Prescottia mucugensis C.O.Azevedo & Van den Berg, Kew Bull.

Azevedo, Cecília Oliveira De, Berg, Cássio Van Den & Barros, Fábio De, 2014, A revision of Prescottia (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae, Cranichideae), Phytotaxa 178 (4), pp. 233-286 : 260-262

9. Prescottia mucugensis C.O.Azevedo & Van den Berg, Kew Bull. 65: 263. 2010.

Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia: Mucugê, Guiné , Serra do Esbarrancado , Smidt 796 (holotype HUEFS!) .

Terrestrial herbs.Leaves not seen.Inflorescence 10–20-flowered; peduncle green, 14.0–16.0 × 0.12–0.14cm, cylindrical; peduncle bracts 3–5, green, 8.0–15.0 × 2.0–4.0 mm, ovate, apex acute; rachis green 3.0–5.5 × 4.0 cm. Flower bracts greenish to purplish brown, 2.2–2.4 × 1.3–1.5 mm, ovate, apex acuminate; flower erect, greenish to purplish-brown; dorsal sepal reflexed, 1.2–1.4 × 0.8–1.0 mm, oblong to lanceolate, apex obtuse; lateral sepals adpressed to the lip, 1.5–1.7 × 1.0– 1.2 mm, ovate to lanceolate, apex obtuse; petals reflexed, 1.0–1.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm, linear, apex obtuse; lip yellow to whitish, 1.2–1.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, inner surface glabrous, outer surface densely minute-papillose. Column 0.9–1.0 mm long, glabrous.

Distribution:— Currently known only from the type collection. It is apparently endemic to the Chapada Diamantina , Bahia State, Brazil ( Azevedo et al. 2010; Fig. 17 ).

Selected Specimens Examined:— BRAZIL. Bahia: Mucugê, Chapada Diamantina , Guiné , Serra do Esbarrancado , November 2005, Azevedo 253 ( HUEFS) .

Habitat:— Rocky places, campo rupestre vegetation, 1,000–1,400 m, among Velloziaceae .

Conservation Status:— Vulnerable (VU – D1 D2). Despite the fact that Prescottia mucugensis grows in a national park, it is currently known to exist only at a single locality in a small population in an area known to be susceptible to natural fires ( Azevedo et al. 2010), and these plants are not obviously fire-adapted.

Etymology:— A reference to the type locality, the municipality of Mucugê.

Notes:— Prescottia mucugensis is related to P. phleoides Lindl. and P. leptostachya . Prescottia mucugensis can be distinguished from these taxa by its angular rachis with the bracts about the same length as ovary and flower together and lateral sepals adpressed to the lip. Azevedo et al. (2010) included pictures and an artificial key for these three species.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Distribution of Prescottia glazioviana, P. leptostachya, P. mucugensis, P. ostenii, P. phleoides and P. spiranthophylla.