Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn, 2021

Muchhala, Nathan & Mashburn, Brock, 2021, Three New Species of Burmeistera (Campanulaceae) Endemic to Ecuador, Phytotaxa 490 (3), pp. 253-262 : 255-257

1. Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn , sp. nov.

TYPE: Ecuador. Pichincha: Mashpi Lodge, on ‘Jungle Swing’ trail , 971 m, 00°09’59.63”N 78°52’54.413”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl, fr), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 558 (holotype, MO-6773327 !; isotypes, HUTI! , QCA! , QCNE! ). Figures 1 A-C, 2.

Diagnosis. This new species from northwest Ecuador is differentiated from other Burmeistera by being covered entirely (except the pedicel) with 1–4 mm long, translucent-white to violet tinged appressed hairs, as well as having long (130–200 mm) often oblanceolate leaves, a narrowly turbinate hypanthium (15–18 × 4–5 mm), and narrow (15 × 8 mm) cylindrical fruits.

Herbaceous shrubs to scandent herbs, reaching ca. 2.5 m; vegetative parts covered with 1–4 mm long, translucentwhite, sometimes violet-tinged, appressed, simple, multicellular, uniseriate hairs. Latex unknown. Stems up to 5 mm wide on terminal branches, yellow-green. Leaves alternate, distichous, the internodes 20–35 mm long; petioles 5–20 mm long, pale green; lamina 130–230 × 40–70 mm, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, the base attenuate, the apex attenuate to acuminate, the margins callose-dentate, the teeth often alternating small and large in size, spaced 5–10 mm apart; adaxial surface dark green; abaxial surface lighter green; venation camptodromous, the primary vein prominent, raised, the secondary veins only slightly raised, the tertiary veins faintly visible. Pedicels ebracteolate, 55–100 mm long at anthesis and in fruit, yellow-green to dark green, glabrous (rarely with a few dispersed hairs). Flowers 44–46 mm long, solitary in the upper leaf axils, 1–3 per stem; hypanthium 15–18 × 4–5 mm, turbinate, green, villose (rarely glabrous); calyx lobes 4–8 × 1–2 mm, deltate, patent to slightly recurved at anthesis, dark green, the exterior villose, the interior glabrous, the margins dentate with 3-5 callose teeth, the apex acute; corolla dark green, becoming yellow-green distally, villose; corolla tube 5–6 mm wide basally, the throat narrowing to 4–5 mm wide; corolla lobes lanceolate, the two dorsal lobes 15–16 × 4–5 mm, falcate, arched forwards, the dorsal sinus 14–16 mm from the corolla base, the two lateral lobes 12–14 × 4–5 mm, falcate, slightly recurved, the ventral lobe 10– 12 × 4–5 mm, slightly recurved, the ventral sinus 8–10 mm from the corolla base; androecium 27–28 mm long, exserted 19–20 mm from the ventral opening, the filament tube green, glabrous, the anther tube 6–9 × 5–6 mm, yellow-green, sparsely puberulous between the sutures, the three dorsal anther tips glabrous, the two ventral anther tips densely pubescent with white hairs; the style and stigma cream-colored, the stigma lobes fringed with short white hairs along the margins. Fruits ca. 15–16 × 6–8 mm, cylindrical, maturing white; seeds unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet, catulum , comes from Latin, meaning ‘young dog, puppy’, in reference to the unique long hairs on the leaves, stems, and flowers of this species.

Phenology. This species has been collected with flowers and fruits in July and fruits in February.

Distribution & Conservation Status. The few collections of Burmeistera catulum come from just two disjunct locations west of the Andes in Ecuador in the provinces of Los Riìos and Pichincha, roughly 95 km apart ( Fig. 3 ). While it is possible that other subpopulations exist between the two known collection locales, it is indicative of the rarity of this species that no other collections are known from what is otherwise a well-collected region of the country. The narrow extent of occurrence (EOO) of 82.553 km 2 supports an IUCN Red List ( IUCN 2019) status of ‘Critically Endangered’ (criterion B1), while the area of occupancy (AOO) of 12 km 2 supports a status of ‘Endangered’ (criterion B2). While the subpopulation in Pichincha is likely safe in long-term, as it is found on the property of Mashpi Reserve, we suspect that the subpopulation in Los Ríos has already been destroyed in the time since it’s collection 30 years ago, due to clearing for agriculture activities. Thus, following the IUCN (2019) guidelines, we propose an assessment of B. catulum as ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR B1ab[iv]).

Discussion. Burmeistera catulum is unique among Burmeistera species in its long, translucent-white to violettinged appressed hairs on every part of the plant except the pedicel. The narrow elongated hypanthium and cylindrical fruits exemplified by B. catulum are reminiscent of B. holm-nielsenii Jeppesen (1981: 35) , also endemic to Ecuador, and the Ecuadorian/Colombian species B. marginata H.Karst & Triana (1856: 445) , plus a yet undescribed species from Ecuador (Mashburn, in press), suggesting a potential relationship between these four species

Paratypes. ECUADOR: Los Ríos: Road Patricia Pilar, Montañas de Ila , km 18, N side of Torre de Bijagual, below antenas, 620–680 m, 00°38’S 79°17’W, 28 Feb. 1993 (fr), Øllgaard & Borchsenius 100690 ( QCA) . Pichincha: Mashpi Lodge, next to scientific station , 951 m, 00°09’59.70”N 78°53’12.343”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fr), Muchhala & Gruhn 553 ( MO) ; Mashpi Lodge, on road between scientific station and lodge , 951 m, 00°09’59.70”N 78°53’12.343”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl, fr), Muchhala & Gruhn 557 ( MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Images of leaves, fruits, and flowers of the new species. A–C. Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by N. Muchhala. D–F. Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by J.L. Clark. G–I. Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by N. Muchhala. Scale bars correspond to 10 cm in A and G, and 10 mm in all other panels. Images correspond to the collections N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 553 (A, C), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 558 (B), J.L. Clark & L. Clavijo 14255 (D–F; note scale bars are approximated here based on other collections, as we did not have access to this collection), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 556 (G), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 554 (H, I).

FIGURE 3. Geographic distribution maps of known herbarium collections. Triangles correspond to Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn, squares to Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn, and circles to Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn.