Nautilocalyx (Gesneriaceae) is a Neotropical genus comprising approximately 42 species distributed from Central America to central Brazil. Despite being widely grown by horticulturists for years, a distinct species from the Brazilian Cerrado remained formally undescribed. Here we describe Nautilocalyx tuberosus, a new species endemic to central Brazil. Morphologically, this species is similar to N. hirsutus with which it shares a hirsute indumentum, but is differentiated by its well developed tubers, and white to cream-white corollas with purple striations in the tube. This discovery marks one of the southernmost records for the genus and increases the known diversity of Nautilocalyx in Brazil. Following IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, the species is preliminarily assessed as Least Concern (LC).
Despite being almost entirely overlooked in historical records, Guyanese botanist A.C. Persaud played an important role in advancing early twentieth century Guyanese botany, and his collections continue to shape our understanding of the tropical flora of the Guiana Shield. We offer a biographical sketch of Persaud based on specimens, photos, letters, and field notes archived at the Field Museum of Natural History, in addition to the taxonomic literature. During his short career as a plant collector for the Field Museum and Kew Herbarium between 1922 and 1924, Persaud collected > 400 herbarium specimens, at least ten of which became type specimens, as well as 88 wood specimens. His expertise with plants first gained recognition from Bror Dahlgren, a Field Museum curator who hired Persaud as a collector during the Stanley Field British Guiana Expedition of 1922. Persaud’s career was gaining momentum when he fell ill and died in 1925. Though his contributions were substantial, Persaud’s life and legacy have remained largely invisible for a century.
The present paper presents a synopsis of 15 taxa of Agrostis from Ecuador as a contribution to an ongoing floristic project. Four species, Agrostis capillaris, A. idahoensis, A. jhanii, and A. meyenii, are newly reported from this country. Lectotypes for Agrostis conferta, A. conferta var. austropatagonica, A. nigritella, Aira anomala, Vilfa elegans, and V. fasciculata, are here designated. In addition, an epitype for Agrostis nigritella is designated, and Agrostis tolucensis var. andicola is here synonymized under A. tolucensis. This contribution to the systematics of Agrostis includes synonymy, iconography, geographic distribution and habitat, vernacular names, specimens examined, a key for the identification of taxa, and a comparative table based on morphological characters. Agrostis boyacensis, A. foliata, A. hyemalis, and A. jhanii are fully illustrated for the first time.
Based on a revised circumscription of Cassine and Elaeodendron (Celastraceae), three Asiatic taxa formerly treated within Cassine are here transferred to Elaeodendron through three new combinations. Morphological studies further support the reduction of Schrebera albens to synonymy under E. glaucum, C. congylos under E. balae, and E. paniculatum under E. grossum. Additionally, lectotypes are designated here for the names Mangifera glauca, Cassine balae, and Euonymus grossus.
During an ongoing monograph of Piperaceae from the Ducke Reserve in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, two unknown climbing species of Piper were discovered and are here described, illustrated, compared to similar species; an identification key to the climbing species of Piper of Brazil is also provided. Piper naiadense is characterized by pubescent parts with down-curved trichomes, elliptic to lanceolate leaf lamina that have an acute base and acuminate apex and with 4 to 5 pairs of secondary veins arising along the lower half of the midrib, short inflorescences (1.1–1.5 cm long), a pilose rachis, and sessile, crescent-shaped floral bracts. Piper paulobocanum is glabrous except for the pilose abaxial side of the lamina, which are lanceolate to ovate, black-dotted, with an obtuse base and an attenuate apex with 9 to 10 secondary veins arising along the entire midrib, inflorescences that are 2.8–4 cm long, with an apiculum, glabrous rachis, and stipitate, crescent-shaped floral bracts, that are pilose along the margin and on the stalk, and with a keel along the upper side.
Lachemilla santurbanensis, a new species from the Páramo de Santurbán, Santander, Colombia, is described and illustrated. A key for all Colombian species of Lachemilla is provided. Additionally, notes on its geographical distribution, ecology, and taxonomic affinities are documented. Lachemilla santurbanensis shows vegetative and floral similarities with other Andean species of the genus. Still, its unique indumentum, with a hirsute base to ± villous apex, basal leaves with longer petioles, a turbinate-urceolate, reddish hypanthium, and episepals and sepals of the same length, clearly differentiates it from these other species. Colombia, with at least 28 species of Lachemilla, is among the countries having the greatest species concentration in the genus, especially those of the “Verticillate” clade, which are typical of the northern Andes. Other taxonomic novelties in Lachemilla can be expected, but further botanical exploration is needed to better understand the diversity of this enigmatic, phenotypically variable genus, still little known in the region.
Tagetes heterocarpha, a name previously placed in synonymy within Tagetes erecta and Tagetes tenuifolia, is here reinstated as a species endemic to the Barranca del Río Santiago, near to Guadalajara, Jalisco, in western Mexico. Tagetes heterocarpha can be distinguished from its congeners by having an annual habit, five ray florets, lower and mid-stem leaves with margins sharply serrate and aristate, and a pappus of obovate and cuneate scales. A taxonomic description of T. heterocarpha with an illustration, photographs of the plants in their habitat, a clarification about the type collection of this name, a detailed comparison with its closely morphologically similar species, and a key to the species of Tagetes that inhabit the state of Jalisco, are provided.
A revision and identification key for the eleven Colombian species of the mistletoe genus Oryctanthus (Loranthaceae) are presented here. Relevant characters to identify specimens, taxon diagnoses, and a list of reported hosts for these hemiparasitic species is provided. Taxonomic affinities and geographic distributions for each species are presented and discussed.
A specimen-based investigation of South American Ochnaceae surfaced a number of entities with similar morphologically distinctive characters. These distinctive taxa had a priori identifications of Blastemanthus or indeterminate Ochnaceae, but they display an unusual combination of characters that do not match the concepts of Blastemanthus or any other described Ochnaceae taxon. These morphologically distinctive taxa share with Blastemanthus tightly packed parallel secondary leaf veins and lanceo-conical flower buds bearing shingled bud scales. However, all known species of Blastementhus display racemes to stoutly branched thyrses bearing medium-sized staminodal flowers, and woody, thick-walled, subulate capsules with axile placentation and elongated seeds; this is in contrast to these morphologically distinctive taxa that uniformly display multibranched panicles with prominent secondary branches bearing smaller proportioned flowers lacking staminodes, and smaller-sized thin-walled ellipsoid to rounded, inflated capsules with parietal placentation and spherical seeds. To reflect their morphological distinctiveness, these six new species, described within the new genus Igapodendron are Igapodendron amazonica, I. aracaense, I. cubatense, I. curicuriariense, I. pasimoniense, and I. temiense, which is further divided into I. temiense var. atabapense and the nominate variety. Igapodendron is restricted to northern Amazonia in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, with its species displaying narrowly endemic ranges correlated to specific river drainages, mostly within the upper and middle Rio Negro drainage basin. The distribution of this new genus and its component species are discussed in the context of South American Ochnaceae biodiversity patterns.
Barleria monoranjanii, a new species of Barleria subg. Barleria, is described from the sub-Himalayan regions of Paschimbanga and Sikkim, India, along with photographs. The new species resembles B. cristata, but can be distinguished by its slender, scrambling habit, entire bracteole margin, ovate to broadly ovate outer sepals, lanceolate inner sepals, ovary shape, disc margin, and glabrous style base.
The taxonomy of the Chilean species of Aristolochia has long been a subject of debate, complicated by the broad distribution of the genus, morphological plasticity within species, and a paucity of records from several geographic areas within the country. To address these issues, we undertook a country-wide taxonomic revisionary study based on analysis of morphological variation, geographical distributions, and species ecologies. Observations were compiled in the field and herbarium. Shape analysis was performed using discriminant analysis. In the resulting taxonomic revision, we recognize six species of Aristolochia in Chile, including three new species, Aristolochia distorta, A. juntucha, and A. marinae, which are here described and illustrated. A neotype is designated for A. vaginans, and A. chilensis is placed in its synonymy. Aristolochia pearcei is treated as distinct from A. bridgesii based on discriminant analysis. All six species are considered endemic to Chile. Morphological descriptions, along with discussion of geographic distributions, taxonomy, and nomenclature, as well as preliminary conservation assessments are provided for all the treated species.
A new species of the genus Tweeddalea (Araceae), Tweeddalea capsiciformis, is described and illustrated from West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. This species increases the number of described species in the genus to fifteen. The discovery of T. capsiciformis not only extends the known distribution range of the genus but also highlights the rich yet still insufficiently explored diversity of Araceae in Borneo.
This study contributes to the knowledge on the diversity of Psychotria in Vietnam, dealing with three of its species. Psychotria magnifructa is described as a new species based on the specimens recently collected in Kon Tum Province, central Vietnam. The new species is characterized by tomentose twigs and outer surface of stipules, horn-like projections on corolla lobes, and relatively larger fruits. Psychotria monticola is reported as a new record for Vietnam, expanding its known distribution eastward from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand. Information on P. balansae in the country is also provided. For the two latter species, the original material is analyzed, and lectotypes are designated. For each species, information on morphology, worldwide distribution, phenology, ecology, and a vernacular name is provided, as well as relevant notes and analytical photographic illustrations.
Recent fieldwork in eastern Cuba led to the rediscovery of Gesneria pallida C.V. Morton ex Borhidi O. Muñiz (Gesneriaceae). The species is poorly represented in herbaria and has long been treated as a heterotypic synonym of G. reticulata (Griseb.) Urb. This lithophytic taxon is readily distinguished from G. reticulata by its uniformly tubular yellow corollas—an uncommon corolla color within the genus. Gesneria pallida is endemic to the province of Guantánamo in eastern Cuba, where it occurs within the buffer zone of Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt. A preliminary conservation assessment following IUCN Red List criteria supports its classification as DD (data deficient).
The systematics of the seven species of the Leucandra clade of Miconia, traditionally considered within Clidemia, is investigated, and taxonomically revised, with the inclusion of descriptions, nomenclatural information, specimen citations, and eco-geographical characterizations, along with an identification key. The clade represents a portion of the phylogenetic diversity of Miconia sect. Sagraea, a group characterized by axillary, 4-merous flowers with elongate calyx teeth and short-stalked, gland-headed hairs with furrows separating the cells of the glandular-head. The species of the Leucandra clade are additionally characterized by distinctly pedunculate, but rather reduced, usually few-flowered inflorescences, and small flowers with recurved, oblong petals. The Leucandra clade is restricted to Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, and it represents the smaller of two major radiations of sect. Sagraea within the Greater Antilles. Lectotypes are selected for the following names: Clidemia capituliflora Cogn., C. cubensis Cogn., C. leucandra C. Wright ex Griseb., C. leucandra var. divaricata C. Wright ex Griseb., C. oligantha Urb., C. trichotoma C. Wright ex Griseb., Ossaea trichopetala C. Wright, Sagraea macrandra C. Wright, Sagraea domingensis DC., and the second step lectotype is designated for Staphidiastrum rubrinerve Naudin.
Fimbristylis wayanadensis, a new sedge species from Kerala state of India belonging to Cyperaceae section Miliaceae is described and illustrated with photographs. The paper provides distribution and phenology of the new species, along with comparison chart of its allied species.
Gustavia stenoloba (Lecythidaceae) is described, illustrated, and proposed as a new species, so far known only from the humid forests of the Magdalena Valley in the departments of Antioquia, Boyacá, and Santander in Colombia. Its morphology and relationships with other similar species, such as G. longifolia and G. acuminata are discussed and a preliminary conservation status is proposed according to IUCN criteria.
The genus Podandrogyne (Cleomaceae) comprises about 40 species in northwestern South America and southern Central America. Several new species are still to be described, and I propose here the two most distinctive of these, P. filipes and P. virella, both endemic to Colombia, already rich in Podandrogyne. Each new species is provided with a diagnosis, morphological description, illustrations, and information about habitat and distribution.
Protium rostratum, a small- to medium-sized tree of montane forests on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central in Antioquia, Colombia, is described, illustrated, and distinguished from P. apiculatum and P. minutiflorum.
Myrcia spiciformis, a new species from the eastern Amazon, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by twigs with dense rufous pubescence, a spiciform panicle, pedicels absent or up to 3 mm long, and flowers with 4–5 sepals. The staminal ring is glabrous and the hypanthium is pubescent. Morphologically, M. spiciformis is related to M. coumete. The new species is endemic to the Amazon Biome, with records from Maranhão and Pará states, where it grows in both non-flooded upland (terra-firme) and seasonally flooded (várzea) forests. It is provisionally assessed as Endangered (EN) according to the IUCN Red List criteria, due to restricted distribution of the species and vegetation loss resulting from anthropogenic pressure in the occurrence area.
