Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae Szlach. & Lipinska, 2022

Lipinska, Monika M., Oledrzynska, Natalia, Portilla, Alex, Luszczek, Dorota, Sumbembayev, Aidar A. & Szlachetko, Dariusz L., 2022, Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae), a new remarkable species from Ecuador, PhytoKeys 190, pp. 15-33 : 15

Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae Szlach. & Lipinska sp. nov.

Figs 3 , 4

Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae Type: ECUADOR. Carchi Province, Maldonado. Alt. 1700 m. 11.04.2003. A. Portilla s.n. (Holotype: UGDA-DLSz! - spirit, drawings, photo).

Diagnosis.

M. anacatalinaportillae appears to be similar to M. grandis , M. sanderiana and M. wojii . The new entity can be easily separated from M. grandis Rchb.f. by having flat margins of petals, which are gently angled (vs undulate and strongly recurved petals), longer lip callus extending beyond the middle of the lip (vs lip callus not reaching lip middle point) and form of lip middle lobe, which is broadly cordate or triangular when spread, with fold down margins (vs lip middle lobe oblong-elliptic, with undulate and planar margins). The lip middle lobe of M. sanderiana has strongly undulated and planar margins, and petals are shorter than dorsal sepal (vs equal in length in our new species). Maxillaria wojii can be easily distinguished from all other species mentioned above by unique lip callus, consisting of the main part flanked by pair of subsidiary calli. Lip callus of M. anacatalinaportillae is very massive flanked by narrow wings on each side.

Description.

Plants caespitose. Pseudobulbs 4-5.5 cm long, 4-4.5 cm wide, ellipsoid to almost orbicular, laterally compressed, unifoliate, supported basally by 1-2 leafy sheaths. Sheaths petiolate; petiole up to 20 cm long, conduplicate, narrow; blade up to 30 cm long and 8.5 cm wide, ligulate to oblong-elliptic, acute to shortly acuminate at apex, basally cuneate. Leaf petiolate; petiole up to 5 cm long, conduplicate; blade up to 33 cm long and 7.5 cm wide, similar in form to sheaths, ligulate to oblong-elliptic, acute to shortly acuminate. Peduncle ca 5-7 cm long, enveloped in 4-5 sheaths, erect, basal, single-flowered; sheaths elliptic-lanceolate, acute, thin, fibrous, brownish. Flowers large and showy, scentless, campanulate, not fully opened, resupinate, sepals red-wine or maroon outside, yellow inside with red-maroon basal part (Fig. 3 ); petals yellow with red-maroon veins and irregular dots on both sides of the middle vein, lip basal part yellow, callus yellow with dark apical part, middle lobe red-black with grayish suffusion, margins yellow, red-maroon outside, gynostemium yellowish with red-maroon on the ventral surface below stigma, anther yellow. Floral bracts ca 60 mm long, elliptic-lanceolate, greenish-brown with maroon veins. Ovary 30 mm long, glabrous. Tepals thick, fibrous. Dorsal sepal 60-62 mm long, 25-27 mm wide, elliptic-ovate, concave along midvein, apex subobtuse, canaliculated. Petals 60-62 mm long, 23-25 mm wide, oblong-lanceolate to ligulate-lanceolate, falcate at base, apex attenuate, thickened, subobtuse. Lateral sepals 75 mm long, 30-32 mm wide, obliquely oblong triangular, somewhat concave at the base, apex thickened, subobtuse. Lip hinged on the column foot, ca 45 mm long in total, 30 mm wide when spread, very stiff, gently arched, papillate in the apical half, 3-lobed in the apical third, callus very massive reaching beyond the midpoint of the lip, ligulate-ovate, flanked by narrow wing on each side; middle lobe ca 13-15 mm long, 18-20 mm wide, broadly cordate or triangular when spread, concave along midvein, margins crenulate-undulate, fold-down; lateral lobes 30 mm long, oblong-ovate in outline, canaliculated in natural position. SEM analysis revealed the presence of copious moniliform trichomes and pseudopollen grains on the lip surface, mainly middle lobe and callus (Fig. 5 ). Lip base and lateral lobes were rather smooth, with villiform to obpyriform papillae towards the middle part of the lip (Fig. 5B ). These papillae seem to be the early stage in the development of the moniliform trichomes. Gynostemium 23 mm long, column foot 33 mm long, apically upcurved, clinandrium densely glandular.

Ecology and distribution.

Grows as an epiphyte in cloud rainforest at altitude of 1700 m asl, known only from the type location.

Eponymy.

Name dedicated to Ana Catalina Portilla Schröder - daughter of Alex Portilla, finder of the new entity.

Conservation status.

According to the IUCN Red List criteria ( IUCN 2019), the new entity should be classified as critically endangered (CR B2ab (iii)), based on the small number of known populations and restricted area of distribution. The province of Carchi in recent years suffered from problems caused by climate change, anthropogenic impact on the environment, and the lack of awareness of natural resources. The change of land use, expansion of the agricultural frontier, population growth, or the opening of new roads are some dynamics that generate pressure on the ecosystems, compromising the ecological processes that take place in them. According to Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2020, Carchi lost 8.34 kha of tree cover, equivalent to a 3.7% decrease in tree cover since 2000.

Notes.

We know about several living collections in Ecuador that are probably representing the new entity, however, since we were not able to investigate these plants in person, we can only treat them as possible representative specimens. According to A. Hirtz, collections are located in Botanic Garden of Quito, Orquidario Las Juntas (near Gualtal at the south side of the Golondrinas Volcano, owned by Arturo and Esmeralda Mendez), Quinche (near the airport of Quito, collection of Juan Galarza), and Orquidario Casa Dracula in Quinshul (owned by Hector Yela).

Phylogeny.

The results are presented on the maximum clade credibility tree obtained from Bayesian analysis. Support of particular clades (PP and additionally BS - from ML analysis) is marked with a square circle or pentagon, according to the legend given on the Fig. 2 .

Obtained phylogenetic tree consists of representatives of Maxillariinae , including those recently recognized by some authors (e.g. Szlachetko et al. 2012) genera Calawaya (III) and Pseudocymbidium (represented by M. lueri Dodson = Pseudocymbidium lueri (Dodson) Szlach. and Sitko). Maxillaria s. str. (II) seems to be monophyletic, but there is no PP or BS support for this clade. The clade of Maxillaria grandiflora -complex is well supported and includes the new species Maxillatia anacatalinaportillae .

Figures

Figure 2. Phylogenetic placement of Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae. Maximum clade credibility tree based on combined ITS and matK data.

Figure 3. Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae A complete flower B column C pollinia and anther cap D side view of the column and lip E perianth parts F lip G habit. (Phot. Hugo Medina).

Figure 4. Drawing of the flower parts of Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae A flower B general habit C lip D dorsal sepal E petal F lateral sepal. Scale bars: 5 cm (A); 10 cm (B); 10 mm (C-F). Drawn by N. Oledrzynska from the holotype.

Figure 5. Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae A masses of pseudopollen accumulated on the midlobe B conical, villiform, and obpyriform papillae C grains of pseudopollen on the single celled trichome D, E magnification of moniliform trichomes F moniliform trichomes scattered on the lip surface (Phot. D. Luszczek). Scale bars: 50 μm (A); 100 μm (B, D, E); 50 μm (C); 200 μm (F).