Salvia collinsii Donnell-Smith (1916: 386)

González-Gallegos, Jesús Guadalupe & López-Enríquez, Irma Lorena, 2016, Salvia wixarika (Lamiaceae), a new species from Jalisco, Mexico, and novelties on Mexican Salvia with white corollas, Phytotaxa 260 (2), pp. 176-184 : 179-180

Salvia collinsii Donnell-Smith (1916: 386)

Type:— MEXICO. Chiapas, near Pantepec, 15 January 1907, G. N Collins & C. B. Doyle 213 (holotype US barcode 00121443!, isotype US barcode 00121444!; image of the holotype is available at http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/3d6ef3f4c-e676-425d-919f-f3c8dbde4015) .

Shrub, 1–1.5(–2.5) m tall; stems puberulent. Leaves with petioles (5.2–) 15–20 mm long, puberulent; blade elliptic to oblong-elliptic, (5–)7.9–11 × 2–4 cm, apex caudate, base attenuated, margin serrate, smooth and green above, glabrous (puberulent in young leaves), glaucous beneath, short tomentose and with ocher glandular dots. Inflorescence in racemes 5–14 cm long, verticillasters 10–15, each 8–10-flowered, the lowermost 1–2 cm apart from each other; floral axis puberulent and short pilose to hirsute. Floral bract ovate-lanceolate, 11.9–15 × 3.6–6.2 mm, persistent, apex caudate, base truncate, margin entire, short pilose in the outer surface. Flowers with pedicel 0.4–0.6 mm long, short pilose. Calyx (5.8–)6.9–9 × 2.2–2.9 mm, short pilose, internally puberulent or covered with short conical hairs toward the apex, lips acute, 2.5–2.8 mm long, the upper 5-veined and entire at the apex. Corolla white; tube (6.3–)7–7.5 × 2.5–3 mm, slightly ventricose, not invaginated at the base, internally epapillate, glabrous; upper lip 4.7–5 mm long, short pilose; lower lip 4.4–5.5 × 3.4–4 mm, glabrous. Stamens included; filament 1.9–2.5 mm long; connective 5–5.9 mm long, ornate with a retrorse acute tooth near ventral midpoint; theca 1.5–1.7 mm long; a pair of staminodes above and behind filament insertion, filiform. Gynobasic nectary 0.8–1 mm long; style 9–12 mm long, short pilose at the apex, lower stigmatic branch straight and acute. Mericarp ovoid, 1.5–1.7 × 1–1.2 mm long, brown and irregularly dark brown marbled, smooth, glabrous.

Etymology:— The specific epithet was coined in honor to the first collector of the plant, Guy N. Collins (1872– 1938), a botanical explorer that conducted several expeditions in the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Yucatán (Rzedowski et al. 2009).

Distribution, habitat and phenology:— Salvia collinsii is an endemic species from Chiapas and Oaxaca ( Fig. 2 ). It grows in cloud montane and pine-oak forests, at 900–1500 m elevation. It shares habitat with Ficus , Pinus , Oecopetalum , Quercus, Tapira and Ulmus . It flowers and fruits from November to February.

Discussion:— In the taxonomic treatment of Flora Mesoamericana ( Klitgaard 2012), Salvia collinsii was regarded as synonym of S. kellermanii Donnell-Smith (1913: 60–61) . However, these two species are morpholocically very different. Indeed, S. collinsii can be distinguished from S. kellermanii in having persistent floral bracts (vs. deciduous), shorter pedicel (0.4–0.6 vs. 2–10 mm long), shorter calyx [(5.8–)6.9–9 vs. (7–) 10–12 mm long], 5-veined upper calyx lip (vs. 3-veined), white corolla (vs. bright violet), shorter corolla tube [(6.3–)7–7.5 vs. (7–)13–15 long], internally naked (vs. having 4–6 papillae), shorter upper [4.7–5 vs. (5–) 7–10 mm long] and smaller lower corolla lip [4.4–5.5 × 3.4–4 vs. (5–)7–8 x (5–) 7–8 mm long], shorter connective (5–5.9 vs. (3–) 6–7 mm long) and shorter style (9–12 vs. 22–23 mm long). González-Gallegos & Gama-Villanueva (2013) and González-Gallegos (2014) previously revealed similar cases of improperly synonymized Salvia species in Flora Mesoamericana, resurrecting 9 species.

Additional specimens examined: MEXICO. Oaxaca. San Miguel Chimalapa, cabecera del Arroyo Caracol, Cerro Guayabitos , al NW de Benito Juárez, ca. 40 km en línea recta al N de San Pedro Tapanatepec , 16º44’N 94 º11’W, 1500 m, 28 February 1985, J. Salomón-Maya 1277 ( MEXU!) ; Santa María Chimalapa, arroyo de Las Yeguas (afluente del río Portamonedas), ca. 3 km al N de Benito Juárez , en el límite con el municipio de San Miguel Chimalapa, ca. 41 km en línea recta al N de San Pedro Tapanatepec , 16º45’N 94º08’W, 900– 100 m, 8 December 1984, J. Salomón-Maya 1000 ( MEXU!) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution map of Salvia aequidistans (black dots, typical morphological pattern, and circles, populations with larger leaves), S. collinsii (black triangles), S. sphacelifolia (question mark, which also denotes the ambiguity on precise location of this species), and S. wixarika (square).