Lantana caudata P.H. Cardoso & Salimena (2019b: 191)

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

6.3. Lantana caudata P.H. Cardoso & Salimena (2019b: 191) . (Figs. 2A, 5H)

Shrubs 2‒3 m high, branches tetragonal, armed with prickles, hirsute, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes. Leaves opposite, petiole 0.5‒1 cm long; blade 5.3‒10.5 × 2.2‒5 cm, chartaceous, lanceolate to elliptical, apex caudate, base cuneate or obtuse, margin crenate or serrate, ciliate, adaxial surface opaque, strigose, bullate, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes, abaxial surface hirsute, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes. Inflorescences 1‒1.7 cm long, rachis not elongated in fructification, 1 per axil, peduncle 9‒13 cm long, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes; bracts equal 5‒7 mm long, oval-lanceolate, abaxial surface hirsute, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes, margin ciliate; calyx 1.8‒2 mm long, 2-lobed, externally hirsute, abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes, ciliate, not accrescent in fruit; corolla 1‒1.2 cm long, red, orange or yellow. Fruit 4.8‒5 mm long, black, external surface smooth.

Distribution and habitat:— Lantana caudata is endemic to the Atlantic Forest, in the states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais ( Cardoso et al. 2019b). In Espírito Santo it occurs in the transition of dense rainforest and inselberg. It was found inside the following SPAs of this state: Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul and Parque Estadual do Forno Grande.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers in January, July and September and with fruits in January and September.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This species presents an EOO of approximately 1,470 km ² and AOO of 16 km 2, recorded in only four localities. For being rare and for presenting a restricted distribution ( Cardoso et al. 2019b), it should be classified as “Endangered” (EN). However, due to the occurrence only inside PAs (Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul, Parque Estadual do Forno Graande, and Parque Nacional do Caparaó), we adopted a more conservative point of view, and considered the species “Vulnerable” VU B1a + B2a ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Castelo, Forno Grande, 28 January 2004, fl. and fr., L . Kollmann 6434 ( CESJ, MBML); Castelo, Parque Estadual do Forno Grande , 16 July 2005, fl., L . Kollmann & R . L . Kollmann 8116 ( CESJ, MBML); Domingos Martins, Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul , 19 September 2018, fl. and fr., P . H . Cardoso et al. 37 ( CESJ) .

Notes:— Lantana caudata is characterized by the presence of pedicellate glandular trichomes along the entire plant; branches armed with prickles; lanceolate to elliptical leaves, caudate apex, cuneate or obtuse base; peduncles longer than the leaves; equal bracts, oval-lanceolate and red, yellow, or orange corolla. It is similar to L. tiliifolia by the type of indument and peduncles long, however, the morphology of the leaves and the bracts are characters easily distinguished between these species, once L. tiliifolia presents cordiform or ovate leaves and unequal bracts, the external oblong to lanceolate and the internal narrow-elliptical.

Illustrations in Cardoso et al. (2019b).