Salvia josetta H. El Zein

Zein, Hicham El & Bottcher, Lisa, 2024, Salvia josetta (Nepetoideae; Lamiaceae), a new species from Lebanon, Phytotaxa 644 (3), pp. 190-200 : 191-194

Salvia josetta H. El Zein , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 . Table 1 )

TYPE:— LEBANON. Danniye: Wadi Jhannam , close to the village of Jayroun , 1380 m, 34.426485° N, 036.128039° E, 14 July 2021, fl., H. El Zein HELB1220 (holotype: BEI!, isotype: P!) .

Diagnosis:— Plant perennial, herbaceous, c. 30–80 cm in height. Roots thin, cylindrical, woody, from which several basal leaves rosettes emerge; each individual forming a clump of one to 20 rosettes. Leaves all basal, ovate to ovateoblong, petiolate, 3–10 cm long including petiole, 1–4.5 cm wide, with blade doubly crenate to lobed-crenate margins and narrowly and asymmetrically cordate base; in the initial stage of development leaves covered with a dense indumentum of woolly eglandular white hairs along with short glandular hairs on the adaxial surface; as the leaves develop, wooliness quickly disappearing and leaves gradually becoming villous and then only pubescent with short and glandular hairs, revealing a verrucose surface; abaxial surface initially woolly, covered with an indumentum of white eglandular hairs, shorter than the ones on the adaxial surface, along with short glandular hairs, and then becoming densely pubescent with an assemblage of glandular short hairs with some eglandular white trichomes; petiole 1.5–9 cm long, often as long as the blade or longer, flat, covered with woolly hairs and short glandular hairs at first stage of development; only pubescent on the sides when mature. Inflorescence widely spaced panicle of 4–6 verticillasters, the main stem of the panicle usually branched at the two or three first stem nodes, secondary stems shorter than the main axis, sometimes also branched at their first and second stem nodes; internodes 4–7 cm long between verticillasters; first two or three lowest verticillasters with 4–6 flowers, highest verticillasters only with 1–2 flowers, verticillaster with flowers unilaterally arranged towards the outside. Stem tetragonal, 2–3 mm large, densely pubescent with short glandular hairs and sessile glands; sometimes edges of the stem with a line of short stiff eglandular hairs. Bracts of the branched nodes 1–2.2 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide, ovate, with serrate margin, acuminate apex, cordate base, green, pubescent with short glandular hairs, verrucose on the adaxial surface; bracts of the verticillasters 0.6–1.2 cm long and 0.3–0.7 cm wide, orbicular, with cuspidate apex, rounded base, entire margin, bicolor, white at the center and green on the margins, pubescent with short glandular hairs. Flowers 1.8–2.4 cm long excluding pedicel; pedicels 2–3 mm long when flowering, 3–4 mm when fruiting, pubescent with short glandular hairs and sessile glands; calyx 0.8–1.1 cm long and 0.5–0.9 cm wide during flowering, slightly accrescent,; densely pubescent with short glandular hairs and sessile glands, bilabiate, upper lip 3-toothed, lower lip 2-toothed, all teeth acuminate, spinose, aristate with a 1 mm mucro, except the median tooth of the upper lip which is shorter; calyx tube 0.5–0.6 cm long, with 13 ribs, reticulate venation between the ribs visible by transparency; corolla bicolor, with sparse sessile glands; upper lip 1.1–1.3 cm long, lilac, falcate, bifid; lower lip 0.6–0.8 cm long, white, with a deflexed median orbicular lobe and two oblong lateral lobes; staminal connectives 1.3 cm long, including the staminal filaments 3 mm long; the lower thecae reduced to a dolabriform adhering tissue; stigma 2.5 cm long. Fruit calyx reaching 1.1–1.3 cm length and 0.9–1 cm width when fruiting, tips of the teeth turning dark purple when fruiting on some individuals. Seeds 25–30 mm long and 18–20 mm wide, ovoid, light brown with dark brown venation.

Habitat and distribution:— Salvia josetta was observed in only one site ( Fig. 1 ), despite thorough surveys of the surroundings slopes and plateaus conducted since 2018. The new species occurs in open conifer woodlands of the supra-Mediterranean level, dominated by Pinus brutia Ten. ( El Zein et al. 2022) at elevation between 1300 and 1400 m a.s.l., with a significant presence of Quercus coccifera L. Other trees and shrubs that contribute to these woodlands include Juniperus oxycedrus R.P.Adams , J. drupacea Labill. , Quercus infectoria G.Olivier and Styrax officinalis L.. The most common accompanying herbaceous plants were Dactylis glomerata L., Echinops spinosissimus subsp. macrolepis (Boiss.) Greuter , Jacobaea mouterdei (Arènes) Greuter & B.Nord. , Ononis natrix L., Verbascum libanoticum Murb. & J.Thiébaut , Stachys distans Benth. , Salvia tomentosa Mill .. The soil is brown, derived from a limestone substrate, with some areas having a sandy texture.

Similar species:— Salvia josetta resembles S. fairuziana , a species endemic to Mount Lebanon and belonging to the section Aethiopis , which was discovered relatively recently ( Haber & Semaan 2004). It also resembles S. veneris Hedge , a species endemic to the North of Cyprus ( Meikle 1977; Gucel & Yildiz 2008; Dereboylu et al. 2010; Hacioğullari et al. 2019;). However, it is easily distinguishable by several characteristics. Firstly, it differs from S. fayruziana in height, with the former reaching up to 110 cm, while S. josetta has a smaller size, never exceeding 80 cm. S. fayruziana produces larger and denser inflorescences with verticillasters very close to each other, and entirely violet flowers. While the new species shares the same flower color with S. veneris , the latter is easily distinguishable by its relatively shorter size, denser verticillasters clumped in the upper part of the inflorescence, suborbicular leaves that are permanently lanate and densely araneous petiole. Another characteristic of the Aethiopis section is the straight teeth of the calyx, whereas, in S. veneris , the calyx has upper lip that concave-bisulcate in fruit, placing it in the section Plethiosphace ( Meikle 1977; Celep 2010). The new species also exhibits a clear mountainous habitat, being present above 1300 m a.s.l., which is not the case for the other species, both of which occur below 1000 m a.s.l. (for more information see Table 1 and Figure 2 ).

Etymology:— Salvia josetta is named in honor of Josette Duteil, who supported our conservation projects. Without her, these explorations and research would not have been possible.

Conservation assessment: —Currently, the new species is known only from one single site, reaching a distribution area of only 0.02 km ². As a consequence, following the guidelines and criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature ( IUCN 2022), the Area of Occupancy (AOO) and the Extent of Occurrence (EOO) are both of 4 km ². Several severe threats were recognized impacting the locus classicus of the species, including deforestation for charcoal production, illegal logging, forest fires, and expanding quarries. According to the detected threats, a single location (sensu IUCN) has been recognized. Therefore, following the IUCN (2022), the new species is here assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) under criterion B, B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii). However, as for other newly described taxa with an almost punctiform or very limited distribution, provisionally assessed as CR ( Wagensommer & Venanzoni 2021; Zavatin et al. 2023a; 2023b), it will be necessary collecting further data on distribution, population size, and threats, and defining the appropriate strategies for the long-term conservation of the new species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Location of the only known site of Salvia josetta.

FIGURE 2. Comparison of habits (1), verticillasters (2), and flowers (3) of A1–A3. Salvia veneris, B1–B3. S. josetta, and C1–C3. S. fayruziana. Photographs A1–A3 by Charalambos Christodoulou (Flora of Cyprus 2023), photograph C1 by Samira Matta, photographs B1–B3, C2–C3 by Hicham El Zein.

FIGURE 3. Salvia josetta. Illustration by Lisa Bottcher.

FIGURE 4. Leaves of Salvia josetta A. young rosette, B. Young leaves, C. Mature leaf, D. Abaxial face of mature leaf. Photographs by Hicham El Zein.

FIGURE 5. Inflorescence and flowers of Salvia josetta. Photographs by Hicham El Zein.

FIGURE 6. Calyx of Salvia josetta. A–B. Calyx after flowering, C. Purple calyx, D. Calyx with mature seeds. Photographs by Hicham El Zein.