Utricularia chiribiquetensis Fernández-Pérez (1964: 42)

Costa, Suzana M., Bittrich, Volker & Do Amaral, Maria Do Carmo E., 2016, Lentibulariaceae from the Viruá National Park in the northern Amazon, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 1-25 : 10

4. Utricularia chiribiquetensis Fernández-Pérez (1964: 42) ( Fig. 3 : B–C)

Marsh herbs, up to 15 cm tall. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves (not seen); traps lateral; with a ventral short bifid appendage only. Inflorescence erect, 1–4-flowered, ca. 1 cm distant from each other. Peduncle greenish; lateral spongy floats absent. Sterile bracts <0.5 mm long, basifixed, lanceolate, equally distributed. Pedicels nearly 2 mm long, longer than the calyx lobes. Bract up to 1 × 1 mm, basifixed, ovate, apex acute, margin entire. Bracteoles filiform, up to 1 mm long. Calyx lobes equal, lanceolate, apex acute, margin entire, without prominent nerves, greenish to blackish; lower lobe ca. 1.5 × 1.5 mm; upper lobe 1.5 × 1.5 mm. Corolla yellow; upper lip 2 × 1.5 mm, oblong, apex rounded to truncate; lower lip 3 × 4 mm, orbicular; spur 3 × 1.5 mm, conical, apex rounded, shorter, equal or longer than the lower corolla and not forming an angle of 90º with the latter in lateral view. Style and filaments short. Capsule ellipsoid, dehiscing by a longitudinal ventral slit. Seeds numerous, globose, surface reticulate, testa cells circular.

Distribution:— Utricularia chiribiquetensis is recorded for the first time in Roraima state.It occurs only in northern South America ( Colombia — Meta and Vaupés -, Venezuela — Amazonas and Bolívar-, and Brazil —Amazonas) ( Taylor 1989, Miranda et al. 2016). Utricularia chiribiquetensis is found in marshes, in shallow sandy soils among rocks and in humid savannas ( Taylor 1989). In the VNP this species was collected in a grassy white-sand savanna.

Taxonomic notes:—Some specimens display a conical spur with rounded apex, while Taylor (1989) describes the spur as cylindrical [“narrowly conical”] with acute apex. This species is known only from a few collections according to that author, so this difference may be due to intraspecific variation or to environmental conditions. Taylor (1989) describes the leaves as linear, 0.5–0.8 mm wide and with subulate short dorsal appendages on the traps, not observed in the VNP specimens analyzed. Utricularia chiribiquetensis differs from other species by its ellipsoid capsule with numerous globose seeds.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park: “Estrada Perdida”, 20 September 2010, S.M. Costa 779, T.D.M. Barbosa, K.G. Cangani (INPA!, UEC!).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Utricularia breviscapa C.Wright ex Griseb. A. habit. Utricularia chiribiquetensis Fernandez-Pérez—B. flower and fruit enclosed by the calyx (lateral view); C. trap. Utricularia costata P.Taylor—D. habit. E. flower (view from the top). Utricularia cucculata A.St.-Hil. & Girard—F. habit. G–H. flower (front view of purple and white and pale-pink variants), I. flower (lateral view). Utricularia foliosa L.—J. flower (front view). K. flower (front view, reproductive parts evident). L. fruits.