Staurogyne elegans (Nees) Kuntze (1891: 497)

Braz, Denise Monte & Monteiro, Reinaldo, 2017, Taxonomic Revision of Staurogyne (Nelsonioideae, Acanthaceae) in the Neotropics, Phytotaxa 296 (1), pp. 1-40 : 12-13

5. Staurogyne elegans (Nees) Kuntze (1891: 497) . Ebermaiera elegans Nees von Esenbeck (1847a: 17) . Lectotype (designated by Braz & Monteiro 2011b: 175): — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Ad Vieira do Matto, no date, J.B.E.Pohl 3151 (lectotype: W!; isolectotypes: BR!, GZU!). ( Fig. 7 )

Subshrub 1 − 1.5 m tall, sparsely branched, sparsely pilose with simple trichomes, glabrous at the base. Petiole 6 − 18 mm long; blade lanceolate, 9.5 − 19 × 1.8 − 5 cm, apex acuminate to acute, base attenuate to acute, adaxially glabrescent or sparsely simple pilose, abaxially with trichomes restricted to the veins, rarely with disc-shape trichomes. Inflorescence in dense, terminal, bracteate raceme, 4.5 − 15 cm long, peduncle 1 − 2.7 cm long; flowers opposite; rachis sparsely pilose with glandular and simple trichomes; bracts and bracteoles yellow-greenish, sparsely glandular pilose, bract elliptic to suborbicular, rarely lanceolate, 8 − 15 × 3.2 − 7 mm, 3 − 5 acrodromous veins, bracteoles lanceolate-obovate, 6 − 11 × 1.5 − 3.3 mm. Pedicel 6 − 14.8 mm long; calyx yellow-green to yellow, sparsely pilose with glandular trichomes, non-ciliate, posterior segment 5.5 − 9 × 19 − 31 mm, 3 − 5-nerved, lateral pair of segments 13 − 20 × 1 − 2 mm, anterior pair of segments 9.5 − 29 × 2 − 4mm; corolla yellow, 3.5 − 4.7 cm long, basal tube 3 − 5.5 mm long, anterior lobe 4 − 6 mm long, externally pilose with sparse glandular trichomes, internally glabrous; posterior stamens 3 − 4.3 cm long, anterior stamens 3.2 − 4.5 cm long, staminode 2.5 − 8 mm long; ovules 19 − 26 per locule, posterior lobe of the stigma concave. Capsule 14 − 17 × 4 − 5 mm, sparsely glandular pilose.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Conceição do Mato Dentro, Serra do Cipó, 13 July 1940, Foster & Mello-Barreto 10834 (ESA, HB), Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó, 5 July 1989, Kameyama et al.CFSC-11542 (HRCB, SPF); Santana do Riacho, Serra do Cipó, 25 April 1994, Campos & Souza CFSC-13756 (HRCB, SPF), 16 April 1989, Novelino et al. CFSC-11427 (SPF).

Distribution and habitat:— Staurogyne elegans has an extremely restricted occurrence, collected only in the Serra do Cipó, in the southern portion of the Espinhaço Range, State of Minas Gerais, at elevations above 700m, near creeks and humid shady habitat, inside the gallery forests.

Phenology:— It was collected with flowers and fruits from April to July.

Taxonomic notes:— Staurogyne elegans is easily recognized by its glabrescent lanceolate leaves, the inflorescence with showy colored bracts and bracteoles, greenish-yellow, and by the corolla much longer than the calyx. It is close to S. anigozanthus in the showy inflorescence with petal-like bracts, but differs mainly by the presence of glandular trichomes on all reproductive parts (rachis, bracts, bracteoles, calyx, corolla and fruit) (not glandular trichomes restricted to corolla and fruit, rarely in the calyx) and the corolla 3.5 − 4.7 cm long (not 1.8 − 3.3 cm). S. elegans was mistakenly treated as S. minarum by Kameyama (1995) when she studied the Acanthaceae of Serra do Cipó.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Staurogyne elegans. A.Flowering plant. B. Flower, bracts and bracteoles. C. Bract. D. Bracteole. E. Calyx. F. Anther in frontal view. G. Anther in dorsal view. H. Staminode. I. Stigma in frontal view. J. Corolla lobes. (A, E–G from Campos & Souza CFSC- 13756;B–D, H–J from Novelino et al. CFSC-11427).