A taxonomic revision of Keraunea, including three new species and its phylogenetic realignment with Ehretiaceae (Boraginales) Moonlight, Peter W. Cardoso, Domingos Benicio Oliveira Silva PhytoKeys 2023 2023-02-20 219 145 170 D7C372AE-2461-516C-BBEC-D3DDCD808DAD Moonlight & D. B. O. S. Cardoso Moonlight & D. B. O. S. Cardoso 2023 Magnoliopsida Ehretiaceae Keraunea CoL Plantae Keraunea velutina Boraginales 0 145 Tracheophyta species velutina sp. nov.   Fig. 7  Diagnosis. Most similar to  Keraunea capixababut differing in its velutinous indumentum on the stems, side shoots and lower leaf surface (versus glabrescent); its strigose indumentum on the upper leaf surface (versus glabrescent); its elliptic to narrowly lanceolate leaves on the side shoots (versus ovate).   Type.    Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Mun. Cardoso Moreira,  Santissimo, Fazenda Borges, [ 21°29'S, 41°37'W], 10 Sep. 2013,  J.G. Costa257( holotype: RB [00852871]).  Description. Scandent shrub or liana, size unknown. Stems cylindrical, hollow, 2-3 mm in diameter, rarely branching, velutinous-pubescent; internodes 2-5.9 cm long; side shoots 2.2-4.7 cm long velutinous-pubescent. Leaves of the main stem with the blades 7.9-8.1 x2.7-3.1 cm, lanceolate, velutinous-pubescent, the venation pinnate, camptodromous, with 6-8 secondary veins; the base obtuse, the margins entire, ciliate, the apex attenuate; petioles of leaves on main stem 10-11 mm long, distinctly curved to 90° 1/4of the way along their length. Side shoots with 6-8 leaves, these progressively larger along the shoot; blades 0.5-3.5 x0.3-1.7 cm, elliptic, rarely or lanceolate or obovate, strigulose-pubescent above, velutinous below, the base cuneate to rounded, the margins entire, ciliate, the apex rounded to attenuate. Inflorescence corymbose, with 2-4 flowers; free portion of the peduncle 3-5 mm long; pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm long, the remainder adnate to the bracteole, sericeous-pubescent; bracteole 2-3.8 x0.7-1.6 cm, inserted ca. ⅓ of the way along the pedicel or rarely lacking, ovate, velutinous- pubescent, the venation as the leaves, the base short-cuneate, margin entire, ciliate, the apex attenuate. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx with the tube campanulate, ca. 1.5 mm long, the lobes 0.7-1.4 x6.7-12 mm, ensiform, velutinous-pubescent. Corolla with the tube campanulate, 5-5.9 mm long, the lobes 14 x7 mm, elliptic, glabrous. Stamens epipetalous, inserted at the base of the corolla tube, filaments 3-4 mm long, anthers ca. 7 mm long, connective extending to 1.3 mm; ovary subglobose, 2-locular, the locules biovulate; style single, conduplicate, unbranched; stigmas 2, truncate. Fruit inserted on the accrescent bracteole; calyx persistent, expanding to 15 mm long.   Figure 7.Holotype of  Keraunea velutinaMoonlight & D.B.O.S.Cardoso, J.G. Costa 257(RB [00852871]).  Distribution.   Keraunea velutinais endemic to Brazil and known only from the type from Cardoso Moreira municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Fig. 2).  Habitat. The single specimen known of  K. velutinawas collected within a forest fragment around isolated inselbergs. Cardoso Moreira municipality includes several granitic inselbergs and deforestation appears reduced around these compared to the surrounding land. We suspect that, like the similar  Keraunea capixaba, this species was collected scrambling over rocks at the base of an inselberg.  Conservation status.   Keraunea velutinais known from a single specimen collected within a small forest fragment. Forest cover within Cardoso Moreira municipality declined from 5.2% in 1985 to 4.0% in 2012 before recovering to 4.6% by 2021 ( Mapbiomas 2022). This picture is however complex, with Google Earth imagery showing that deforestation of primary forest is continuing in some areas, but forest is recovering in other areas ( Google Earth Pro 2020). As such, due to single collection with imprecise locality information from a largely deforested municipality, we provisionally assess  K. velutinaas Critically Endangered (CR B1 B2 a b ii) under IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2019).  Etymology. Named for the plant'svelvety indumentum.  Identification notes.   Keraunea velutinais a distinct species easily distinguished from all others in the genus by the dense, velvety indumentum of the stems and lower leaf surfaces. It is also distinctive in its side shoots with more numerous leaves than other members of the genus (6-8 versus 2-5), which are almost all elliptic (versus variously ovate to broadly ovate). 2013-09-10 J. G. Costa Brazil -21.483334 Fazenda Borges 1264 -41.616665 Santissimo 1 Rio de Janeiro holotype