30 Sep, 2022, A. F. José Pérez, Pedro Díaz Jiménez, M. Á. Pérez-Farrera & M. G. Martínez Martínez 261 (holotype HEM!, isotype CHIP!).

Terrestrial, understory herb, growing sparsely or forming populations of few individuals, up to 140 cm tall; internodes short, to 26.45–37.42 mm diam. Leaves 87.0– 120.5 cm long; petioles longer than the blades, 55.2–69.3 cm long, 5.24– 8.48 mm diam., sheathed 3.0– 6.5 cm from the geniculum, or to the geniculum, the sheath and free portion pale green and covered in white dots, sheath margins often wrinkled, rarely entire, inrolled, yellowish-green; geniculum 2.5–5.0 cm long, 7.84–10.28 mm diam., whitish-green and covered with white dots; blades oblong-elliptic or oblong-ovate, widest at or just below the middle, 31.5–51.0 cm long, 15–24 cm wide, approx. 2 times longer than wide, mucronate or acuminate at apex, obtuse or rounded at base, sub-coriaceous, dark green and glossy above, pale below, drying black to dark greenish above, greenish to faintly dark below; midrib sunken and weakly paler above, thicker than broad, yellowish-green or dark green above and light green below; primary lateral veins, 26–32 pairs, separated 5–12 mm, arising at 60–80° angle, sunken and dark green above, light green below; minor veins dark green below. Inflorescence erect, equal or taller than the leaves, rarely shorter than the leaves; peduncle 50–87 cm long, 5.64–9.89 mm diam.; spathe cucullate, oblanceolate or elliptic, 19.3–30.4 cm long, 9.6–12.5 cm wide, acuminate at apex, subcuneate or oblique at base, decurrent 1.8–5.5 mm at base, yellowish-green at anthesis, dark green at post-anthesis; spadix 6.5–10.2 cm long, 16.72–22.83 mm diam., cream-yellowish, emitting a sweet and pleasant scent at anthesis, sessile or on a short stipe up to 11 mm long, 5.39–5.97 mm diam., light green at anthesis; perianth with 5–6 free tepals, 2.24–3.58 mm long, 1.51–2.33 mm wide; anthers 5 or 6, 1.24–1.77 mm long, thecae oblong, pollen whitish; pistils conic or subcylindrical, sharply emergent, 5.52–7.96 mm long, style 2.18–3.76 mm long, 2.06–2.44 mm diam. at base; ovary 2 or 3-locular, ovules 2–7 per locule, often 5–11(–14) ovules per ovary. Infructescence to 8.6–11.0 cm long, 27.63–42.78 diam.; berries obovoid to oblong, 10.01–12.25 mm long, 4.39–5.38 mm wide, rostrate, yellowish at maturity; seeds oblong, obovoid or oblique-ovoid, 3.29–4.48 mm long, 2.61–3.08 mm wide, light brown and glossy when fresh.

Distribution, habitat and conservation status: — Spathiphyllum frailescanense is endemic to the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico ( Fig. 1 ), known only from the municipalities of Acacoyagua, Angel Albino Corzo, Jaltenango, Mapastepec, Villacorzo and Villaflores, although, it is possible that this species is distributed throughout the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to Guatemala. It grows in evergreen tropical rainforests, gallery vegetation, montane cloud forests, semi-evergreen forests and tropical sub-deciduous forests, between 700 and 2000 m. In the type locality, La Frailescana, it grows associated with Ceratozamia vovidesii Pérez-Farr. & Iglesias (2007: 394) in Pérez-Farrera et al. (2007), a species of cycad endemic to Chiapas, Monstera siltepecana Matuda (1950: 97) and Philodendron anisotomum Schott (1858: 179) (P. Díaz Jiménez & M. Á. Pérez-Farrera, pers. obs.). Spathiphyllum frailescanense grows mainly scattered or forming populations of few individuals in the understory ( Fig. 3 ), similar to that recorded in other species such as S. brevirostre Schott (1853: 2) and S. ortgiesii Regel (1870: 39) , sometimes on the banks of streams. Due to its extent of occurrence (4,104,238 km 2) and area of occupancy (16,000 km 2) and according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (B1 and B2), S. frailescanense is not in any protection status (IUCN 2012, 2022). However, it is important to mention that in the surroundings of the type locality there are currently coffee plantations.

Phenology: —Specimens with inflorescence and infructescence were collected in the dry and rainy seasons, between February and July, and September.

Eponymy: —This species is named for the protected natural area known as La Frailescana, where the type specimen was collected. This area was established as a forest protection zone in 1979. In 2007, it was recategorized as a natural resource protection area, and finally in 2019 it was named a natural resource protection area ( CONANP 2019).

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— MEXICO. Chiapas: Mun. Acacoyagua. Cerro Ovando , zona de amortiguamiento, 15°25’00.8’’N, 92°38’20.7’’W, 1267 m. 22 Jul. 2005, N. Martínez Meléndez 935 ( HEM!). Mun. Angel Albino Corzo. Arriba del río por el lado noroeste de la Col. Santa Rita, 15°41’26”N, 92°48’14”W, 1400 m, 18 Apr. 1990, Alush Méndez T. 9330 (MO!). Mun. Jaltenango-Mapastepec. Reserva El Triunfo, Poligono 1, Cañada Honda , 15°39’N, 92°48’W, 1450 m 23 Apr. 1990, M. Heath & A. Long 882 ( CHIP!, MO!); Reserva El Triunfo, Poligono 1, Campamento HQ-Palo gordo, 15°39’N, 92°48’W, 1900 m, 28 Feb. 1990, M. Heath & A. Long 823 ( CHIP!, MO!). Mun. Villacorzo. Cerro del Tomate, 2 km al Sur del Ejido San Pascualito , 30 km al sureste de Villacorzo, 15°58’09’’N, 93°28’10’’W, 1402 m, 28 Apr. 2002, J. Martínez-Meléndez 41 ( HEM!); 2 km del ejido Monterrey, 16°02’53’’N, 93°22’30’’W, 789 m, 29 Apr. 2002, M. G. Pascacio Damián 14 ( HEM!); Rancho Samaria, 16°0’51’’N, 93°22’5’’W, 949 m, 5 Apr. 2003, E. Meléndez López 868 ( HEM!, MO!); Área de Protección de Recursos Naturales La Frailescana, Cerro El Tomate, southeast of Nuevo Refugio and Rancho San Pascualito, 15°58’14.14”N, 93°27’47.01”W, 1380 m, 29 Mar. 2020, A. F. José Pérez 109 ( HEM!); Cerro El Tomate, southeast of Nuevo Refugio and Rancho San pascualito, 15°58’10.0”N, 93°28’08.8”W, 1357 m, 30 Sep. 2022, A. F. José Pérez, Pedro Díaz Jiménez , M. Á. Pérez-Farrera & M. G. Martínez Martínez 259 ( HEM!); Cerro El Tomate, southeast of Nuevo Refugio and Rancho San pascualito, 15°58’08.3”N, 93°28’04.43”W, 1334 m, 30 Sep. 2022, A. F. José Pérez, Pedro Díaz Jiménez , M. Á. Pérez-Farrera & M. G. Martínez Martínez 260 ( HEM!); Cerro El Tomate, southeast of Nuevo Refugio and Rancho San pascualito, 15°58’05.9”N, 93°27’38.0”W, 1585 m, 30 Sep. 2022, A. F. José Pérez, Pedro Díaz Jiménez , M. Á. Pérez-Farrera & M. G. Martínez Martínez 262 ( HEM!). Mun. Villaflores. 1 km al este del ejido Nueva independencia, Cerro Tres picos, 16°12’ N, 93°35’ W, 1300 m, 9 Feb. 1995, M. A. Pérez-Farrera 162 ( HEM!); Camino a ejido Tres Picos-Nva Independencia , 15 mar. 1995, M. A. Pérez-Farrera 186 ( CHIP!); Cerro Chumpipe, 8 km al SE del Ejido Tierra y Libertad, 16°11’50’’N, 93°42’30’’W, 1475 m, 24 May 1995, M. A. Pérez-Farrera 423 ( HEM!); La angostura Plan de Ayala. 15°53’61’’N, 93°13’88’’W, 1145 m, 30 Apr. 1999, Jesús De la Cruz R. 94 (HEM!).

Notes: — Spathiphyllum frailescanense is characterized by leaves with petiole longer than the blade (about 1.5 but not twice as long), the sheath close to or reaching the geniculum, long geniculum, oblong-elliptic or oblong-ovate blades, mucronate or acuminate at apex and obtuse or rounded at base, up to more than 32 pairs of primary veins per side, inflorescences almost as long as the leaves, sometimes shorter or longer, with a sessile spadix or on a short stipe and mostly between 5 and 11 ovules per ovary. It grows in the same range of S. matudae ( Fig. 1 ) and for a long time was confused and misidentified as that species, since both have corrugated blades and several ovules per ovary (up to 13; Bunting 1960, 1965), but S. matudae has shorter petioles, narrower blades, fewer pairs of primary veins per side (20–25), spadix frequently stipitate and its pistils constricted between the ovary and the style ( Bunting 1960). The new species could also be confused with S. blandum , but that species differs in having elliptic to oblong- or lanceolate-elliptic blades, up to 26 pairs of primary veins per side, and fewer than 9 ovules per ovary. Because the sheath of petiole reaches to geniculum and grows sparsely in the understory, S. frailescanense could be confused with S. cochlearispathum , but that species is more robust, up to 180 cm tall, and has oblong or oblong-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic blades and up to 16 ovules per ovary ( Table 1 ). Spathiphyllum frailescanense represents the fourteenth and fourth species recently described for Mexico ( Díaz Jiménez et al. 2021, 2022).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Known distribution of Spathiphyllum frailescanense at the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico and S. matudae.

FIGURE 2. Spathiphyllum frailescanense. A. Adult individual; B. Petiole and adaxial surface of the blade; C. Inflorescence showing spathe and spadix in anthesis; D. Pistils without constricted region between the ovary and the style; E. Seeds; F. Mature infructescence. Photos by M. G. Martínez-Martínez.

FIGURE 3. Spathiphyllum frailescanense in forest understory of “Cerro El Tomate”, La Frailescana Natural Resources Protection Area. Photo by A. F. José Pérez.