Lantana fucata Lindley (1824: 798)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 15-16

6.4. Lantana fucata Lindley (1824: 798) . (Figs. 2A, 6A)

Shrubs 0.5‒1.5 m high, branches tetragonal, without prickles, pubescent or strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present. Leaves opposite, petiole 3‒7 mm long; blade 1.7‒6.5 × 1‒3.5 cm, chartaceous, ovate to elliptical, apex acute to obtuse, base truncate, cuneate or attenuate, decurrent along the petiole, margin entire near the base, crenate or serrate toward the apex, ciliate, adaxial surface opaque, sparsely pubescent or strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present, slightly bullate, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent to tomentose, trichomes concentrated along the veins, glandular sessile trichomes present. Inflorescences 1‒1.5 cm long, rachis elongated up to 3 cm long in fructification, 1‒2 per axil, peduncle 1.3‒5.8(‒9) cm long, pubescent, glandular sessile trichomes present; bracts unequal, external 0.6‒1 cm long, wide-ovate, internal 3‒4.5 mm long, ovate, abaxial surface pubescent, glandular sessile trichomes present, margin ciliate; calyx 2‒2.2 mm long, 4-toothed, externally sericeous, accrescent in fruit; corolla 0.7‒1 cm long, lilac, throat yellow. Fruit ca. 2.5 mm long, purple, external surface smooth, surrounded by the persistent calyx.

Distribution and habitat:— Lantana fucata is widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical America, and was introduced in other regions around the world, such as India and Africa ( Silva 1999). In Brazil, it was recorded in the regions Northeast, Center-West, Southeast, and South ( Silva et al. 2020), being considered a ruderal species ( Lorenzi 1991). In Espírito Santo, it was found in the seasonal semideciduous forest, dense rainforest, restinga, inselbergs, and also was frequent in disturbed areas, mainly along the roadsides. The species was recorded inside the following SPAs of this state: Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Parque Estadual do Forno Grande, Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul, Estação Biológica de Santa Lúcia, and Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers from February to December.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This is a common species (ruderal), presents wide distribution ( Lorenzi 1991, Silva 1999), and occurs inside PAs in South America. Considered “Least Concern” (LC) ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Anchieta, 10 May 1988, fl., J. M. L . Gomes 596 ( CESJ, VIES); Atílio Vivácqua , 26 April 2007, fl., A. P . Fontana et al. 3202 ( CESJ, MBML); Barra de São Francisco , 21 November 2000, fl. and fr., L . Kollmann et al. 3284 ( CESJ, MBML); Castelo, Parque Estadual do Forno Grande , 21 September 2018, fl. and fr., P. H . Cardoso et al. 43 ( CESJ); Conceição do Castelo , 5 December 1984, fl. and fr., G . Hatschbach 48657 ( CEPEC, MBM); Domingos Martins, Pedra Azul , 16 October 1983, fl. and fr., G . Hatschbach & O . Guimarães 46892 ( CEPEC, MBM, MO, NY); Domingos Martins, Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul , 19 November 2048, fl. and fr., P. H . Cardoso et al. 36 ( CESJ); Dores do Rio Preto , 6 July 2004, fl., L . Kollmann & R. L . Kollmann 6788 ( CESJ, MBML); Goiapaba-Açu , 15 September 1988, fl. and fr., L . Kollmann et al. 546 ( CESJ, MBML); Guarapari , 18 October 1980, fl., L . Krieger s.n. ( CESJ 19644 ); Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale, 7 January 1997, fl., D. A . Folli 2888 ( CESJ, CVRD); Presidente Kennedy , 3 November 1990, fl., J. M. L . Gomes 1388 ( CESJ, VIES); Itarana , 20 September 2018, fl. and fr., P. H . Cardoso et al. 41 ( CESJ); Linhares , 18 July 1999, fl. and fr., D. A . Folli 3463 ( CVRD); Piúma , November 2002, fl., H . Pinheiro 15 ( CESJ, VIES); Santa Leopoldina , 28 August 2007, fl. and fr., R. R . Vervloet et al. 3293 ( MBML); Santa Maria de Jetibá , 6 August 2015, fl., L . Kollmann 13049 ( MBML); Santa Teresa , 25 April 1984, fl. and fr., W . Boone 67 ( CESJ, HUEFS, MBML); Serra , 7 May 2009, fl., O. J . Pereira 7775 ( CESJ, VIES); São Roque do Canaã , 24 October 2004, fl., A. P . Fontana et al. 955 ( CESJ, MBML); Vila Velha , 23 August 2009, fl., R. T . Valadares & V. B . Sarnaglia Júnior 868 ( CESJ, VIES); Vitória , 5 August 1988, fl., O. J . Pereira et al. 1731 ( CESJ, VIES) .

Notes:— Lantana fucata is characterized by the presence of pubescent or strigose branches; unequal bracts, the external wide-ovate and the internal ovate; sericeous calyx and lilac corolla with yellow throat. It is a species with high phenotypical variation, and presents several synonyms ( Silva 1999).

Two specimens identified as L. lundiana were cited for the Espírito Santo by Silva (1999) [G. Hatschbach 48657 (MBM) and G. Hatschbach & O. Guimarães 46892 (MBM)], whose occurrence was accepted by BFG (2015), Dutra et al. (2015) and Silva et al. (2020). We visited the Pedra Azul (the same locality where the specimens identified as L. lundiana were previously registered ( Silva 1999, Dutra et al. 2015)) and did not find this species. The collections aforementioned by Silva (1999) were analyzed and compared with the type material and the protologue of L. lundiana , and this identification was not confirmed. Actually, these two specimens are L. fucata , and L. lundiana does not occur in the Espírito Santo.

Lantana lundiana and L. fucata present the branches without prickles, leaves discolorous, bracts external wideovate and the internal ovate. However, the first species presents dense-villous branches, canescent, the abaxial surface of the leaf villous-canescent, and no other species of Lantana found in Espirito Santo State has such characteristics.

Illustrations in Silva & Lima (2012).