Vellozia everaldoi N.L.Menezes, 2014

Mello-Silva, Renato & Menezes, Nanuza Luiza De, 2014, Velloziaceae in honorem appellatae, Phytotaxa 175 (2), pp. 85-96 : 85-87

Vellozia everaldoi N.L.Menezes , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 5A )

Vellozia everaldoi differs from all other species of Vellozia by its aquiferous hypodermis extending to furrows only. It is closer to V. taxifolia but differs from it by its arcuate leaves.

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Gouveia, Fazenda Contagem, 13 km à direita da rodovia Curvelo-Diamantina , 29 August 1981 (fl, fr), Giulietti, Semir, Menezes, Giulietti & Mattos CFCR1760 (holotype SPF!, isotypes K!, L!, NY, RB!, SP!, US).

Solitary, ericoid herbs, 5 – 25 cm tall. Stem much branched, to 1 cm diam. at base and 2 – 3 mm diam. at apex. Leaves spirotristichous, arcuate, sheaths brown, stramineous with serrate margins at apex, lamina 6.0–18.0 × 1.5–2.0 mm, linear-triangular, conduplicate and semiterete at distal half or third when dry, glabrous, soon deciduous, the margins serrate. Flowers solitary; peduncles 2.5–3.5 mm long, trigonous, glabrous, covered by the leaf sheaths; hypanthium 4–6 mm long, 2–3 mm diam. at apex, obdeltoid, trigonous, glabrous. Tepals ca. 8.0 × 2.5 mm, oblong-elliptic, violet, glabrous. Stamens 12, 1 opposite each sepal and 3 opposite each petal, of different lengths, filaments of the longer stamens ca. 3 mm long, of the shorter ca. 1.5 mm long, anthers ca. 1.5 mm long, yellow; staminal appendages alate; style ca. 5 mm long, stigma ca. 0.5 mm diam., trilobate. Capsule 4–7 mm long, 2–5 mm diam. at apex, stramineous, glabrous, dehiscent by apical large slits on the loculi. Seeds ca. 0.5 mm long, deep brown, reticulate-foveate.

Leaf anatomy:— Blade dorsiventral. Cuticle thickened on both surfaces. Abaxial furrows about one-third thickness of lamina, papillae conspicuously coronulate. Stomata confined to furrows. Adaxial epidermis pluriseriate, adaxial uniseriate. Aquiferous 2–3-seriate hypodermis present on adaxial surface, extending adaxialy to the furrows as aquiferous parenchyma. Palisade mesophyll 3–4 cell-layers thick, adaxially merging with lacunar mesophyll. Fibrovascular bundles surrounded by a distinct endodermis. No large vessels present in each fibro-vascular bundle. Phloem strands 2, V-shaped, separated beneath the xylem by pericyclic fibres and parenchyma. Pericyclic fibres extending as girders, adaxially to the endodermis near palisade mesophyll and abaxially to the endodermis near epidermis; sometimes abaxial girder separated from vascular bundle by mesophyll cells. Strands of epidermal sclerified cells 1–3(–4) cell-layers thick present in both surfaces (based on Menezes 1001).

Habitat:— On rocky (quartzite) outcrops.

Distribution:— Vellozia everaldoi is only found in a restricted area in the Diamantina Plateau , central Espinhaço Range, in Minas Gerais State.

Etymology:— The species is named after Everaldo Gonçalves, a geologist and journalist, former instructor at University of São Paulo and Federal University of Minas Gerais, who guided Nanuza Menezes to interesting Velloziaceae spots and on whose farm populations of V. everaldoi were found for the first time.

Observations:— Vellozia everaldoi resembles species from Vellozia sect. Xerophytoides Smith & Ayensu (1976: 48 , Mello-Silva 1991), with an ericoid habit and soon deciduous, short and semiterete leaf-blades. Nevertheless, its conspicuous furrows in leaf-blade are a feature present in most Vellozia outside that section. Here, it resembles V. taxifolia (Martius ex Schultes & Schultes 1829: 291) Martius ex Seubert (1847: 75) in its habit, but differs in the transverse posture of leaf blade, which is arcuate in V. everaldoi and flat in V. taxifolia . Moreover, the aquiferous hypodermis extending only to furrows is an anatomical character of V. everaldoi that is unique among all species of Vellozia thus far studied ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011). Its 12 stamens are distributed in the same manner as typical in the species with 12 stamens, e.g. V. jolyi Smith (1985a: 133) and V. prolifera Mello-Silva (1991a: 321) , one opposite to each sepal and three opposite each petal. It has also short alate staminal appendages like those of Vellozia abietina Martius (1823: 14) , V. prolifera and V. giuliettiae . This feature together with spirotristichous phyllotaxis, a leaf blade that is involute when dry, hypanthial emergences absent to laxly disposed, and poricidal capsules support Vellozia sect. Xerophytoides ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011) and are all present in V. everaldoi , which is, then, expected to belong to that section. It has been collected with flowers in the cold, dry season, August and September.

Other specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Gouveia, entre Fazenda Contagem e a fazenda vizinha, em cultivo no Departamento de Botânica da Universidade de São Paulo, 23 August 1980 (fl), Menezes 1001 ( SPF); Fazenda Contagem, a 3 km da estrada Gouveia - Curvelo, 3 November 1993 (fr), Benko-Iseppon 326 ( SPF); Fazenda Contagem, 1 February 1998 (fr), Menezes 1375 ( SPF); Serro: estrada Datas - Serro Km 419, cabeceiras do Rio Jequitinhonha , ca. 35 km de Datas, 6 September 1989 (fl) Menezes & Souza CFCR12287 ( SPF) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Vellozia everaldoi.A. Habit. B. Flower, longitudinal section, showing hypanthium, placentation, androecium, gynoecium, and perianth. C. One sepal with stamen and staminal appendages. D. One petal with stamens and coronal appendages. Drawn from Menezes 1001 by Toyomi Naruto.

FIGURE 5. Transversal section of leaf lamina. A. Vellozia everaldoi (Menezes 1001). B. Vellozia giuliettiae (Menezes 1207). C. Vellozia semirii (Mello-Silva 1769). D. Vellozia strangii (Mello-Silva 2492). Scale bars = 200 µm. AP = aquiferous parenchyma. En = endodermis. Hy = hypodermis. PC = passage cells. PF = pericyclic fibres. Ph = phloem. TT = transfusion tracheids.