Gurania neei Gomes-Costa, 2016

Gomes-Costa, Géssica A. & Barbosa, Maria Regina De V., 2016, A new species of Gurania (Cucurbitaceae) from Northeastern Brazil, Phytotaxa 252 (4), pp. 285-288 : 285-288

Gurania neei Gomes-Costa sp. nov. ( Figs.1 , 2 )

Type: BRAZIL. Bahia: Município de Maracás, Road BA-250, Fazenda dos Pássaros, 24 km E of Maracás, ca. 900 m alt., 4 May 1979, (♂ fl), S. A. Mori & T. S. dos Santos 11790 (holotype: CEPEC!; isotype: K!) .

Diagnosis: Leaves simple, entire to deeply 3-lobed, rarely 5-lobed, sparsely sericeous to densely sericeous; staminate flowers with whitish, lanate to villous indumentum; hypanthium urceolate, the base rounded; sepals oblong or long-triangular, apices acute, acuminate or attenuate, thick, 1–3 nerves conspicuous; petals partially free; anthers ovate, replicate basally, muticous.

Herbaceous vine; stem sulcate and striate when dry, sparsely villous to villous. Appressed hairs covering all the plant, up to 3 mm long. Tendrils slender, simple, at 90º to leaf petiole, sparsely villous. Leaves simple, entire to deeply 3-lobed, rarely 5-lobed, cordiform when young, trullate to widely trullate when adult, the central lobe ovate to oblong, not constricted or slightly constricted at the base, the margin semi-entire, minutely denticulate, cuspidate to acuminate at the apex, cordate at the base, the sinus ca. 3.5 × 1.5 cm, the lobes opening towards the petiole, chartaceous, sparsely sericeous to sericeous above, densely sericeous below, the veins and the margin densely sericeous, 7.5–17.5 × 7.5–17 cm; petiole striate, sparsely villous to villous, (1.5) 3.5–5 cm long. Staminate inflorescence racemose, with flowers densely crowded at the apex of the flowering axis or arranged at the top 1/3, the axis 6–15 cm long, sparsely villous; pedicels 0.5–0.8 (1) cm long; hypanthium urceolate, the base rounded, constricted in the apex, half the length of the sepal, 0.6 × 0.5–0.6 cm, villous or lanate; sepals 5, oblong, rarely long-triangular, erect-patent, thick, villous on both surfaces, 0.9–1.2 × 0.2 cm, the apex acute, acuminate or attenuate, 1–3 nerves conspicuous when dry; petals 5, partially free, erect, narrowly triangular, puberulous, 0.2–0.4 cm long, the tube ca. 0.2 cm long; anthers attached at the middle of the hypanthium, ovate, replicate below, ca. 0.3–0.35 × 0.15–0.2 cm, the connective narrow, muticous. Pistillate flowers gently canescent; hypanthium narrowly-ovate, ca. 1 × 0.5 cm; the sepals oblong, the apex acute to acuminate, 3-nerves conspicuous when dry; petals partially free, erect, triangular, 0,3–0,5 × 0,2–0,25 cm, the tube 0,4–0,6 cm long; ovary sparsely villous at the base, columnar style 1–1.5 cm long, glabrous; stigmas 2, each bifid. Fruit a spheroid pepo, smooth, small, 1.7 × 1.5 cm when dry, glabrous; seeds numerous, horizontal, ellipsoid, sub-flattened, smooth, glabrous, lustrous, ca. 7 × 4 mm.

Distribution and habitat: — Gurania neei is known only from the central plateau in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is restricted to semi-deciduous seasonal forests of the Atlantic forest, between 554 and 1164 m elevation.

Etymology:—The specific epithet honors the American botanist Michael H. Nee, recently retired from The New York Botanical Garden, currently a research associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Dr. Nee is devoted mainly to the study of Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae . His efforts with the taxonomy of Gurania guided the first steps of the first author in the study of the genus. Dr. Nee has contributed significantly with identifications of Cucurbitaceae in many herbaria around the world.

Phenology:—Staminate flowers were found in Feb, March, April, May, August, September and October. Pistillate flowers were found in March and April. Fruits were found only in April.

Vernacular name:—Unknown.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL: Bahia. Ibicoara , 24 mar 1980, (♀ fl), Geraldo Pinto 152/80 ( ICN, RADAM) ; povoado de Água Fria 13 15’58” S, 41 21’8” W, 1164 m, (♂ fl), 16 feb 2002, (♂ fl), T. S. Nunes 884 ( HUEFS). Jequié, Fazenda Brejo Novo, a 10, 5 km da avenida Otavio Mangabeira, entrando pela avenida Exupério Miranda no bairro do Mandacaru, 13 56’41” S 40 06’33,9” W, 617 m, 12 sep 2003, (♂ fl) G. E. L. Macedo et al. 246 (HUESB, JPB, PEUFR) ; 24 apr 2004, (♂ fl), G. E. L. Macedo et al. 818; 17 sep 2004, (♂ fl), A. F. Souza 28 (HUESB, JPB, PEUFR). Maracás, 2 km L de Maracas, depois do Cruzeiro da cidade, Fazenda Juliana , 13 24’ 51” S ; 40 24’ 37” W, 1016 m, 23 apr 2002, (♂ fl, ♀ fl, fr), E. R. de Souza et al. 154 ( HUEFS) ; Estrada da Fazenda o Peixe para Contendas, fazenda de Roberto Pereira , 13 24’ 47” S, 40 24’ 28” W, (♂ fl), G. E. L. et al. 47 ( HUESB, HUEFS) ; Fazenda do Caboclo, Lagoinha , 27 feb 2000, (♂ fl), R. P. Oliveira 395 ( HUEFS) ; Rod. BA-250, Faz. dos Passáros , a 24 km a E de Maracás, 900 m, 04 may 1979, (♂ fl), S. A. Mori & T. S. dos Santos 11789 ( CEPEC, NY) ; Fazenda Juramento, a 6 km ao S de Maracas, pela antiga rodovia para Jequié , 1000 m de altitude, 27 apr 1978, (♂ fl), S. A. Mori et al. 10030 (CEPEC, NY, RB) ; Estrada Maracás-Planaltino, ramal Boca do Mato, Estrada a direita depois da capela em uma subida ao lado do asfalto, 13 24’25”S 40 S, 23’46”W, 919 m, 13 aug 2004, (♂ fl), Carneiro-Torres, D. S. et al., 339 ( HUESB, JPB). Santa Terezinha , 12 50’51”S, 39 29’2”W, 554 m, 10 oct 2000, (♂ fl), N. R. S. Cruz et al. 39 ( HUEFS, JPB) ; Serra da Jibóia , 480–740m, 24 aug 1996, (♂ fl), E. Melo et al. 1645 ( HUEFS, JPB) .

The hairiness and shape of the leaf blade varies widely in Gurania neei . The leaves vary frequently from gently 3- lobed, with broad lobes ( Fig. 2A ) to 5-lobed with three deep lobes and two less pronounced basal lobes ( Fig. 2K ), sometimes cordate when young ( Fig. 1B ). However, it is well characterized by the sericeous trichomes on the leaves (hair up to 3 mm long.), the dense whitish indument of the flowers, and the frequently oblong sepals.

The names Gurania tricuspidata Cogniaux (1876: 35) and Gurania longipetala Cogniaux (1916: 201) were often misapplied to the specimens of G. neei in the consulted herbaria. Their morphological and geographical characteristics, however, are quite different. Gurania longipetala , from the Amazon region, has petals larger than the sepals and both are densely long-lanate while in G. neei the petals are always shorter than the sepals and puberulous. Gurania tricuspidata , apparently endemic to the lowland forests of the state of Espírito Santo, has leaves similar to those of G. neei , but the leaf blade is membranous and very delicate when dried, with a sparser indumentum (hairs up to 3–7 mm long), the flowers have lanceolate sepals that are long-acuminate to filiform at the apex and 3–4 times longer than the petals.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–B: Gurania neei Gomes-Costa. A. staminate inflorescence with young flowers, sepals long-triangular and whitish indumentum throughout the plant. B. Cordate leaf and staminate inflorescence; right inset shows leaf with detail of the indumentum from the abaxial surface. Photos by Lucas Marinho.

FIGURE 2. A–J: Gurania neei Gomes-Costa (1A–C: Paratype—D. S. Carneiro-Torres et al., 339; 1D–F: Isotype—S. A. Mori & T. S. Santos 11790; 1G–J: Paratype—S. A. Mori & T. S. Santos 11789). A. habit with 3-lobed leaves; B. habit with 5-lobed leaves; C. leaf, abaxial surface; D. leaf, adaxial surface; E. leaf, adaxial surface; F. leaf, abaxial surface; G. staminate inflorescence; H. staminate flower with whitish indumentum and oblong sepals; I. longitudinal section showing the anthers; J–K: anthers. J. frontal view. K. dorsal view. Illustrations by Regina Carvalho.