Vellozia strangii L.B.Sm. ex Mello-Silva, 2014

Mello-Silva, Renato & Menezes, Nanuza Luiza De, 2014, Velloziaceae in honorem appellatae, Phytotaxa 175 (2), pp. 85-96 : 91-94

Vellozia strangii L.B.Sm. ex Mello-Silva , sp. nov. ( Figs. 4 , 5D )

Vellozia strangii is morphologically similar to V. hatschbachii . It is, however, a more robust plant, and the hypanthium is subdensely covered with stipitate glandular emergences and has a much longer tube.

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Gouveia: 22 km ao sul de Gouveia, ao lado da rodovia Gouveia - Curvelo ( BR 259 ), 1 February 2000 (fl, fr), Mello-Silva & Forzza 1782 (holotype SPF 2 sheets!, isotypes B!, BHCB! CTES!, F!, G!, K!, L!, M!, NY!, P!, RB!, SP!, UB!, US!).

Herbs, caespitose or not. Stems 5–80 × 3–9 cm. Leaves spirotristichous, arcuate, sheaths brown, abundantly covered with orange resin, lamina 17.0–40.0 × 0.8–3.0 cm, linear-triangular, glabrous, marcescent and reflexed, margins serrate, midrib serrate towards apex at abaxial side. Flowers 3–6; peduncles 6–14 cm long, trigonous, subdensely covered with short to 1 mm long stipitate, glandular emergences.Hypanthium 5.5–9.0 cm long, subdensely covered with short to 1 mm long stipitate glandular emergences, green, sometimes brownish or purplish-green; ovary region fusiform, trigonous, 3.0–5.0 × 0.8–1.8 cm; hypanthial tube cylindric, trigonous, 2.0–4.0 × 0.4–0.8 cm, sometimes slightly attenuated towards apex. Sepals 5.0–6.5 × 2.0– 3.5 cm, elliptic, white, sometimes abaxial side of sepals purplish, specially towards base, glabrous; petals 4.5–6.5 × 3.0–5.0 cm, broad-elliptic, white, glabrous. Stamens 18–36, filaments ca. 1.5 cm long, white; anthers ca. 2 cm long, yellow; staminal appendages absent; style 5.5–7.5 cm long, stigma 5–9 mm diam., peltate-trilobate. Capsule 8.0–10.0 cm long, 2.0– 2.5 cm diam. at ovary region, fusiform with persistent hypanthial tube, strong trigonous, stramineous, subdensely covered with short to 1 mm long stipitate glandular emergences, dehiscent by apical slits on the loculi through the hypanthial tube, afterwards opening loculicidaly.

Leaf anatomy:— Blade dorsiventral. Cuticle not thickened on both surfaces. Abaxial furrows about one third to half thickness of lamina, papillae conspicuously coronulate. Stomata confined to furrows. Epidermis 2–3-seriate. Aquiferous 1–2-seriate hypodermis present on both surfaces, extending adaxially to the furrows and fibro-vascular bundles and abaxially to the fibro-vascular bundles as aquiferous parenchyma. Palisade mesophyll 3–4 cell-layers thick, adaxially merging with lacunar mesophyll. Fibro-vascular bundles surrounded by a distinct endodermis. Vessels 1(–2) large, present in each fibro-vascular bundle. Phloem strands 2, V-shaped, separated beneath the xylem by fibres and parenchyma. Pericyclic fibres extending as girders to the endodermis near aquiferous parenchyma. Strands of subepidermal sclerified cells 2–3 cell-layers thick present beneath both surfaces (based on Mello-Silva 2492).

Habitat:— In sandy soil among (quartizite) rocks, although some individuals may colonize bare rocks.

Distribution:— Vellozia strangii is found in the Diamantina Plateau , central Minas Gerais State, in large populations.

Etymology:— The species is named after Harold Edgard Strang, conservationist, former director of the Centro de Pesquisas Florestais e Conservação da Natureza, and one of the founders of the journal Vellozia . He has also been interested in Velloziaceae (e.g. Strang 1961a, b, 1967).

Observations:— Vellozia strangii is probably closely related to V. caput-ardeae Smith & Ayensu (1976: 121) and V. hatschbachii Smith & Ayensu (1976: 58) , which are sister-species ( Mello-Silva 2000). The persistent hypanthial tube of V. strangii , which is characteristic of that group ( Mello-Silva 2000), is of an intermediate length between the two species. Vellozia strangii seems to share with its close relatives, V. alata Smith (1962: 260) , V. peripherica Mello- Silva (2004a: 457) and V. sincorana Smith & Ayensu (1976: 55) the ability of blooming quick and abundantly after burning (Sazima 1978, Mello-Silva 2004 a, Conceição & Orr 2012, N.L. Menezes unpublished data). Vellozia strangii has been found flowering and fruiting during the hot and wet season.

Other Specimens Examined:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Data, estrada Datas–Serro , km 436, 19 March 1989 (fr), Salatino , Souza , Lewinger , Justo , Dokkedal & Salatino CFCR12139 ( K, SPF) ; Diamantina , entre Sopa e São João da Chapada , 25 January 1978 (fl), Hatschbach 40928 ( C, MBM, US) ; 5 km de Guinda, 12 December 1980 (fl), Menezes , Pirani , Cordeiro & Rodrigues 1028 ( K, SPF) ; estrada Diamantina–Conselheiro Mata , 29 km de Diamantina, 2 December 1981 (fl, fr), Hensold , Oliveira & Kawasaki CFCR2674 ( F, SPF) ; estrada para São João da Chapada , elev. 1180 m, 23 November 1985 (fl), Mello-Silva , Thomas , Pirani & Cavalcanti CFCR8659 ( K, NY, SPF) ; estrada Diamantina– Conselheiro Mata , km 176, 28 January 1986 (fl), Menezes , Zappi , Longhi-Wagner & Cordeiro CFCR9427 ( BHCB, K, M, SPF) ; along the road from Sopa to São João da Chapada , 10 km NW of Sopa, elev. 1050 m, 29 January 1995 (fl), Till , Benzing , Krügel , Leme , Luther & Nahoum 11040 ( SPF, WU) ; estrada para Conselheiro Mata , 10 km a partir da entrada da estrada, 14 April 1996 (fr), Salatino , Salatino , Santos & Giannasi 129 ( SPF) ; estrada Diamantina–Conselheiro Mata , km 159, 29.8 km da estrada Diamantina – Gouveia ( BR 259 ) , 18 ° 18’36’’S 43 ° 55’7’’W, elev. 1141 m, 25 January 2004 (fl, fr), Mello-Silva, Pirani, Calió, Lepis, Riina & Lovo 2492 ( CTES, F, L, RB, SPF 2 sheets) ; Ribeirão de Areia , estrada Sopa–São João da Chapada , entroncamento a 13.1 km da BR 259 ( Diamantina–Gouveia ) e 1.1 km do entroncamento, 18 ° 09’55.3’’S 43 ° 42’03.3’’W, elev. 1044 m, 19 January 2012 (fl), Mello-Silva, Alcantara, Lovo, Lima, Pinto, Nascimento & Sanches 3537 ( F, SPF) ; Gouveia, estrada Curvelo–Diamantina , 72–73 km de Curvelo, 13 December 1974 (fl, fr), Menezes, Froehlich, Angialossy & Mazzoni-Viveiros 386 ( SPF) ; rodovia BR 259 , Córrego do Tigre , 20 March 1987 (fl), Hatschbach, Cervi & Cordeiro 51188 ( MBM) ; Fazenda Contagem , 10 December 1987 (fl, fr), Menezes, Salatino, Salatino, Scatena, Salimena-Pires, Vitta & Godoy CFCR11864 ( GH, MBM, SPF) ; Fazenda Contagem , 12 March 1989 (fr), Menezes CFCR12163 ( K, RB, SPF, W) ; Contagem, Fazenda Galheiros, de Júlio Caetano Rodrigues (vulgo Júlio Barbalho), sopés da extremidade norte da Serra do Indaial , base de inselberg próximo ao Ribeirão da Contagem , 22 January 2004 (fl), Mello-Silva, Pirani, Calió, Lepis, Riina & Lovo 2458 ( BHCB, G, GH, K, MO, RB, SP, SPF, W) ; Serro, ca. 3–5 km E of Serra (Serro) along road to Diamantina , 9 August 1960 (fr), Maguire, Magalhães & Maguire 49131 ( NY, R, US) ; unspecified municipality, estrada Curvelo–Diamantina , km 259, elev. 1000 m, 8 February 1970 (fl), Strang 1391 ( GUA, US) ; estrada Curvelo–Diamantina , 16 December 1977 (fl, fr), Menezes 745 ( SPF) .

Notes on all new species:— A recent, more complete analysis of Velloziaceae ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011) permits some assumptions on the relationships of these new species in a phylogenetic framework. Vellozia giuliettiae and V. semirii share morphological characteristics that would assign them to V. sect. Xerophytoides ( Smith & Ayensu 1976), such as ericoid habit with no leaf furrows and six stamens. The species from that section are among the few Neotropical ones that were once classified as Xerophyta Jussieu (1789: 50 , see Mello-Silva 1991b), but its representatives so far analysed always been embedded in Vellozia , either as monophyletic assemblages ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011) or not ( Mello-Silva 2000, 2005, Salatino et al. 2001). As a clade, they are supported by losses of furrows and abaxial sclerified strands in leaf and a belt of sclerified cells in the pedicel ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011). These characters are also features of both V. giuliettiae and V. semirii . In regard to V. everaldoi , it is also a more or less ericoid species with 12 stamens, which are also found in V. prolifera , a species assigned to Vellozia sect. Xerophytoides ( Mello-Silva 1991a) and always associated with species from that section ( Mello-Silva 2000, 2005, Mello-Silva et al. 2011). Furthermore, the clade that corresponds to Vellozia sect. Xerophytoides is embedded in a larger clade supported by spirotristichous phyllotaxis, a hypanthium that is smooth or with laxly disposed emergences, fringed or alate staminal appendages and poricidally dehiscent capsules ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011). These characters are all present in V. everaldoi , and thus it also could reasonably be related to Vellozia sect. Xerophytoides .

Vellozia strangii seems to be morphologically similar to V. caput-ardeae and V. hatschbachii , sharing with them three synapomorphies ( Mello-Silva et al. 2011), viz., the loss of abscission line between sheath and lamina, thus the old leaves being marcescent and reflexed, and the loss of the fringed staminal appendages. This small clade is embedded in the same clade as the other species above.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Vellozia strangii.A.Habit with flowers and fruits.B. Leaf margin, detail showing emergences.C. Flower, showing longitudinal section of hypanthial tube, androecium, style and stigma, with details of hypanthial emergences. D. Apex of sepal, abaxial view. E. Apex of petal, abaxial view. F. Group of six stamens. G. Trilobate stigma. Drawn from Mello-Silva 2458 by Rogério Lupo.

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.