Echeveria cuevasii A. Vázquez & Padilla-Lepe, 2024

Vázquez-García, J. Antonio, Guzmán, Ramón Cuevas, Rosales-Martínez, C. Santiago, Arias, José Guadalupe Morales & Padilla-Lepe, Jesús, 2024, Two new species of Echeveria (Crassulaceae, Saxifragales) from the Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco, Mexico, Phytotaxa 653 (2), pp. 115-133 : 119-125

Echeveria cuevasii A. Vázquez & Padilla-Lepe sp. nov. Figs. 1–4 .

Type:— MEXICO. Jalisco: Municipio de Cuautitlán de García Barragán , El Muñeco , Sierra de Manantlán , 24 November, 2022, J. A. Vázquez-García, R. Cuevas-Guzmán, J. G. Morales Arias & J. Padilla Lepe 10315 (holotype: ZEA, isotype: IBUG).

Diagnosis:— Echeveria cuevasii is similar to E. flammigera in having a subshruby habit with ascending branches, stem length and inflorescence length. However, it differs from the latter in having fewer shorter and thinner branches; longer and wider leaves (5.1 × 2.2 vs. 1.0–1.5 × 0.5–1.0 cm); more flowers per inflorescence (8–14 vs. 2–7); longer bracts (2.5–2.6 vs. 1.0 cm); shorter stamens, the epipetalous (5.3–5.8 vs. 6–7 mm), the antesepalous (6.9–8.1 vs. 8–9 mm); and petals with bright yellow margins vs. petals with light orange to reddish margins. From E. multicaulis it differs by the leaves minutely papillose, shorter caudex, shorter inflorescences, and wider nectaries.

Plants perennial, caulescent, shrubby, with few ascending or decumbent branches, glabrous. Stems 23 cm long or more, 11.0–13.0 mm in diameter, greyish green, obscure green between the leaves, with conspicuous hexagonalshaped sections around the leaf scars. Rosettes terminal, 7.0–9.0 cm in diameter, lax. Leaves 19–35 per rosette, 5.1 cm long, 2.2 cm wide, 6 mm thick near the apex, oblanceolate, apex rounded, mucronate, somehow incurved, lower face convex, keeled in the middle, upper face almost flat but slightly convex in the middle, minutely papillose, grass green with blood red to purplish red margins close to the apex, the basal ones almost all in red. Inflorescence lateral, sub-spicate to racemose, generally 1 per rosette, 14.0– 23.9 cm long, with 8–14 flowers; peduncle 7.0– 15.8 cm long, 0.4–0.6 cm wide in the base, dark green in the proximal part, reddish green in the fertile portion; peduncle bracts 8–12, alternate, extended, persistent, 2.5–2.6 cm long, 1.0– 1.1 cm wide, 3.5–5.0 mm thick next to the apex, similar to leaves in shape and colour; bracteoles 2 in the pedicels, lanceolate, 4.0–5.0 mm long, 1.0–1.3 wide, reddish. Flowers pentamerous, 8–14 per inflorescence; pedicels cylindric, to 5 mm long, 3.0 mm wide, reddish green, papillose; sepals 5, subequal, deltoid-oblanceolate, acuminate, 6.0–8.0 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, extended but slightly recurved in the distal part, both surfaces convex, reddish; corolla campanulate-tubular, 13.0 mm long, 8.0 mm in diameter in the base, pentagonal; petals 13.0 mm long, 5.0 mm in its widest part in the second third of the distal part, oblong, acute, ventrally concave, dorsally keeled, red to bright orange with bright yellow in the margins next to the apex in the outer face, yellow in the inner face; stamens 10, whitish yellow, 5 epipetalous, 5.3–5.8 mm long, 5 antesepalous, 6.9–8.1 mm long; nectaries reniform 1.7 mm wide, yellow. Gynoecium reddish, carpels 5, 5.9 mm long, 5.2 mm wide, style red, 3.4 mm, stigmas blackish; Fruits polyfollicular with dorsal dehiscence, ascendant, brown. Seeds inconspicuous.

Distribution and ecology:—The species is only known from the type locality on El Muñeco hill, at the confluence of the municipalities of Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Tolimán, and Tuxcacuesco in the upper and central part of the Sierra de Manantlán, at elevations between 2750–2800 m. It is found in cliff pine forest with Agave manantlanicola Cuevas & Santana Mich. in Cuevas et al. (2012: 330), A. inaequidens K. Koch (1860: 28) , Arbutus xalapensis Kunth (1818 [1819]: 279), Castilleja albobarbata in Iltis et al. (2003: 1343), Heuchera longipetala Moc. ex Ser. in de Candolle (1830: 52) , Muhlenbergia dumosa Scribn. ex Vasey (1892: 71) , Pinus devoniana Lindley (1839: 62) , P. durangensis Martínez (1942: 23) , Quercus crassifolia Bonpl. in Humboldt & Bonpland (1809 [1810–1811: 49), Q. laurina Bonpl. in Humboldt & Bonpland (1809: 32), Salvia meera Ramamoorthy ex J.G. González & Santana Mich. in González-Gallegos et al. (2012: 593) and Stevia lucida Lagasca (1816: 28) , among others.

Phenology:—The plants start developing inflorescences in summer, usually around July. They are in full bloom during late fall and early winter, from late November to mid-January. Fruits and seeds complete their ripening process between mid-January and mid-March.

Eponymy:—We are honoured to name this species after Dr. Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán (Tequesquitlán, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Jalisco) ( Fig. 5 ), a dear friend and outstanding botanist who first determined that this species was new to science. He has been actively collecting in the area since 1985 and published the books Flora de Manantlán: plantas vasculares de la Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco-Colima, México ( Vázquez-García et al. 1995), Flora y Vegetación de la Estación Científica Las Joyas ( Cuevas & Jardel 2004) and Árboles de la Estación Científica Las Joyas y áreas adyacentes, Sierra de Manantlán, México (Cuevas et al. 2021). Moreover, he has described a dozen new species from the Sierra de Manantlán, including Agave manantlanicola Cuevas & Santana Mich. , Beilschmiedia manantlanensis Cuevas & Cochrane (1999: 18) , Bursera macvaughiana Cuevas & Rzed. ( Cuevas & Rzedowski 1999: 78) , Echeveria vazquezii (here described), Cestrum mortonianum var. jardelii Cuevas & Mont. -Castro (2011: 38), Licaria ramiroi Cuevas in Cuevas et al. (2023: 72); Populus guzmanantlensis A.Vázquez & Cuevas (1989: 39) , Salvia rogersiana Ramamoorthy ex J.G.González & Cuevas in González et al. (2012: 598), Sedum dormiens Cuevas, Pérez-Calix & P. Carrillo (2022: 80) , Sideroxylon brucebenzii Cuevas &A.Vázquez (2021: 92(e923535), 2–5), “ Quetzalcoatlia santanamichelii ” sp. nov. ined., Sloanea cuautitlanensis Cuevas & J.L. Mend. , in Cuevas et al. (2018: 227) and Trophis noraminervae Cuevas & Carvajal (1999: 2) .

Conservation status:—According to the categories and criteria of the IUCN Red List ( IUCN 2012), Echeveria cuevasii is assigned a preliminary status of “endangered” EN ( B 2a). Its known and estimated geographical distribution is less than 500 km 2 in area, and it has been recorded from only one locality.

Additional specimens examined:— MEXICO. Jalisco: Municipio de Cuautitlán de García Barragán, cerro El Muñeco, Sierra de Manantlán, 17 October 2015 (fl), R. Cuevas-Guzmán & O. Balcazar-Medina 11950 ( ZEA).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Echeveria cuevasii in situ, in the highland crest of the Sierra de Manantlán central at Cerro El Muñeco, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Jalisco. Photograph by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 2. Echeveria cuevasii. Subshruby habit, the stem branching near the base. Photograph by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 3. Echeveria cuevasii.Compact rosettes (left) and subspicate inflorescence. Photographs by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 4. Echeveria cuevasii. Top left: Flower with pedicel and sepals. Top right: Dissected flower to show nectaries and gynoecium. Bottom row: Petals showing the yellowish inner side with stamens attached and the bright red outer side. Photographs by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 5. (A) Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán and J. Antonio Vázquez-García at the entrance of the Scientific Station Las Joyas, Autlán, Jalisco. (B & D) R. Cuevas at El Muñeco in habitat of Echeveria cuevasii; (C & E). A. Vázquez takes a picture of Echeveria cuevasii (C) at El Muñeco and E. sp. nov. ined. (E) at Picachos del Pozanco; F. Expedition team (botanists and park rangers: From left to right: Germán Guzmán-Sánchez, Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán, J. Cresencio de Los Santos-Flores, J. Antonio Vázquez-García, Oscar Elías-Trinidad, Manuel Anguiano-Preciado, Israel Elías-Trinidad y Jesús Padilla-Lepe) of the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve. Fotografías: A–D & F by J.G. Morales-Arias, 2022; and E by J.G. Morales-Padilla, 2014.