Lippia diversifolia P.H. Cardoso & Salimena (2019c: 243)

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 : 23

7.3. Lippia diversifolia P.H. Cardoso & Salimena (2019c: 243) . (Figs. 3A, 6H)

Shrubs 1‒4 m high, branches markedly tetragonal, two opposite faces densely strigose, two opposite faces glabrescent, alternation of the indument in the subsequent internode, glandular sessile trichomes present. Leaves opposite, petiole 0.5‒1.8 cm long; blade 2.8‒7 × 2.4‒4.7 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, elliptical, ovate, oval-elliptical to wide-ovate, apex acute, obtuse to rounded, base cuneate, attenuate, obtuse or truncate, margin entire near the base, crenate-serrate toward the apex, ciliate, adaxial surface sparsely or densely strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present, abaxial surface strigose or tomentose, glandular sessile trichomes present. Inflorescences capituliform, ca. 1.5 cm long, rachis elongated up to 3 cm long in fructification, 1 per axil, peduncle 3.7‒8.5 cm long, two faces strigose, two faces glabrescent, glandular sessile trichomes present; bracts 0.6‒1 cm long, spirally arranged, lanceolate, abaxial surface strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present, margin ciliate; calyx 1.8‒2.5 mm long, strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present; corolla 1‒1.2 mm long, lilac, throat yellow and white. Fruit schizocarp, with 2 cluses, ca. 2 mm long, surrounded by the persistent calyx.

Distribution and habitat:— Lippia diversifolia is endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, occurring in the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, in inselbergs and in the transition with the dense rainforest, in altitudes from 150 to 1560 m ( Cardoso et al. 2019c). Not found in SPAs of Espírito Santo.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers from January to April, and from June to September and with fruits in April, June, and August.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This species presents an EOO of 6,808 km 2 and AOO of 28 km 2. It is found in inselbergs, an environment highly threatened due to the crop activities and mining ( Martinelli 2007). According to the criteria of the IUCN (2019), L. diversifolia should be classified as “Endangered” (EN) because of the restricted AOO, declining habitat quality, as well as the knowledge of populations in less than 10 locations. However, it is protected inside a SPA of the Rio de Janeiro state, the Parque Estadual do Desengano and, thus, we adopted a more conservative point of view and considered the species “Vulnerable” VU B2ab(i, ii, iii). However, if there is no attention or conservation measures applied to the inselbergs where the populations in Espírito Santo are located, this category must be revised in the future ( Cardoso et al. 2019c).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Itarana, 20 September 2018, fl., P . H . Cardoso et al. 42 ( CESJ); Governador Lindemberg , 23 August 2006, fl. and fr., V . Demuner 2697 ( CESJ, MBML); Santa Leopoldina , 1 July 2013, fl., A . M . Assis & J . Freitas 3858 ( MBML); Santa Teresa , 16 January 2013, fl., L . Kollmann et al. 12595 ( CESJ, MBML); São Roque de Canaã , 19 July 2005, fl., L . Kollmann et al. 8132 ( CESJ, MBML) .

Notes:— Lippia diversifolia is a strongly aromatic shrub, characterized by the branches with two opposite faces densely strigose and two faces glabrescent, with the alternation of indument in the subsequent internode and lanceolate bracts. It is similar to Lippia rubella (Moldenke) T.R.S. Silva & Salimena (2002: 59) , an endemic species to the Cerrado in Minas Gerais state, due to the similar pattern of indument along the branches and the presence of glandular sessile trichomes along with the entire plant, but can be differentiated by the presence of abaxial surface of the leaf blade strigose or tomentose, trichomes arranged in one direction; peduncle 3.7‒8.5 cm long, and not winged calyx (vs. abaxial surface of the leaf blade strigose to hirsute, trichomes arranged in several directions; peduncle 0.3‒1.2 mm long and winged calyx in L. rubella ).

Illustrations in Cardoso et al. (2019c).