Echeveria vazquezii Cuevas

Vázquez-García, J. Antonio, Guzmán, Ramón Cuevas, Rosales-Martínez, C. Santiago, Arias, José Guadalupe Morales & Padilla-Lepe, Jesús, 2024, Two new species of Echeveria (Crassulaceae, Saxifragales) from the Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco, Mexico, Phytotaxa 653 (2), pp. 115-133 : 125-129

Echeveria vazquezii Cuevas , Rosales & Padilla-Lepe sp. nov. Figs. 6–9 .

Type:— MEXICO. Jalisco: Municipio de Cuautitlán de García Barragán. El Almeal, Sierra de Manantlán, 25 November 2022 (fl), J. A. Vázquez-García, R. Cuevas-Guzmán, J. G. Morales Arias & J. Padilla Lepe 10320 (holotype: IBUG, isotype: ZEA).

Diagnosis:— Echeveria vazquezii is similar morphologically to E. marianae and E. novogaliciana by its short caudex, inflorescence dimension, length of pedicels, dimensions of sepals, and presence of corolla appendages at the base of epipetalous stamens, but differs from both species by the bracts deciduous, fewer cincinni per inflorescence (3–5 vs. up 5), nectaries whitish to pale yellow vs. pink to red, and appendages of epipetalous stamens divergent. E. vazquezii differs from E. dactylifera by shorter caudex (6 vs. 10–20 cm); smaller leaves (12.0–17 × 4.0–6.0 vs. up 25 × 9.0 cm); bracts deciduous vs. persistent; shorter pedicels (5.0–14.0 vs. 25.0–30.0 cm); shorter sepals and other traits proportioned in table 2.

Description:—Plants perennial, glabrous, succulent, rupicolous, solitary, up to 1.1 m tall with inflorescence. Stems simple, mostly subterraneous, up to 6.0 cm long, up to 3.0 cm in diameter, straight to somewhat curved, bronze to tan greyish, brownish-yellow distally. Rosettes terminal, 20.0–32.0 cm in diameter, lax, lying upon the ground. Leaves spirally arranged, 20–23 per rosette, 12.0–17.0 cm long, 4.0–6.0 cm at the widest point, lanceolate to oblanceolate, pseudo-petiolate, acute to the apex, with a small mucron, horizontally spreading to ascending, yellowish-green to purplish-green or scarlet, epidermis smooth, keeled on the abaxial surface, flattish to somewhat channelled on the adaxial surface. Margins entire, sometimes with pronounced undulations, whitish, hyaline. Panicles lateral, 1–2 per rosette, 80.0–95.0 cm long, erect. Peduncles 0.7–0.8 cm thick at the base, erect, bracteate, pale yellowish-orange to pinkish. Cincinni 3–5 per inflorescence, 5.0–20.0 cm long, nearly straight to curved, ascending, orangish to salmonpink. Flowers 6–8 per cincinnus. Pedicels 5.0–14.0 mm long, 25.0–30.0 mm in diameter, nearly straight to curved. Calyx 32.0–36.0 mm in diameter, discoid, star-shaped. Sepals unequal, 7.0–15.0 mm long, 3.0–5.0 mm at the widest point, linear-triangular, rounded at the apex, reflexed or widely spreading to obliquely ascending, yellowish-orange to wine red, sometimes pruinose, both surface convex. Corolla 15.0–20.0 mm long, 10.0–11.0 mm wide, tubular, pentagonal. Petals 5.0–6.0 mm at the widest point, fused at the base, lanceolate, dorsally keeled, orangish-pink to reddish-yellow, with two appendages linear to conical on the inner face, divergent at apexes, 2.0– 2.5 mm long, 0.70– 0.90 mm wide. Nectary scales 2.0 mm wide, reniform, whitish to pale yellow. Stamens 10, 5 episepalous, 5 epipetalous. Filaments 10.0–11.0 mm long in alternipetalous stamens, 12.0–13.0 mm long in epipetalous stamens, erect, whitish to pale yellow.Anthers 2.0 mm long, beige to brownish. Gynoecia 14.0–15.0 cm long, 6.0–7.0 cm at the widest point near the base, pyriform. Carpels 5, free. Ovaries whitish-green to pale yellowish. Styles dark red to purplish-red, sometimes greenish proximally. Stigmas translucent yellow. Fruits follicles, brownish. Seeds inconspicuous, reddish-brown.

Distribution and ecology:—The species is only confirmed from the type locality at the Cuautitlán de García Barragán, municipality in the Sierra de Manantlán. Judging from an image of a large rosette from Las Joyas Scientific Station, Municipio Autlán, available at http://Naturalista.mx/Photos/5476012 by José D. Graf-Pérez it could correspond to this species.

It grows in south-facing cloudy cliffs at 2100 m, coexisting with Agave attenuata Salm-Dyck in Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (1834: 303), A. vazquezgarciae Cházaro & J.A. Lomelí in Cházaro-Basañez et al. (2006: 459), Geranium hernandesii DC. in de Candolle (1824: 640) , Lepechinia nelsonii (Fernald) Epling (1940: 511) , Muhlenbergia dumosa , Phacelia platycarpa (Cav.) Spreng. in Sprenger (1825[1824]: 584]), Plantago australis Lam. in Lamarck & Poiret (1791 [1792]: 339), Salvia cinnabarina M. Martens & Galeotti (1844: 63) , S. elegans Vahl (1804: 361) , Sporobolus indicus ( L.) R. Br. in Brown (1810: 170) & Trifolium amabile Kunth in Humboldt et al. (1823 [1824]: 503), among others.

Phenology:—The plants start developing their inflorescences in summer, usually around July. They are in full bloom during late fall and early winter, from late November to mid-January. Fruits and seeds complete their ripening process between mid-January and mid-March.

Eponymy:—We are honoured to name this species after Dr. José Antonio Vázquez-García (Guadalajara, Jalisco) ( Fig. 5 ), a dear friend and outstanding botanist who first determined that this species was a new one to science. He has been actively collecting in the area since 1979 and published Flora de Manantlán: plantas vasculares de la Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco-Colima, México ( Vázquez-García et al. 1995) and about vegetation gradients in the Cerro Grande Massiff, Sierra de Manantlán ( Vázquez-García & Givnish 1998, 2000). Dr. Antonio Vázquez-García is currently one of the best specialists in America in the Magnolia genus and in Mexico in the Agave genus and the Crassulacea family, of this last he has described numerous new taxa including three new genera: Chazaroa , Jeronimoa and Quetzalcoatlia ; and a dozen new species: Chazaroa (1 sp.), Echeveria (4 spp.), including one of the species here published and Quetzalcoatlia (7 spp.) ( Vázquez-García et al. 2013, 2014, 2023a, 2023b; Nieves-Hernández et al. 2014; Jimeno-Sevilla et al. 2019). Moreover, he has described at least three new species of trees for the Sierra de Manantlán, including the emblematic Magnolia iltisiana Vázquez-García (1994: 7) .

Conservation status:—According to the categories and criteria of the IUCN Red List ( IUCN 2012), Echeveria vazquezii is assigned a preliminary status of “endangered” EN ( B 2a). Its known and estimated geographical distribution is less than 500 km 2 in area, and it has been recorded from only three localities.

Additional specimens examined:— MEXICO. Jalisco: Municipio de Cuautitlán de García Barragán, El Almeal, Sierra de Manantlán , 25 October 2016 (fl), R. Cuevas-Guzmán, E. V. Sánchez-Rodríguez & J. G. Morales-Arias 12122a ( ZEA) ; 30 November 2017 (fl), R. Cuevas-Guzmán, L. Guzmán-Hernández, J. G. Morales-Arias & E. V. Sánchez-Rodríguez 14067 ( ZEA) ; 9 January 2024 (fr), J. G. Morale-Arias, R. Cuevas G. & E. V. Sánchez-Rodríguez 880 ( ZEA) .

Figures

FIGURE 5. (A) Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán and J. Antonio Vázquez-García at the entrance of the Scientific Station Las Joyas, Autlán, Jalisco. (B & D) R. Cuevas at El Muñeco in habitat of Echeveria cuevasii; (C & E). A. Vázquez takes a picture of Echeveria cuevasii (C) at El Muñeco and E. sp. nov. ined. (E) at Picachos del Pozanco; F. Expedition team (botanists and park rangers: From left to right: Germán Guzmán-Sánchez, Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán, J. Cresencio de Los Santos-Flores, J. Antonio Vázquez-García, Oscar Elías-Trinidad, Manuel Anguiano-Preciado, Israel Elías-Trinidad y Jesús Padilla-Lepe) of the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve. Fotografías: A–D & F by J.G. Morales-Arias, 2022; and E by J.G. Morales-Padilla, 2014.

FIGURE 6. Echeveria vazquezii. José Guadalupe Morales-Arias at El Almeal, the type locality, showing the habit of large rosettes with tall paniculate inflorescence. Photograph by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 7. Echeveria vazquezii. Rosette with fading adult leaves, El Almeal Cuautitlán, Jalisco. Photograph by R. Cuevas-Guzmán.

FIGURE 8. Echeveria vazquezii. Leaves and paniculate inflorescence, lacking bracts. Photographs by A. Vázquez.

FIGURE 9. Echeveria vazquezii. Left: Flowers in natural stage. Right: flowers with petals forced backwards to show inner parts and colours: nectaries, stamens and gynoecia. Photographs by A. Vázquez.