Capsicum benoistii Hunz. ex Barboza, 2019

Barboza, Gloria E., García, Carolina Carrizo, González, Segundo Leiva, Scaldaferro, Marisel & Reyes, Ximena, 2019, Four new species of Capsicum (Solanaceae) from the tropical Andes and an update on the phylogeny of the genus, PLoS ONE (e 0209792) 14 (1), pp. 1-26 : 4-7

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0209792
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13326488
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F887D6-FFBB-FFFA-307E-F9486265F950
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Capsicum benoistii Hunz. ex Barboza
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Capsicum benoistii Hunz. ex Barboza View in CoL , sp. nov.

[ urn:lsid:ipni.org:names: 77192556–1]. Type: Ecuador. Tungurahua: Baños , 3 Apr 1931 (fl), M. R. Benoist 4204 (holotype, P) .

Fig 1 View Fig 1

Diagnosis. Similar to Capsicum geminifolium (Dammer) Hunz. but differing in the length of the flowering pedicels, the shape of the corolla, and the presence of heterostylous flowers.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209792.g001

Description. Shrubs few branched. Young stems light brown, glabrous or pubescent, striate; bark of older stems dark brown, glabrous, striate; lenticels absent. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate, leaf pair markedly anisophyllous in size and shape. Leaves simple, membranaceous, discolorous, adaxial surface dark green, abaxial surface light green, glabrous or with simple antrorse trichomes 0.3–1.1 mm long adaxially and abaxially, trichomes more abundant on main veins; the larger leaves with blades 8.5–12 cm long, 2.8–6 cm wide, ovate or elliptic, major veins 4–5 (6) on each side of midvein, base asymmetric and attenuate, margin entire, apex long-acuminate; petioles 0.5–1.0 cm long, glabrous or glabrescent with trichomes like those of the leaves; the minor leaves 2.4–6 cm long, 1.7–4 cm wide, ovate or elliptic, major veins 3–4 on each side of midvein, base rounded, asymmetric, margin entire, apex acute or rounded; petioles 0.1–1 cm long, glabrescent or pubescent. Flowers in fascicles of 3–6; flowering pedicels filiform, striate, pendent, not geniculate at anthesis, 1.3–2 cm long, moderately to densely pubescent, the trichomes simple, non-glandular, multicellular, antrorse, 0.30–0.75 mm long. Flower buds ovoid. Calyx 2–2.5 mm long, ca. 5 mm wide, cup-shaped, thick, the margin truncate, pubescent with the same trichomes as pedicels, with 5 appendages 2.5–3.5 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide, thick, erect, subulate, inserted close to the margin, pubescent with the same trichomes as calyx tube. Corolla ca. 12–13 mm long, deeply stellate, thick, without interpetalar tissue; tube ca. 3 mm long, glabrous inside and outside; lobes ca. 9 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, narrowly triangular, erect, glabrous adaxially and abaxially, the tips and margins pubescent. Stamens 5, equal, filaments equal, 3–3.2 mm long, glabrous, inserted on the corolla 1.5 mm from the base, with inconspicuous auricles at point of insertion; anthers ca. 3 mm long, not connivent, elliptic. Ovary 1.3–1.7 mm long, 1.2–1.5 mm diam, subglobose, glabrous; nectary ca. 0.3 mm long, inconspicuous; long style ca. 6.5 mm long, short style ca. 3.6 mm long, widening distally, glabrous; stigma 0.3 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, globose. Berry unknown.

Distribution and ecology. Endemic to a restricted area in central-southern Ecuador (Tungurahua, Loja, Fig 2 View Fig 2 ) growing in thickets in montane forests, between 1500–2600 m elevation.

Phenology. Flowering from March to May. Fruiting time unknown.

Etymology —The new species is named in honor to Raymond Benoist (1881–1970), a French botanist, who collected in French Guyana, Morocco and Ecuador; the holotype is a nice specimen collected by her in 1931.

Species Conservation Assessment. Following the IUCN Red List Criteria (IUCN 2017), this species is proposed as Endangered ( EN). The extent of occurrence is calculated to be 2050 km 2 (Criterion B1 <5000 km 2, Endangered), the area of occupancy, 12 km 2 (Criterion

B2 <500 km 2, Endangered) and the species is known from only three localities (Criterion

B1a � 5, Endangered). It is possible that its geographic range has declined (EOO and AOO, Criterion B2b i & ii) because the species has not been collected since 1978 despite recent intensive searches in the same locations.

Additional specimens examined. ECUADOR. Loja: Pueblo Nuevo , 04˚05’51’’S, 79˚ 11’55’’W, 2580 m, 21 May 1978 (fl), F. Vivar & Estudiantes 1066 (LOJA) ; Tungurahua: Río Verde Grande , 1500 m, 30 Mar 1956 (fl), E. Asplund 20070 (S) .

Capsicum benoistii was identified as a new species by the late Solanaceae specialist Armando T. Hunziker ( CORD) who annotated the epithet name benoistii on the specimen housed at P (Benoist 4204), but this name was never published. It is a poorly known species collected only three times in Ecuador; none of these collections have fruits. Extensive recent field explorations in Tungurahua were unsuccessful in finding this species. It is distinctive in its deeply lobed stellate corolla (lobes three times longer than the tube, Fig 1B View Fig 1 ) and in the presence of heterostylous flowers ( Fig 1G and 1H View Fig 1 ). These features plus the short flowering pedicels (1.3–2 cm long) distinguish C. benoistii from C. geminifolium , which has funnel-shaped corollas lobed about halfway, homostylous flowers, and longer pedicels (5 cm long).

The presence of heterostylous flowers as in C. benoistii is unusual among Capsicum species. It has been reported in C. baccatum L. varieties: var. baccatum [ 29] and var. umbilicatum (Vell.) Hunz. & Barboza [ 30, 31], and observed in other species ( C. tovarii Eshbaugh, P.G.Sm. & Nickrent and C. pubescens Ruiz & Pav., Barboza pers. obs.). This character deserves careful field observations to ascertain if short-styled flowers produce fruits.

As some data are still unknown (e.g. corolla color, fruit and seed characters, and chromosome number) for this species and freshly collected leaf material is not available for DNA extraction, we cannot suggest in which of the different clades of the current phylogeny of Capsicum [ 1] it could be placed.