Costus alticolus Maas & H.Maas, 2023
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.222.87779 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/5B398AFC-E2A9-5824-B19C-58E6A19DE6EB |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Costus alticolus Maas & H.Maas |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Costus alticolus Maas & H.Maas sp. nov.
Diagnosis.
Costus alticolus sp. nov. (Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ) can be recognised by its leafless flowering shoots up to ca. 1 m long, combined with large, red and unappendaged bracts, tubular and yellow flowers, and stamen far exceeding the labellum like in C. pulverulentus C.Presl.
Type.
Mexico. Oaxaca: Sierra Mazateca, Mun. Santa María Chilchotla, Cuauhtemoc , ca. 4 km NE of Santa María Chilchotla, near Clemencia and Santa Rosa , 1200 m, 16 Jan 1984, Solheim & Reisfeld 1367 (holotype WIS) .
Description.
Herb 2-3.5 m tall. Leaves sheaths 10-30 mm diam; ligule truncate, 4-12 mm long; petiole 5-20 mm long; sheaths, ligule and petiole densely to sparsely puberulous; lamina narrowly elliptic, 25-47 × 6-14 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially densely (particularly along the primary vein) sericeous to almost glabrous, base acute, apex acuminate (acumen 5-10 mm long). Inflorescence cylindric, 11-18 × 5-9 cm, terminating a leafless shoot 20-95 cm long, sheaths obliquely truncate, 4-7 cm long, rather densely puberulous to glabrous; bracts, bracteole, calyx, ovary, and capsule glabrous to densely puberulous. Flowers abaxially oriented; bracts red to bright crimson, coriaceous, ovate-oblong, 4-6 × 3-4 cm, apex obtuse, callus ca. 10 mm long; bracteole boat-shaped, 30-35 mm long; calyx red, 13-21 mm long, lobes deltate to shallowly triangular, 3-6 mm long; corolla yellow to orange, 50-60 mm long, glabrous, lobes narrowly elliptic, ca. 40 mm long; labellum yellow, lateral lobes rolled inwards and forming a slightly curved tube 18-20 mm diam, obovate when spread out, ca. 60 by 35 mm, irregularly lobulate, lobules recurved, ca. 4 mm long; stamen yellow, ca. 65 × 11 mm, far exceeding the labellum, apex acute, anther ca. 8 mm long. Capsule ellipsoid, 17-18 mm long.
Distribution.
Mexico (Oaxaca) (Fig. 21D View Figure 21 ).
Habitat and ecology.
In primary, wet montane to premontane cloud forests, with some mosses on trunks, drier on ridge crests, with Hedyosmum mexicanum Cordem. Ex Baill., Liquidambar macrophylla Oerst., Siparuna andina A.DC., Posoqueria latifolia (Rudge) Roem. & Schult., Heliconia sp., Deppea sp, Chamaedorea sp., Solenophora sp., and Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva, at elevations of 1040-1900 m. Flowering year-round.
Etymology.
Costus alticolus sp. nov. occurs at quite high elevations up to 1900 m, hence the specific epithet alticolus ( ‘altus’ means ‘high’ in Latin; ‘colere’ means 'to live’ in Latin).
Paratypes.
Mexico. Oaxaca: Distr. and Mun. Ixtlán, near abandoned community of Tarabundi, S side of Río Soyolapán, access via La Luz, primary forest toward Río Langaro, 1230-1260 m, 16 Nov 1993, Boyle & Massart 2556 (MO, U); Mun. San Felipe Usila, cuenca del Río Perfume, 4.4 km SE of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, 1400 m, 29 Mar 1995, Rincón Guttiérrez et al. 592 (MO); Distr. Mixe, Mun. Totontepec, Totontepec, 1900 m, 9 Aug 1990, Rivera Reyes & Martin 1610 (CAS), Hwy 175, km 169, near La Esperanza, 1075 m, 12 Aug 2017, Skinner R3400 (BH).
Notes.
We are greatly indebted to Manuel Gutiérrez, who assisted Dave Skinner in obtaining permission from the indigenous people of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, Oaxaca, Mexico, to study this new species common in the Chinantla region of Oaxaca.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.