Nasa solaria (J.F.Macbr.) Weigend, Revista Peru. Biol. 13(1): 80 (-81) (2006)

Henning, Tilo, Acuna-Castillo, Rafael, Cornejo, Xavier, Gonzales, Paul, Segovia, Edgar, Wong Sato, Akira Armando & Weigend, Maximilian, 2023, When the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence: Nasa (Loasaceae) rediscoveries from Peru and Ecuador, and the contribution of community science networks, PhytoKeys 229, pp. 1-19 : 1

Nasa solaria (J.F.Macbr.) Weigend, Revista Peru. Biol. 13(1): 80 (-81) (2006)

Fig. 2G, H

Loasa solaria J.F.Macbr, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 13(4): 163 (1941). Type. Peru. Lima: Provincia Huarochirí, San Miguel de Viso, ca. 2750 m, May 1922, J.F. Macbride & W. Featherstone 577 (holotype: F! [acc. # 517105]; isotype: US! [00115216, acc. # 1230343]).

Type.

Based on Loasa solaria J.F.Macbr.

Nine species of Loasa originally described in the Flora of Peru ( Macbride 1941) are today included in Nasa . All of these are still considered distinctive and accepted as good species ( Weigend et al. 2006). Although all were described from relatively few specimens (some collected by Macbride himself), seven have been rediscovered and studied in the wild and/or in cultivation in the past decades. Two species, however, still remain unknown (or almost so) in the wild: Nasa aspiazui from Junín (collected by A. Weberbauer) and N. solaria from Lima (collected by J. F. Macbride and W. Featherstone). Nasa solaria is the only species in the genus with the combination of entire, shallowly lobed leaves and flowers with deep yellow petals and bright red nectar scales and cannot be confused with any other species (Fig. 2G, H ). Nasa solaria is morphologically quite aberrant in the genus, and this has rendered a morphological placement difficult. Plastid DNA (obtained after the rediscovery of the species) seems to indicate it could be allied to the morphologically plesiomorphic Nasa poissoniana (Urb. & Gilg) Weigend species group ( Acuña-Castillo et al. 2021). The original collection of Nasa solaria came from the department of Lima, province Huarochirí - and despite its proximity to the national capital, about 80 km, it has been recovered only once in the last century in this area. This and a second collection from the department of Lima in 1998, as well as two earlier collections from the neighbouring department of Ancash, remained undiscovered in the herbarium in Lima (USM) until a targeted search was conducted after the species was recently rediscovered and the first photos of living plants reached us. The area of the original collection has been subject to massive human intervention and land use change, possibly leading to local extinction. Recently, there have been several new collections of this species from the Province of Huarochirí, where the original material came from and the neighbouring Provinces Canta and Huaral, confirming that the species remains rare, but is still present in the area. This species is restricted to an elevational range of ca. 1000 m between 2800 and 3600 m; currently, two populations are known from the undergrowth of relict forests. The other two known localities, Carhua in Prov. Canta and Rupac in the Prov. Huaral, are in shrubland, where very scattered, small trees of Myrcianthes quinqueloba and Escallonia resinosa can still be found, indicating that these areas were previously covered with forest, but that despite deforestation, Nasa solaria still grows there. In the forests of Zárate, Prov. Huarochirí, only two individuals were found. In the forests of Huarimayo, Canta, four populations separated by ca. 300 m in a linear transect were found between the years 2015 and 2022 with a total of only seven individuals. At Rupac, Huaral, one population was recorded with two individuals in April 2018 and five plants in May 2018.

Additional specimens examined.

Peru. Ancash: Provincia Bolognesi, Acas , monte bajo, borde de chacra, 3600 m, 16 Jun 1969, E. Cerrate 7463 (USM 284507); Subida de la Rinconada a la cumbre, camino de Ocros, monte bajo, 3000 m, 2 May 1977, E. Cerrate 6646 (USM 271500) ; Lima: Provincia Canta, Carhua, en la carretera hacia Pariamarca , ladera arcillosa con arbustos perennifolios, 3300 m, 3 May 1998, G. Segovia 4756 (USM 277067); Distrito San Buenaventura , San Jose , justo en el límite con Huamantanga , bosque relicto, 2800-3000 m, 11°30'29.59"S, 76°42'35.98"W, 30-31 May 2015, P. Gonzáles et al. 3773 (USM 290273); bosque relicto de Huarimayo, bosque relicto, 2877 m, 11°30'29.59"S, 76°42'35.98"W, 12 May 2022, P. Gonzáles et al. 10470 (USM); Arriba de San Bartolome , Monte Zarate , 2900-3000 m, 29 May 1954. R. Ferreyra 9712 ( USM 28005 ); San Bartolomé, Monte de Zarate , matorral y relicto de bosque dominado por Oreopanax , Myrcianthes entre otros, 1440-3550 m, 11°55'46.25"S, 76°29'36.55"W, 24-26 [25] Apr 2009, P. Gonzáles et al. 492 (USM 256800); Provincia Huaral, Distrito. Atavillos Bajo, Pampas, subida a Rupac, ladera con suelo franco-arcilloso, matorral, 3033-3509 m, 11°19'23.00"S, 76°46'52.97"W, 15 Apr 2018, A. Cano et al. 22677 (USM 327563); Pampas, en las cercanías al centro poblado y camino al complejo arqueológico de Rupac, ladera con afloramiento rocoso suelo franco-arcilloso a franco-arenoso, matorral, 3033-3099 m, 11°19'23.00"S, 76°46'52.97"W, 7 [May] Jun 2018, A. Cano et al. 22723 (USM 327614) .

Photographic record.

Peru. Lima: Provincia Canta, Bosque de Huarimayo, W. Aparco, 31 May 2015 (P. Gonzáles et al. 3773, USM acc. # 290273), https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139042423 (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3947631714); Provincia Huarochirí, Bosque de Zárate, 25 Apr 2009 (P. Gonzáles et al. 492, USM acc. # 256800), https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118647914 (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3802749525); P. Gonzáles, 27 May 2019, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118647465 (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3802781447); Provincia Huaral, Rupac, P. Gonzáles, 15 Apr 2018 (Cano et al. 22677, USM acc. # 327563), https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139044179 (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3947206738); P. Gonzáles, 7 May 2018 (Cano et al. 22723, USM acc. # 327614), https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/100467047 (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3416222423).

Figures

Figure 2. A-D Nasa humboldtiana E, F Nasa ramirezii G, H Nasa solaria A trifoliolate leaf of N. humboldtiana subsp. humboldtiana B flower of N. humboldtiana subsp. humboldtiana C flower of N. humboldtiana cf. subsp. obliqua from Chimborazo / Ecuador D flower of N. humboldtiana subsp. obliqua from Cajamarca / Peru E inflorescence of N. ramirezii with putative pollinator F flower of N. ramirezii G flower of N. solaria H habit of N. solaria. Photo credits: A-C X. Cornejo D T. Henning E, F: R. Ripley G, H P. Gonzales.