Ipomoea subspicata (Meisn.) O'Donell

Wood, John R. I., Munoz-Rodriguez, Pablo, Williams, Bethany R. M. & Scotland, Robert W., 2020, A foundation monograph of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the New World, PhytoKeys 143, pp. 1-823 : 1

32. Ipomoea subspicata (Meisn.) O'Donell , Lilloa 23: 501. 1950. ( O’Donell 1950b: 501)

Ipomoea virgata var. subspicata Meisn. in Martius et al. , Fl. Brasil. 7: 241. 1869. (Meisner 1869: 241). Type. BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, Caldas, Lindberg 163 (lectotype BR00005306435, designated here; isolectotype S12-2160).

Type.

Based on Ipomoea virgata var. subspicata Meisn.

Description.

Erect undershrub to 80 cm with tuberous rootstock, stems densely pubescent, glabrescent, branched at base but otherwise simple. Leaves subsessile, 2-6 (-9) × 0.5-2 (-3.5) cm, broadly oblong to oblong-elliptic, subacute (sometimes mucronulate), entire or undulate, base broadly cuneate, thinly to densely pubescent on both surfaces but especially below; petioles 0-3 mm, pubescent. Flowers in a leafy terminal raceme, solitary or in 2-3 flowered cymes, peduncles 2-6 mm, pubescent; bracteoles 1-3 mm long, lanceolate, caducous; pedicels 4-7 mm, pubescent; sepals 7-12 mm, almost equal, lanceolate to oblong, obtuse to subacute, tomentose, the inner with scarious, glabrous margins; corolla 4.5-6 cm long, deep pink, funnel-shaped, sericeous in bud and on midpetaline bands, limb unlobed, 2.5-3 cm diam. Capsules 9-10 × 6 mm long, ellipsoid, glabrous; seeds 5 × 2.5 mm long, lanate with reddish marginal hairs.

Distribution.

An uncommon cerrado species from south-central Brazil.

BRAZIL. Dist. Fed.: Freitas & Freitas s.n. [1996] (UB). Minas Gerais: C.W. Mosén 958 (S), 4290 (S); Paracatu, A. Glaziou 21788 (K, P); Caldas,); ibid., W.H. Stubblebine et al. 503 (UEC), 598 (UEC); ibid., Leitão Filho et al. 1916 (UEC); P.N. Grande Sertão Veredas, D. Alvarenga et al. 1129 (IBGE, OXF). Paraná: G. Hatschbach 13291 (RB). São Paulo: near Brotas, Weir 153 (K); C.W. Mosén 4289 (S); A. Saint-Hilaire 1068 (K, P); Mun. Moji-Guaçu, G. Eiten & Machado de Campos 1493 (NY, SP); ibid., J. Mattos 9629 (SP).

Notes.

This species resembles Ipomoea hirsutissima in habit and leaves but lacks the spreading hairs and has less acute sepals. It was treated as Ipomoea campestris in Flora do Brasil 2020 under construction and is undoubtedly closely related but differs in the broader, shortly acute leaves and less finely acute sepals. The two species may intergrade but more detailed study is needed.

R.M. Harley et al. 24982 (FTG, K) from Minas Gerais, Mun. Buenópolis, Serra do Cabral in Brazil is very similar but appears to be be prostrate and may represent a different taxon.

Two collections from Santiago de Chiquitos in Bolivia (A. D’Orbigny 927, P035360730, and J.R.I. Wood & D. Soto 23444 [K, USZ]), collected about 170 years apart, are also similar in facies to Ipomoea subspicata . The leaves of these specimens somewhat resemble those of I. psammophila but the habit and more acute sepals suggest an affinity with I. hirsutissima and the indumentum is somewhat intermediate between these two species. As these are the only two species from this clade occurring at Santiago, it is possible that these collections represent a hybrid, something possibly corroborated by the nuclear data which places Wood & Soto 23444 as sister to I. psammophila . If this supposition eventually proves correct, hybridisation could turn out to be a factor complicating species delimitation in a number of the species clusters in this clade.