Cinchona anderssonii Maldonado, 2017

Maldonado, Carla, Persson, Claes, Alban, Joaquina, Antonelli, Alexandre & Rønsted, Nina, 2017, Cinchona anderssonii (Rubiaceae), a new overlooked species from Bolivia, Phytotaxa 297 (2), pp. 203-208 : 204-205

Cinchona anderssonii Maldonado , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 )

Type:— BOLIVIA. La Paz: Franz Tamayo, Parque Nacional y Area Natural y de Manejo Integrado Madidi, Pelechuco , permanent plot 35, sub-plot 10, 2060 m, 14°45’51”S, 68°59’12”W, 18 November 2013 (fr), B. Escobari 9 (holotype LPB!; isotypes C!, USZ!) .

Shrub or tree, to 12 m tall. Bark with bitter taste, turning red shortly after being damaged or cut. Young branches sparsely puberulous. Stipules free, ligulate, 0.7–1.8 × 0.4–0.6 cm, glabrous above or slightly pubescent outside and ribbed above, with colleters arranged in several rows inside. Petioles 0.7–1.3 cm long, sparsely and minutely puberulous when young, glabrate when older; leaf blades elliptic, 5.5–13.5 × 2.3–5.5 cm, length/width ratio 2.1–2.7, acute to obtuse at base, acute at apex, coriaceous when fresh, chartaceous when dry, glossy, glabrous above, sparsely and minutely puberulous on veins below, main and secondary veins clearly impressed above and prominent below, secondary veins 7–9 on each side of midrib, circular pit domatia in the axils of secondary veins. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, axes sparsely pubescent. Flowers heterostylous. Short-styled flowers: hypanthium ellipsoid, 1.5–2 × 0.8– 1.2 mm, densely sericeous outside; calyx 1.5–2.3 mm long, lobes triangular, 0.7–1.8 mm long, sparsely puberulous outside, puberulous inside with colleters in small groups just below the sinuses; corolla pinkish, moderately puberulous outside; tube 11–13 mm long, glabrous inside; lobes 5, triangular, valvate in bud, 4.8–5.2 mm long, densely villous inside; stamens attached 3.5–4.5 mm above base of corolla tube; filaments 3–4.2 mm long; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 2.5–5.2 × 0.4–0.7 mm; style 7.3–11 mm long, glabrous, stigmatic branches 2, 3.7–4.2 mm long; disk glabrous. Longstyled flowers unknown. Capsules ellipsoid, 8–25.5 × 4.5–11 mm, basipetally dehiscent with valves wide open when dry, endocarp chartaceous, 0.2–0.4 mm thick. Seeds winged and plano-convex, irregularly oblong in outline, 8.1–11.2 × 2.5–3.3 mm, wing margin distinctly fimbriate at least at lower portion.

Distribution and habitat: — Cinchona anderssonii is only known from the Yungas region in Bolivia where it occurs in cloud forests of the eastern Andes between 2250 and 2600 m elevation.

Phenology: —Specimens with flowers were collected in May and June; specimens with fruits in August.

Etymology: —The specific epithet is named in honour of the late Prof. Lennart Andersson (1948–2005), a renowned Swedish botanist, who worked on the coffee family ( Rubiaceae ), and wrote a monograph on the genus Cinchona ( Andersson 1998) . Species delimitations in the genus have troubled botanists for centuries, and Andersson’s comprehensive treatment has provided a very useful resource for further phylogenetic, taxonomic, ecological, and evolutionary research.

Conservation status: — Cinchona anderssonii is only known from two localities in Bolivia, and only a few collections have been recorded. In terms of our current knowledge, the species is assigned a provisional IUCN (2012) conservation status of endangered (EN), although additional field studies are required to ascertain its conservation status.

Additional specimens examined: — BOLIVIA. La Paz: Franz Tamayo, Parque Nacional y Area Natural y de Manejo Integrado Madidi, between Chunkani and Tokoake , 2673 m, 14°37’51”S, 68°57’27”W, 25 June 2005 (fl), A. Fuentes, I. Jiménez, R. Hurtado & R. Cuevas 8767 (BOLV, LPB!, MA, MO, USZ —photo) ; Pelechuco , permanent plot 35, subplot 24, tree #647, 2623 m, 14°45’54”S, 68°59’8”W, 19 November 2013 (fr), B. Escobari 10 (C!, LPB!) ; subplot 2, #42, 2623 m, 14°45’50”S, 68°59’15”W, 18 November 2013 (fr), B. Escobari 6 (C!, LPB!). Cochabamba: Chapare, road between Corani Pampa and the highway to Chapare , ca 4 km from the highway, 2250 m, 25 May 1995 (fl), N. Ritter & G. Crow 2105 (LPB!, MO) ; road to Corani Pampa, ca 5 km from the highway to Chapare , 2550 m, 24 June 1995 (fl), N. Ritter & J. Wood 2320 (LPB!, MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Cinchona anderssonii. Flowering branch. Photo by Alfredo Fuentes, July 2005 (Fuentes et al. 8767).

FIGURE 2. Cinchona anderssonii. A. Fruiting branch with immature fruits (Escobari 9). B. Infructescence and capsules with basipetal dehiscence. C. Flowers (Fuentes et al. 8767). D. Flower bud (Fuentes et al. 8767). E. Seed. Drawing by Carlos Maldonado.