Anthurium cachoeirense Theófilo & Sakur., 2015

Valadares, Rodrigo Theófilo & Sakuragui, Cassia Mônica, 2015, A new species of Anthurium Schott (Araceae) in a seasonal semideciduous forest in Espírito Santo State, Brazil, Phytotaxa 217 (1), pp. 80-86 : 81-85

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.217.1.7
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D8D341-FF83-FFDC-FDB7-F8D8FEC4FC41
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Anthurium cachoeirense Theófilo & Sakur.
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Anthurium cachoeirense Theófilo & Sakur. View in CoL sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 )

Anthurium cachoeirense View in CoL is most similar to Anthurium molle Gonçalves & Jardim (2009: 715) View in CoL , but differs by having much more primary lateral veins (28–31 pairs) and by the spathe’s shape ovate to lanceolate.

Type: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo, Município de Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (41°07’28”W; 20°46’03”S), 16 January 2013, R.T. Valadares GoogleMaps

1.117 ( holotype: RB!; isotype: VIES!) .

Terrestrial; stem elongated and erect; internodes 0.5–0.7 cm long; prophylls and cataphylls greenish when young, brownish when old, slightly decomposed to decomposed in fibers at the apex, decomposed into fibers at the stem base, 2.4–3.9 cm long; sheath 1.3–1.5 cm long; petiole 7.5–8.2 × 0.50–0.55 cm, green covered with white speckles, sulcate adaxially with acute margins, rounded abaxially; geniculum greenish, thicker than the petiole, slightly grooved with sharp acute adaxially, rounded abaxially, 0.8–0.9 cm long; blade elliptical to lanceolate, subchartaceous, drying chartaceous, apex acute, base obtuse to truncated, greenish, shiny on both sides, strongly contrasting colors on the two surfaces, upper surface dark-green, lower surface light green, 39.5–41.5 × 9.8–11.0 cm; midrib flat adaxially at proximal direction becoming prominent and rounded at distal direction, acute abaxially at proximal direction becoming prominent and rounded at distal direction, lighter as the blade adaxially; primary lateral veins obscure or barely visible adaxially, darker than the blade abaxially, drying prominent, little differentiated from the finer veins, 28–31 on each side, forming an angle of 18–35° at the base of the blade and towards the middle, 32–45° at the apex, infra-marginal collective vein starting from the leaf base or, more rarely up to 4.3 cm above it, 0.4–1.0 cm from margin; peduncle 1–2-carinate, green covered with white speckles, 23.1–31.1 × 0.35–0.40 cm; spathe membranaceous, greenish with purplish hues, boat-shaped, deflexed at anthesis, reflexed in post-anthesis, ovate to lanceolate, apex acute, forming an acute angle with the peduncle, 6.2–7.5 × 0.9–2.0 cm, decurrent 0.45–0.48 cm long; spadix sessile, rarely stipitate, greenish at anthesis, brownish in post-anthesis, cylindrical, tapered, 6.0–7.2 × 0.6–0.8 cm, stipe vinaceous, 0.2–0.3 cm long; 6–7 flowers per principal spiral and 9–10 per alternate spiral; tepals greenish until anthesis, brownish at the apex, becoming whitish towards the base post anthesis, hooded, dorsally acute, internally convex, lateral tepals 2.0–2.1 × 1.0– 1.2 mm, anterior and posterior tepals 1.9–2.0 × 0.9–1.0 mm, filaments flattened, striated, 1.4–1.5 × 1.0– 1.3 mm, anthers dorsifixed, extrorse, 0.8–0.9 x 0.4–0.6 mm, pistils greenish, cylindrical to obovoid, mesophyll with raphid cells, stigma sessile, ovary 2-locular, one ovule per locule, placentation axial, funicle glabrous, 1.8–2.4 × 1.0– 1.2 mm; infructescence unknown.

Etymology: —The epithet honors Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, the type locality of the new species.

Habitat and distribution: —The occurrence of A. cachoeirense has only been recorded for the type locality, at an altitudinal range between 300–400 m, located at latitude 20°S, in a fragment of semideciduous forest, which was once part of the extension of the Serra da Mantiqueira in this state ( Figure 3 View FIGURE 3 ). The species occurs in areas that are in an advanced stage of regeneration and can be found forming the herbaceous layer together with Marantaceae and Bromeliaceae species, as well as on exposed rocks within the forest.

Despite intense effort to collect the new species in other areas of semideciduous forest (Floresta Nacional de Pacotuba and Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Cafundó), no other populations were found.

Relationships: — Anthurium cachoeirense can be recognised as a member of the section Urospadix Engl. , subsection Obscureviridia Engl. ( Engler 1898) by the presence of a subchartaceous leaf blade and obscure to barely visible primary lateral veins.

Anthurium cachoeirense is close to A. molle Gonçalves & Jardim (2009: 715) , a restricted species of Serra do Teimoso, Bahia, which has fewer primary lateral veins and an elliptical spathe ( Table 1). It can also be confused with A. cleistanthum Barroso (1957: 97) and A. truncatum Gonçalves (2011: 115) . The former occurs in mountainous and restinga areas in the states of Bahia, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais ( Valadares et al. 2010, Coelho et al. 2014) and the latter is restricted to Espírito Santo and occurs at altitudes between 700–900 m ( Gonçalves 2011). Anthurium cachoeirense differs from both by its glossy leaves, petioles that are shorter than peduncles and two-carinate peduncles.

Conservation: —Data available for the new species are still sparse and insufficient to assess it as to their conservation status. The species is considered as Data Deficient ( IUCN 2001) until more information becomes available.

The only record for the species is within priority areas for conservation in Espírito Santo state ( Brasil 2007). Its location is close to three important areas for the state economy: the Serrana region and Flona Pacotuba-Cafundó in the North, and the Serra das Torres in the South of the type locality. In these areas, the priority action for conservation is the supervision of mining, which is responsible for much of the Espírito Santo Southern economy ( DNPM 2012). The occurrence of A. cachoeirense in limestone forests makes it fragile, due to the high demand for limestone as a constituent of cement used in construction.

Brazilian environmental legislation ( Brasil 2006) allows the removal of vegetation in cases of extraction of minerals, if it is in the public interest. Thus, based on our field observations, we suggest that this species can be used as an indicator for environmental studies and licensing processes. To contribute to its conservation, we suggest a program that prioritizes the identification of populations in the field, as well as the rescue and replanting of individuals at institutions occupied with the study of native flora, in particular the Araceae family. We emphasize that the collection efforts that focus on regional flora will continue to run in parallel and we hope to provide new population records in the near future.