Espeletiopsis diazii M. Diazgranados & L.R. Sanchez, 2013

Diazgranados, Mauricio & Sanchez, Luis Roberto, 2013, A new species of Espeletiopsis (Millerieae, Asteraceae) from Colombia, PhytoKeys 32, pp. 37-48 : 38-42

Espeletiopsis diazii M. Diazgranados & L.R. Sanchez sp. nov. Figures 1 -4

Type.

COLOMBIA, Norte de Santander, Municipio de Cáchira, Páramo de Cáchira o de Guerrero, vía Alto Chiquito (desde Villa Caro) a Cáchira, alto del páramo, a los lados de la vía antes de comenzar el descenso a Cáchira, en comunidad de pajonal-frailejonal dominado por esta especie. Alt. 3394 m, 73.00173°W, 7.7655°N. M. Diazgranados & L.R. Sánchez 3898 (holotype: COL; isotypes: COL, HECASA and to be distributed). Paratypes: same locality, M. Diazgranados & L.R. Sánchez 3897 (COL, HECASA and to be distributed); L.R. Sánchez 10113 (HECASA!), 12714 (HECASA!).

Diagnosis.

Sessile rosette of whitish appearance, related to Espeletiopsis santanderensis , but with smaller leaves, capitulescence compact with a dense glomerate cyme of (1-)4-6(-7) capitula and short peduncles, and disc flowers with corolla lobes glabrescent.

Description.

Acaulescent (sessile) polycarpic rosette of whitish appearance, 40-50(-100) cm tall (including capitulescences), growing in grassland of páramo proper. Excluding reproductive parts, rosette 20-30(-50) cm tall.

Leaves firm, coriaceous, erect; laminae linear or narrowly oblanceolate, apex acute, base without pseudopetiole, (15-)16-19(-21) cm × (0.6-)0.65-0.7(-0.8) cm, length to width ratio 26:1; margins strongly revolute. Adaxial face with indumentum whitish or silvery-sericeous, hairs 1 mm long, very abundant in young leaves, becoming less dense and almost tomentose-velutinous in old leaves, giving them a greener appearance; costa prominent but secondary nerves invisible. Abaxial face with loose indumentum, silvery or whitish, with hairs up to 2 mm long; costa more prominent than from adaxial face, secondary nerves invisible. Leaf sheaths narrowly-oblong, (2.5-)2.7-3.1(-3.3) cm × (0.5-)0.7-0.9(-1.1) cm; white adaxially, glabrescent in the proximal portion, with 10-15 anastomosing nerves; white abaxially, tomentose-velutinous, with hairs up to 0.9 mm long.

Capitulescences 2-5, corymbiform, more or less coetaneous, axillary, emerging from the upper nodes, twice longer than the leaves, (15-)25-45(-60) cm long; indumentum abundant, lanose-sericeous white towards the base, becoming lanose whitish-yellowish towards the distal portion. Scapes erect, firm, 5-6 mm in diameter; 5-10-bracteate basally, subcoriaceous, alternate, linear with acute apex and without pseudopetiole, up to 13 cm long × 0.5 cm wide; 2-5 sterile bracts in the first 2/3 of the scape, alternate, linear, shorter, 5-6 cm long × 0.5 cm wide. Capitula (1-)4-6(-7), arranged in a compact or dense glomerate cyme in the distal 3-4 cm of the capitulescence; peduncles terete, short, 1(-3) cm long or less; with indumentum lanose whitish-yellowish, and portions of epidermis reddish. Fertile bracts linear or narrowly triangular, 2-2.5 cm long × 0.4-0.5 cm wide.

Capitula radiate, subglobose, 2.0-3.0 cm in diameter (including ray flowers). Involucre 1.2-1.4 cm wide × 0.8-1.2 cm high; phyllaries in 2-3 series, oblanceolate or triangular, the outer phyllaries 10-12 mm long × 3.0-5.0 mm wide (excluding hairs), the inner phyllaries 6.5-7.2 mm long × 4.0-4.3 mm wide, with indumentum villous white and epidermis green, turning red when older.

Ray flowers (30-)44-46 in 2(-3) series, yellow, 10.5-11.5 mm long (excluding ovary). Ligules 7.6-8.0 mm long, elliptical or oblong, tridentate; tube hirsute, small, 0.35-0.5 mm in diameter and 2.5-3.0 mm long, without linguiform appendages, yel low becoming brown distally, the hairs 0.2-0.3(-0.7) mm long. Style 6.5-7.0 mm long × 0.16-0.2 mm in diameter, with stigmatic branches 1.0-1.5 mm long, broadening in the distal portion, 0.25-0.28(-0.5) mm wide, papillose, papillae to 0.1 mm long.

Discs 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter; disc flowers (72-)100-108; corolla 6.2-7 mm long (excluding anthers and fruit); corolla throat 4.4-4.6 mm long, 2-2.2 mm wide when open, 5-lobed, lobes 1-1.1 mm long, glabrescent or with a few hairs; tube 1.8-2.4 mm long × 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter, glabrous, with a few hairs; anthers dark yellow, sometimes exceeding the corolla by 2 mm, slightly translucid, approximately 1 mm long and 0.3 mm wide; disc paleae 5.2-5.5 mm long × 1.0-1.1 mm wide, brownish, with 3 main nerves, glabrescent but becoming villous in the distal third.

Cypselae oblong, triangular, 2.3-2.4 mm × 1.5-1.6 mm, glabrous, black. Paleae 6.4-6.8 mm long, 1.8-2.0 mm wide, brownish, profusely villous. Pollen yellow when fresh, tricolporate, 20.56-21.08 μm in equatorial diameter (not counting spines); spines 68-80 total, 14-16 equatorial spines, (2.8-)3.6-4.06 μm long, erect.

Distribution.

Endemic to Colombia. This species has been found only in the Páramo de Cáchira (or Páramo de Guerrero), and in a smaller adjacent páramo, called Páramo de los Ranchos, at elevations of 3300-3500 m ( Fig. 4 ). The area of distribution is less than 75 km2.

Ecology.

A large population of several hundreds or thousands of individuals growing in the grasslands of the páramo proper was observed ( Fig. 4 ). Other Espeletiinae found in the area are: Espeletia brassicoidea Cuatrec., Espeletiopsis conglomerata Cuatrec. and Libanothamnus occultus ssp. oroquensis Cuatrec.

Etymology.

The specific epithet of this new species, “diazii”, is dedicated to Santiago Díaz-Piedrahita, Colombian botanist, for his vast contributions to the knowledge of the Compositae of his country.

Conservation status.

The preservation of this species is linked to the preservation of the Páramo de Cáchira and the Páramo de Los Ranchos. These are both very small páramos (70-80 km2 of total area), likely sensitive to climate and land use change, with substantial fragmentation, and without any legal measures of protection. Therefore, Espeletiopsis diazii is probably Critically Endangered (CR, according to the IUCN criteria: extent of occurrence estimated to be less than 100 km2, habitat fragmentation, and likely decline of the extent of the páramo; http://jr.iucnredlist.org/documents/redlist_cats_crit_en.pdf), or Critically Imperiled (G1, according to NatureServe; http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/ranking.htm).

Figures

Figure 1. Espeletiopsis diazii: A acaulescent (sessile) habit B whitish rosette from top C lateral view of capitulescence showing a dense glomerate cyme of capitula D capitulum of the holotype collection (M. Diazgranados & L. R. Sanchez 3898) E paratype collection (M. Diazgranados & L. R. Sanchez 3897) F holotype collection (M. Diazgranados & L. R. Sanchez 3898) G capitulescence showing the alternate bracts along the scape.

Figure 4. Distribution map showing collections for Espeletiopsis diazii (red circles), Espeletiopsis santanderensis (blue squares) and Espeletiopsis caldasii (green triangles). Photograph of the Paramo de Cachira, with a population of Espeletiopsis diazii.