Aechmea avaldoana Leme & W.Till, 2014

Leme, Elton M. C., Till, Walter, Kollmann, Ludovic J. C., De Moura, Ricardo L. & Ribeiro, Otávio B. C., 2014, Miscellaneous New Species of Brazilian Bromeliaceae, Phytotaxa 177 (2), pp. 61-100 : 62-66

Aechmea avaldoana Leme & W.Till , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 3 A–D )

This new species differs from Aechmea catendensis by the wider leaf blades (45–50 × 7.5–8 cm vs. 55–120 × 6 cm), longer inflorescence (42–50 cm vs. 18–28 cm long), which distinctly exceeds the leaves (vs. shorter than the leaves), reflexed primary bracts (vs. erect to suberect), laxly arranged primary branches at the base (vs. densely arranged), smaller floral bracts (6–10 × 4–6.5 mm vs. 16–20 × 7–8 mm), sessile flowers (vs. pedicellate), suborbiculate sepals (vs. obovate) which are broader (11–12 mm vs. 7–8 mm) and the petal appendages with a denticulate-lacerate apex (vs. entire).

Type: –– BRAZIL. Bahia: Vitória da Conquista, Distrito de Itaipu , 990 m elevation, 14° 40’ 12.74” S, 40° 39’ 19.02” W, 21 January 2013, R . Reis Jr. & A . Soares s.n. (holotype RB!, isotypes CEPEC!, HB!) .

Plants terrestrial or rupicolous, flowering ca. 110 cm high. Leaves ca. 20 in number, rosulate, suberect, coriaceous, forming a funnelform rosette; sheaths elliptic, 22 × 16–17 cm, dark purple toward distal end and margins, castaneous toward the base, densely and minutely brown lepidote on both sides, at distal end densely and coarsely spinose, spines similar to those of the basal portion of the blades; blades sublinear, not narrowed toward the base, 45–50 × 7.5–8 cm, yellowish-green and sometimes bearing a narrow zone of dark castaneous-wine color along the apical margins, densely white lepidote, mainly abaxially, apex cuspidate, margins densely spinose; spines dark brown, narrowly triangular, flat, antrorse, the basal ones 3–6 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide at the base, 2–3 mm apart, the upper ones 1–2 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide at the base, 3–6 mm apart. Peduncle erect, ca. 50 cm long, 1.1–1.3 cm in diameter, reddish, glabrous; peduncle bracts sublinear to narrowly obovate-lanceolate, acute, 15–20 × 4–5 cm, erect, nerved, entire except for the basal ones being spinulose at the apex, subdensely to densely and inconspicuously white lepidote abaxially, distinctly exceeding the internodes and enfolding the peduncle, orange-red, the basal ones thin coriaceous, the upper ones papyraceous. Inflorescence twice branched, distinctly exceeding the leaves, erect, 42–50 cm long, excluding the petals 10–13 cm in diameter at the base, 6–8 cm in diameter near the apex; main axis 0.6–1.1 mm in diameter, straight, glabrous, orange-red; primary bracts narrowly obovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, acute to acuminate, entire, nerved, subdensely and inconspicuously white lepidote abaxially, orange-red, thin in texture, loosely reflexed, decreasing in size toward the inflorescence apex, 4–17 × 0.7–4 cm, the basal ones distinctly exceeding the branches, the upper ones about equaling to slightly exceeding the branches (excluding the petals); primary branches 19 to 22 in number, polystichously and laxly (from the base to the middle) to subdensely (near the apex) arranged, spreading, slightly decreasing in length toward the inflorescence apex, 3–7.5 cm long, bearing 1 (upper ones) to 5 (basal ones) secondary branches densely aggregated at the apex and forming subflabellate, pulvinate terminal fascicles of 3–6 cm wide at the apex; stipes 0.4–3 × 0.4–0.9 cm, ebracteate, complanate, orange-red, glabrous; rachis short and inconspicuous; secondary bracts resembling the upper primary bracts but being smaller, shorter than the secondary branches but exceeding the stipes, suberect, glabrous except for the filamentous sparse white trichomes at the apex; secondary branches 2- to 6-flowered, subdistichously arranged, the basal ones resembling the upper primary branches, shortly stipitate, the upper ones subsessile; floral bracts suboblong-ovate to subtriangular-ovate, rounded to acute, 6–10 × 4–6.5 mm, equaling to slightly shorter than the ovary, suberect, membranaceous, entire, distinctly nerved, glabrous except for the white filamentous trichomes scattered at the apex, orange-red, ecarinate. Flowers 4–4.5 cm long, odorless, densely polystichously arranged, sessile; sepals suborbiculate, 13–14 × 11–12 mm, distinctly asymmetrical with the lateral membranaceous rounded wing distinctly exceeding the midnerve, orange-yellow, glabrous, ecarinate but bearing a protruded central midnerve extended into a 0.5 mm mucro, connate at the base for ca. 2.5 mm; petals sublinear, ca. 30 × 5.5 mm, narrowly subobtuse, free, yellow, forming a tubular slightly convergent corolla, at the base bearing 2 broadly spathulate, subtruncate, denticulate-lacerate appendages of ca. 2 x 1.5 mm, as well as 2 conspicuous linear callosities of ca. 18 mm long, shorter than the filaments; filaments ca. 21 mm long, complanate, dilated toward the apex, yellow, the antesepalous ones free, the antepetalous ones basally adnate to the petal for ca. 10 mm; anthers 6–7 mm long, dorsifixed near the middle, base bilobed, apex obtuse; stigma conduplicate-spiral, subglobose-fusiform, orange-yellow, margins densely and minutely fimbriate; ovary obovoid, ca. 10 mm long, ca. 7 mm in diameter at the apex, glabrous, purplish-green; epigynous tube funnelform, ca. 1.8 mm long; placentation apical; ovules long caudate. Fruits globose, 12–13 × 13–14 mm, dark purple at maturity.

Distribution and habitat:–– Aechmea avaldoana is a typical dweller of the shrubby Caatinga vegetation of Bahia, where it lives as a terrestrial or on rocky outcrops under sunny conditions, forming large groups of plants, in a small fragment of 50 hectares of disturbed vegetation. When in bloom, its colorful eye-catching inflorescence can be easily observed in the shrubby vegetation, attracting hummingbird as pollinators. In contrast, its closest relative, A. catendensis Siqueira & Leme ( Leme & Siqueira-Filho 2006: 205) , is an endemic species of the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas as a rupicolous or epiphytic species in the Atlantic Forest domain ( Leme & Siqueira-Filho 2006).

According to the criteria “B1a” and “B2a” adopted by IUCN (2010), A. avaldoana can be considered a critically endangered species.

Etymology:––This new species honors one of its collectors, the botanist Avaldo Soares from Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, whose personal efforts have substantially contributed to the knowledge of the Caatinga vegetation flora.

Observations:––This new species is closely related to A. catendensis , differing from it by the shorter but wider leaf blades (45–50 × 7.5–8 cm vs. 55–120 × 6 cm), longer inflorescence (42–50 cm vs. 18–28 cm long), which distinctly exceeds the leaves (vs. shorter than the leaves), reflexed primary bracts (vs. erect to suberect) and laxly arranged primary branches at the base(vs. densely arranged), smaller floral bracts (6–10 × 4–6.5 mm vs. 16–20 × 7–8 mm), sessile flowers (vs. pedicellate), suborbiculate sepals (vs. obovate) which are broader (11–12 mm vs. 7–8 mm wide) and by the denticulate-lacerate petal appendages apex (vs. entire).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aechmea avaldoana (Reis Jr. & Soares s.n). A. Habit. B. Details of the immature infructescence. C. Basal branches of the inflorescence and flowers. D. The botanist Avaldo Soares and the rupicolous habit of the new species.

FIGURE 3. A–D. Aechmea avaldoana (Reis Jr. & Soares s.n). A. Apex of the leaf. B. Basal margin of the leaf blade. C. Flower. D. sepal. E–I. Aechmea gregaria (Leme 8761 et al.). E. Apex of the leaf blade. F. Floral bracts. G. Flower. H. Sepal. I. Petal. J–S. Aechmea timida (Leme 8664 et al.). J. Apex of the leaf. K. Basal margin of the leaf blade. L. Frontal-abaxial view of the floral bract. M. Lateral view of the floral bract. N. Flower. O. Sepal. P. Petal with 2 stamens. Q. Blade of the stigma. R. Lateral view of the anther. S. Frontal view of the anther.