Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper, E.J.Hickman, Rhian J.Sm. & M.Pell., 2020

Pellegrini, Marco O. O., Hickman, Ellen J., Guttierrez, Jorge E., Smith, Rhian J. & Hopper, Stephen D., 2020, Revisiting the taxonomy of the Neotropical Haemodoraceae (Commelinales), PhytoKeys 169, pp. 1-59 : 1

4.2. Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper, E.J.Hickman, Rhian J.Sm. & M.Pell. stat. nov. Figs 15 , 16 , 17

Schiekia orinocensis subsp. silvestris Maas & Stoel in Maas PJM and Maas-van de Kamer H, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 61: 21. 1993. Holotype. BRAZIL. Amazonas: Rio Negro, road from Camanaus to Vaupés airport, fl., 30 Oct 1971, G.T. Prance et al. 15864 (INPA barcode INPA34082!; isotypes: F, K barcode K000574292!, MG n.v., MO n.v., NY barcode NY00247969!, S barcode S06-6076!, U barcode U0002448!, US barcode US00592174!).

Distribution and habitat.

Brazil (States of Amazonas, Pará, and Roraima), Colombia, French Guiana, Surinam, and Venezuela (Fig. 18 ). Found growing in the seasonally-flooded forest understorey, near rivers.

Phenology.

It was found in flower and fruit from January to November, but peaking during the dry season.

Conservation status.

Schiekia silvestris possesses a wide EOO (1,634,289 km2) but a relatively narrow AOO (ca. 392 km2). This narrow AOO might, once again, be related to the difficulty for collection in the Amazon Region. Nonetheless, the number of known collections is relatively large, which leads us to believe this species might be much more common than Maas and Maas-van de Kamer (1993) were led to believe. Thus, following IUCN’s (2001) recommendations, S. silvestris should be considered as Least Concern (LC).

Comments.

Schiekia silvestris is by far the easiest species to differentiate from the three accepted by us in the present study. It is the only species to exclusively inhabit understorey and other mesic habitats and has a growth form similar to that of Xiphidium caeruleum , with its long and trailing rhizomes and leaves evenly distributed along the stem. Aside from that, the leaves are considerably more delicate and broader, and herbarium specimens of S. silvestris are commonly misidentified as X. caeruleum in Brazilian herbaria. Furthermore, the inflorescences of S. silvestris generally possess a corymb-like appearance, added to the diminutive and strongly bilabiate, pendulous, apricot to orange-yellow flowers, with tepals recurved in the upper half and non-inflated medial filament. The capsules of S. silvestris also tend to be much broader than those of S. orinocensis and S. timida , ranging from green when immature to chocolate brown when mature. Finally, it is the only species of Schiekia to present seeds with short and coarse trichomes scattered across the reticulate testa (Fig. 17U-W ). On the other hand, S. orinocensis and S. timida (Fig. 20T-V ) present evenly reticulate testa.

Figures

Figure 15. Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper et al. A habit of two flowering specimens B habit of a fruiting specimen C, D inflorescence: C inflorescence with flowers at anthesis D inflorescence with flowers at post-anthesis E, F flower: E side view of a flower showing the nectar drop (arrow) in the perianth aperture F frontal view of a flower G inflorescence bearing last few flowers and several capsules H detail of the cincinnus showing immature capsules. All photos by H. Galliffet, except for G by S. Sant.

Figure 16. Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper et al. Full colour whole plant illustration. Illustration by E. J. Hickman. Scale bar: 1 cm.

Figure 17. Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper et al. A, B rhizome: A rhizome, showing persistent leaf bases B longitudinal section C cincinnus D flower bud E flower in frontal view F hairs G-I perianth: G upper perianth lobes, showing the nectar guides H lateral outer perianth lobe with adnate staminode-like structure I medial inner perianth lobe J staminode-like structure K flower with the perianth removed, showing the androecium and gynoecium L, M stamens: L lateral stamen (frontal and dorsal view) M medial stamen (frontal and dorsal view) N, O gynoecium: N style O stigma P-T fruit: P immature capsule Q capsule in longitudinal section R capsule in cross-section S placenta with ovules T dehisced capsule U-W seed: U dorsal view V ventral view W longitudinal section. Illustration by E. J. Hickman. Scale bars: 1 cm (A, B, G-I, K); 1.5 mm (C-E, P-R, T); 0.3 mm (F); 0.75 mm (J, L-N, S, U-W); 0.15 mm (O);

Figure 18. Distribution of Schiekia silvestris (Maas & Stoel) Hopper et al. Light Green - Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Red - Deserts, Xeric Shrublands and Tropical Coniferous Forests; Orange - Tropical / Subtropical Grasslands, Savannahs and Shrublands; Maroon - Dry Broadleaf Forests; Green - Moist Broadleaf Forests; Lilac - Montane Grasslands and Shrublands.

Figure 20. Schiekia timida M. Pell. et al. A whole plant B cincinnus C flower bud D hairs E, F flower: E side view F frontal view G-I perianth: G upper perianth lobes, showing the lack of nectar guides H medial inner perianth lobe I lateral outer perianth lobe with adnate staminode-like structure J flower with the perianth removed, showing the androecium and gynoecium K, L stamens: K lateral stamen L medial stamen M-N gynoecium: M ovary N stigma O-S fruit: O immature capsule covered by the persistent perianth P immature capsule with perianth removed Q capsule in longitudinal section R capsule in cross-section S dehisced capsule T-V seed: T dorsal view U ventral view V longitudinal section. Illustration by E. J. Hickman. Scale bars: 1.5 cm (A,); 0.35 mm (B); 2 mm (C, E, F); 0.25 mm (D); 1.75 mm (G-I); 1.25 mm (J, O-Q, S); 1 mm (K-M, R); 0.5 mm (N); 0.75 mm (T-V)