Menonvillea chilensis (Turcz.) Jackson (1894: 207)

Salariato, Diego L., Zuloaga, Fernando O. & Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A., 2014, A revision of the genus Menonvillea (Cremolobeae, Brassicaceae), Phytotaxa 162 (5), pp. 241-298 : 270-271

11. Menonvillea chilensis (Turcz.) Jackson (1894: 207) . Cymatoptera chilensis Turczaninow (1854: 309) .

Menonvillea media Turczaninow (1863: 551) nom. illeg. superfl. [= Menonvillea chilensis (Turcz.) B.D. Jacks. ].

Type:— CHILE. [Región de Atacama]. Prov. Coquimbo, hills between Copiapo and Huasco, Mar 1842, T. Bridges

1279 ( holotype KW!; isotypes BM!, E!, G!, K!, LE!, P!) .

Menonvillea aptera Philippi (1860: 9) . Menonvillea parviflora (Phil.) var. aptera Johnston (1929a: 44) . Menonvillea chilensis var. aptera (Phil.) Rollins (1955: 50) . Type:— CHILE. [Región de Antofagasta]. Aguada del Clérigo, cerca de Hueso Parado, 366 m, R. A. Philippi s.n. (holotype SGO 63971!).

Menonvillea parviflora Philippi (1860: 8) . Menonvillea orbiculata Phil. var. parviflora (Phil.) Reiche (1895: 85) . Type:— CHILE. [Región de Atacama] Cachinal de la Costa, 518 m, R. A. Philippi s.n. [lectotype designated by Al-Shehbaz et al. (2011: 285), SGO 49154!; isolectotype SGO 68273!].

Menonvillea parvula Philippi (1892: 336) . Menonvillea pinnatifida Barnéoud var. parvula (Phil.) Gilg & Muschler (1909: 441) . Type:— CHILE. [Región de Atacama]. Prov. Atacama, cerca de Huasco, October 1866, F. Philippi s.n. [lectotype designated by Al-Shehbaz et al. (2011: 286), SGO 63976!; isolectotype 63208!].

Menonvillea orbiculata Phil. fo. glabra Gilg & Muschler (1909: 442). Type:— CHILE. [Región de Coquimbo]. Prov , de Coquimbo, F. Philippi s.n. [holotype B; isotype F!] .

Annuals. Stems (4−)6−24(−34) cm, erect to ascending, highly branched at base, glabrescent to sparsely floccose, usually densely floccose at leaf axils, with simple floccose or arachnoid trichomes to 0.5 mm long. Leaves basal and cauline, sessile to subsessile; blade pectinate or trifid, rarely undivided, with linear segments, usually flat, (1−)1.5–5.5(−7) cm × 0.5−1.5(−2.5) mm, glabrous to sparsely pubescent. Racemes terminal or axillary, ebracteate, corymbose, elongated considerably in fruit, (2.5−) 4−8.5 cm long; rachis glabrous to glabrescent, straight in fruit; fruiting pedicels divaricate, ascending to recurved or arcuate, (1−)1.5–3(−4) mm long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, somewhat flattened at base. Sepals broadly oblong, 1.5−2(−2.5) × 0.9−1.2(−1.5) mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, erect, not saccate at base, caducous, margin membranous; petals yellow to yellowish green, linear, 2.5−4.4 × 0.6−1(−1.2) mm, clawed, not papillate at base; stamens slightly tetradynamous; filaments free, erect, not dilated or papillate at base, (1.5−)1.8−(−2.5) mm long; anthers oblong, 0.5−0.9 mm long; nectar glands confluent, petaloid. Fruits broadly oblong; valves narrowly 2-winged, 2.5−3.2(−4.2) × (1.5−)2−2.5(−3.5) mm, usually notched at apex and base, dorsal and ventral surfaces each with 2, well-developed, usually wrinkled lateral callosities separated by numerous to few, conspicuous, clavate papillae; midrib prominent or rarely slightly marked; wings 0.2−0.4(−0.7) mm wide, undulate; gynophore 0.4−1 mm long; style 1−1.5 mm long; stigma 2- lobed, subdecurrent. Seeds ovate, 1.3−1.6 × 0.9–1.2 mm, plump, slightly compressed; cotyledons incumbent. Fig. 16 .

Distribution and habitat:— Menonvillea chilensis is endemic to northern Chile, where it is distributed in regions II (Antofagasta), III (Atacama), and IV (Coquimbo), at elevations between 0− 800 m. It grows on rocky hillsides, steep granite slopes, rock crevices, rocky beds, and ravines with scattered shrubs ( Fig. 13A ).

Phenology:— Flowers between September and November.

Taxonomic notes:— Menonvillea chilensis is highly variable in fruit morphology, and some of its variants were previously recognized at the specific or varietal ranks. The most noticeable variation is in the degree of development of the fruit wing. Forms with reduced wings have been treated as var. aptera ( Rollins, 1955) , but plants with reduced or fully developed wings are found in the same population. In one collection, Ricardi et al. 1504 (CONC), both maximum and minimum measurements of the fruit wing are observed. Other characters cited by Rollins (1955) to differentiate this variety were the pedicel orientation or the prominence of midrib. These characters too are highly variable, as in Garaventa 7094 (SI), with ascending, recurved and arcuate pedicels, or in King s.n. (CONC 61882) with obscurely developed midrib. Therefore, var. aptera is here included within the morphological range of M. chilensis .

Menonvillea chilensis and M. orbiculata are morphologically related and sometimes difficult to separate. The former includes sparsely floccose to glabrescent annuals with broadly oblong fruits 2.5−3.2(−4.2) long, undulate wings 0.2−0.4(−0.7) wide, well-developed wrinkled lateral callosities, sepals 1.5−2(−2.5) mm long, and petals 2.5− 4.4 mm long not papillate at base. By contrast, M. orbiculata includes usually densely floccose perennials (ocassionnaly glabrescent or sparsely pubescent annuals or biennials) with suborbicular fruits (2.5−)3.5−5.5(−6) mm long, flat wings (0.5−) 0.8−1.2 mm wide, poorly developed or not wrinkled lateral callosities, sepals 2.5−4 mm long, and petals (3.5)–7(−8) mm long and with a sparsely papillate base or rarely glabrous.

The label of Cymatoptera chilensis isotype at E reads “ Hills between Copiapo and Huasco, Province of Coquimbo ”. However, Copiapó and Huasco are located in Región III (Atacama) .

In the protologue of Menonvillea parvula, Philippi (1892) cited the specimens Huasco, Oct. 1866, F. Philippi. Rollins (1955) corroborated this material type and noted “the type of M. parvula consist of two plants labeled “Thionophila parvula Ph., Huasco. Octobri 1866 ”. Al-Shehbaz et al. (2011) correctly listed SGO 63976 and SGO 63208 as the lectotype and isolectotype, respectively. However, they erroneously included SGO 68272 as an isolectotype with a label “Huasco, Sep 1885, F. Philippi ”. The last specimen is excluded herein from the type collection of M. parvula and included as probable isolectotype of M. minima Rollins (see below).

Representative Specimens:— CHILE. II Antofagasta: Prov. Antofagasta, Com. Taltal, Quebrada San Ramón , 5 km al norte de Taltal, 15 November 1987, Hoffmann & Rodríguez 180 ( CONC) . III Atacama: Prov. Chañaral, Com. Chañaral, Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar , Quebrada cerro Castillo, 13 October 1992, Muñoz 3075 ( SGO) ; Prov. Copiapó, Com. Copiapó , "La Travesía", entre Vallenar y Copiapó, 27 October 1961, Garaventa 7094 ( BAA, SI) , Garaventa 7095 ( BAA, CONC, SI) , Carrizal bajo, no date, King s.n. ( CONC 61882 ) ; Prov. Huasco, Com. Huasco , 10 Km al E. de Huasco , 8 October 1987, Teillier 922 ( CONC) . IV Coquimbo: Prov. Elqui, Com. Coquimbo, Coquimbo, 1885, Philippi s.n. ( SGO 77943) .

Figures

FIGURE 13. Distribution of species of Menonvillea sect. Menonvillea. A, M. chilensis. B, M. constitutionis. C, M. filifolia. D, M. flexuosa. E, M. linearis. F. M. litoralis. G. M. marticorenae. H, M. minima. I, M. orbiculata. J, M. pinnatifida. K, M. purpurea.

FIGURE 16. Menonvillea chilensis (Turcz.) B.D. Jacks. A, plant. B, flower. C, sepal. D, petal. E, nectar glands, stamens and ovary. F, fruit, dorsal view. G, seed. H, embryo. I, leaf trichome. From Ricardi et al. 1285 (CONC). Scale bars: A = 1 cm; B–F= 1 mm; G–H = 500 µm; H = 200 µm.