Salvia wixarika J.G.González, 2016

González-Gallegos, Jesús Guadalupe & López-Enríquez, Irma Lorena, 2016, Salvia wixarika (Lamiaceae), a new species from Jalisco, Mexico, and novelties on Mexican Salvia with white corollas, Phytotaxa 260 (2), pp. 176-184 : 178

Salvia wixarika J.G.González , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 & 2 )

Salviae collinsii aemulans, differt bracteis floralibus deciduis et brevioribus, pedicellis longioribus, calycibus latioribus, corollae tubis longioribus, corollarum labiis inferis magnioribus, filamentis longioribus, connectivis longioribus, thecis longioribus et stylis longioribus.

Type:— MEXICO. Jalisco, mun. Mezquitic: San Andrés Cohamiata, extremo NW de la población, vereda hacia Los Guayabos, 22º11’28.9’’N, 104º15’14.4’’W, 1723 m, 8 August 2015, J. G. González-Gallegos, J. Noriega & B. T. Drew 1876 (holotype CIIDIR!, isotypes HUAA!, IBUG!, IEB!, MEXU!, ZEA!).

Perennial herb, 0.8–1.5 m tall, stems short pilose with the hairs retrorse. Leaves with petioles (3.7–) 7.5–14 mm long, short pilose with the hairs antrorse; blade narrow elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, (5–)8–13 × 1.9–4.8 cm, apex acute to acuminate, base cuneate to short attenuate, margin serrate to crenate, smooth to sub-bullate and short pilose above with the hairs sparsely distributed, densely short pilose beneath and with golden glandular dots. Inflorescence in racemes 7.3–13 cm long, up to 40 cm in fruit, (peduncle, inflorescence portion from the uppermost pair of leaves to the first verticillaster, 2.6–3.6 mm long), verticillasters 8–12, each (4–)6–8(–14)-flowered, the lowermost 1–1.8 cm apart from each other; floral axis short pilose. Floral bract lanceolate, 6.7–11.4 × 3–3.6 mm, deciduous, apex attenuated to caudate, base truncate, margin entire, short pilose in both faces but with the hairs concentrated in the outer one. Flower with pedicel 3.8–4.5 mm long, short pilose. Calyx 7.5–8.2 × (3.6–) 4–5 mm, short pilose and covered with golden glandular dots, internally puberulent and with short conical hairs in the half upper portion, lips acute, 2.5–2.8 mm long, the upper 3-veined, and usually with two additional less distinct marginal veins, and entire at the apex. Corolla white; tube 8.2–10.2 × 3.8–4.6 mm, ventricose, narrow at the base but not invaginated, epapillate inside towards the base, glabrous; upper lip (4.2–) 6–7 mm long, short pilose and with golden glandular dots; lower lip 6.8–9.2 × (3.6–) 5–7.8 mm, short pilose and with golden glandular dots beneath. Stamens included; filament 2.5–2.8 mm long; connective 7.3–7.6 mm long, ornate with a retrorse acute tooth at ventral midpoint; theca 2–2.7 mm long; a pair of staminodes behind and above filament insertion, filiform and capitate. Gynobasic nectary 0.8–1 mm long; style 13–14 mm long, short pilose at the apex, upper sigmatic branch longer and arquate, lower one acute and straight. Mericarps not seen.

Etymology:— The specific epithet honors the Mexican Wixárika people, since the new species grow in the surroundings of one of their main towns, Tateikie (San Andrés Cohamiata), northern Jalisco.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:— Salvia wixarika is an endemic species from Sierra Madre Occidental in northern Jalisco, it is known only from one population ( Fig. 2 ). It grows in ecotones between oak and tropical deciduous forests at 1700–1800 m elevation. It shares habitat with Bursera sp. , Opuntia sp. , Quercus gentryi , Q. resinosa and Vachellia farnesiana . Flowering and fruiting probably extends from August to October.

Discussion:— Salvia wixarika is morphologically related to S. collinsii and S. sphacelifolia . These species share similar leaf size, bullate to sub-bullate leaves above, serrate to crenate leaf margin, similar number of flowers per verticillaster, deciduous floral bracts, similar inflorescence length, similar corolla size and color, ornate connectives with a retrorse acute tooth and short pilose styles at apex.

Salvia wixarika can be differentiated from S. collinsii in having deciduous (vs. persistent) and smaller floral bracts (6.7–11.4 × 3–3.6 vs. 11.9–15 × 3.6–6.2 mm), longer pedicels (3.8–4.5 vs. 0.4–0.6 mm long), wider calyces [(3.6–)4–5 vs. 2.2–2.9 mm wide), longer corolla tube [8.2–10.2 vs. (6.3–) 7–7.5 mm long], larger lower corolla lip [6.8–9.2 × (3.6–)5–7.8 vs. 4.4–5.5 × 3.4–4 mm], longer filaments (2.5–2.8 vs. 1.9–2.5 mm long), longer connectives (7.3–7.6 vs. 5–5.9 mm long), longer thecae (2–2.7 vs. 1.5–1.7 mm long) and longer styles (13–14 vs. 9–12 mm long) ( Table 1).

Salvia wixarika differs from S. sphacelifolia in having eglandular hairs throughout (vs. stems, petioles, leaves, inflorescence axes, floral bracts, pedicels and calyces covered with glandular-capitate hairs), narrow elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate leaf blades (vs. oblong to oblong-lanceolate), smooth to sub-bullate above (vs. bullate), longer floral bracts (6.7–11.4 vs. 5.3–6.8 mm long), longer pedicels (3.8–4.5 vs. 2.5–3.7 mm long), 3–5-veined upper calyx lip (vs. 7- veined), longer filaments (2.5–2.8 vs. 1.9–2.1 mm long), longer connectives (7.3–7.6 vs. 5.8–6 mm long) and longer styles (13–14 vs. 11.2–11.5 mm long) ( Table 1).

The placement of Salvia wixarika within any of Epling’s sections (Epling 1939, 1960, Epling & Mathias 1957, Epling & Játiva 1963, 1966, 1968) is not straightforward. Following the identification key to the sections (Epling 1939) leads to S. sect. Farinaceae ( Epling 1935: 87) Epling (1939: 186) or S. sect. Rudes Epling (1939: 176), and morphological characters are not really exclusionary between both sections. However, S. wixarika is more similar to either S. collinsii or S. sphacelifolia than to a species of S. sect. Farinaceae. Moreover, even when S. sphacelifolia was considered by Epling (1939) as part of S. sect. Rudes , more recent evidence supports the removal from the former ( Santos 1996). Meanwhile, S. collinsii belongs to S. sect. Donnellsmithia Epling (1939: 209) , which differs by the persistent floral bracts. Besides, phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated the non-monophyly of most sections within Salvia subg. Calosphace ( Bentham 1833: 198, 245) Epling (1939: 4), including both S. sect. Farinaceae and S. sect. Rudes ( Jenks et al. 2013). Hence, it is better to not assign S. wixarika to any section until a phylogenetically meaningful classification is proposed.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Salvia wixarika. A) habit, B) leaf blade upper surface, C) leaf blade lower surface, D) inflorescence, E) flower, F) corolla (photo by J.G. González-Gallegos).

FIGURE 2. Distribution map of Salvia aequidistans (black dots, typical morphological pattern, and circles, populations with larger leaves), S. collinsii (black triangles), S. sphacelifolia (question mark, which also denotes the ambiguity on precise location of this species), and S. wixarika (square).