Stachytarpheta angustifolia Vahl (1804: 205)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 30

10.1. Stachytarpheta angustifolia Vahl (1804: 205) . (Figs. 3B, 7D)

Herbs 0.2‒0.6 m high, branches tetragonal, not winged, puberulous, nodes pubescent. Leaves opposite, sessile or petiolate, petiole ca. 1.2 mm long, blade 3‒11 × 0.2‒1.4 cm, chartaceous, narrow-elliptical, apex acute, base attenuate, margin entire near the base, serrate toward the apex, ciliate, strigose along the veins in both surfaces. Inflorescences 8‒40 cm long, lax; bracts 0.6‒1 cm long, lanceolate, abaxial surface glabrous, margin ciliate; calyx 5‒6.2 mm long, immersed in the depressions of the rachis, 2-toothed, 1 sinus adaxial, glabrous; corolla 0.8‒1.1 cm long, lilac or purple. Fruit 4‒5 mm long, surrounded by the persistent calyx.

Distribution and habitat:— Stachytarpheta angustifolia is widely distributed throughout the Americas and Africa ( Atkins 2005). In Brazil, it occurs in the regions North, Northeast, Center-West, and Southeast, in several types of vegetation, and often found in disturbed areas ( Atkins 2005, Cardoso & Salimena 2020c). In Espírito Santo, it was found in restinga and moistened areas. This species was recorded inside a SPA of this state: Parque Estadual Paulo César Vinha.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers from May to July and September and with fruits in July and September.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This is a common species, presents wide distribution ( Atkins 2005), being recorded inside PAs in South America. Considered “Least Concern” (LC) ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Guarapari, Parque Estadual Paulo César Vinha , 20 September 2006, fl. and fr., R . T . Valadares 230 ( CESJ, VIES); Linhares , 12 July 1994, fl. and fr., O . J . Pereira & M . Simonelli 5262 ( CESJ, VIES); Vila Velha 1 September 2014, fl., R . T . Valadares 1269 ( VIES) .

Notes:— Stachytarpheta angustifolia is characterized by the narrow-elliptical leaves, strigose along the veins; glabrous bracts, ciliates, and 2-toothed calyx, glabrous. It is morphologically similar to S. lythrophylla Schauer (1847: 563) , an endemic species of Bahia and Piauí ( Cardoso & Salimena 2020c), but can be differentiated by the glabrous rachis and bracts longer than the calyx (vs. pubescent rachis and bracts shorter than the calyx in S. lythrophylla ).