Xenophyllum lorochaqui J.Calvo & V.A.Funk, 2020

Calvo, Joel & Funk, Vicki A., 2020, Two new species of the Andean genus Xenophyllum (Senecioneae, Compositae), PhytoKeys 139, pp. 29-38 : 29

2. Xenophyllum lorochaqui J.Calvo & V.A.Funk sp. nov. Fig. 4

Diagnosis.

Xenophyllum lorochaqui can be identified by the glabrous erect stems 10-20 cm tall, which usually only bear leaves on the upper part, leaf laminas 7.9-11.5 mm long, leaf apex 3-notched with the central lobe entire or barely notched and longer than the lateral ones, involucres with ca. 13 involucral bracts, and by displaying 26-39 ray florets with white corollas.

Type.

Argentina. Catamarca: El Cajón, Negroara, [26°24'S, 66°22'W], 15 Jan 1914, L. Castillón 3365 (holotype: LIL-26677!; isotypes: BM s.n.!, BR s.n.!, US barcode 00622893!, W-334!).

Description.

Suffruticose plants, forming clumps of erect stems, 10-20 cm tall. Rhizomes 5-10 cm long, 0.6-0.8 cm in diam., horizontal to oblique, glabrous. Stems branched, glabrous, usually only bearing leaves on the upper part. Leaves simple, alternate, imbricate, prolonged into a sheath-like base glabrescent or with evanescent arachnoid trichomes; leaf laminas linear, broadened upward, 7.9-11.5 mm long, 2.3-2.7 mm wide, entire, 3-notched at the apex, with the central lobe longer than lateral ones, conduplicate upward in cross section, glabrous, unconspicuously nerved on both faces, fleshy, matte; central leaf lobe 1.0-1.6 mm long (lateral ones 0.5-0.8 mm long), 1.3-1.6 mm wide at the maximum width point, entire or notched, obtuse. Capitula radiate, solitary, terminal, erect, sessile. Involucres 10.3-10.9 mm long, 6.6-8.7 mm wide, cupuliform, with bracts fused at the base, glabrous; involucral bracts ca. 13, 5.9-7.0 mm long, 1.4-2.5 mm wide at the base, obtuse at the apex, greenish; without supplementary bracts. Ray florets 26-39, corollas 8.3-9.2 mm long, 1.1-1.4 mm wide, 4-veined, subentire to 3-toothed at the apex, conspicuously surpassing the involucre, white. Disc florets 40-57, corollas 4.2-5.5 mm long, 5-lobed, yellowish; style branches truncate with a crown of sweeping hairs, yellowish; anther bases auriculate; anther appendages two times longer than wide, ca. 0.5 × 0.2 mm. Achenes 2.5-3.1 mm long, 0.7-0.9 mm wide, cylindrical, 8-9-ribbed, glabrous; pappus 4.3-6.1 mm long, barbellate, whitish. Chromosome number unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Endemic to northwestern Argentina (provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, and Tucumán) (Fig. 3 ). It grows in exposed rocky slopes and bare soils of the dry Puna ecoregion, between elevations of 3500-5000 m.

Phenology.

Flowering from January to March.

Etymology.

The epithet lorochaqui is the vernacular name of this plant as it was stated on the labels of the collections made by the Argentinian botanist León Castillón (pupil of botanist Miguel Lillo). It means parrot’s foot referring to the leaf shape. The Spanish word “loro” means “parrot” and derives from “roro”, used by some Taíno peoples and presumably adopted by the Spaniards during the colonization. On the other hand, “chaqui” is a Quichuan word meaning “foot”.

Discussion.

Xenophyllum lorochaqui is morphologically close to X. incisum (Phil.) V.A.Funk, X. dactylophyllum (Sch.Bip.) V.A.Funk, and X. poposa (Phil.) V.A.Funk, and it partially overlaps its distribution area with X. incisum and X. poposa . The differences against X. incisum are the leaf lamina length (3.2-7.3 mm vs. 7.9-11.5 mm in X. lorochaqui ), the length of the leaf apex lobes (similar vs. central lobe longer than lateral ones in X. lorochaqui ), the involucre length (6.4-8.3 mm vs 10.3-10.9 mm in X. lorochaqui ), the involucral bract number (ca. 8 vs. ca. 13 in X. lorochaqui ), and the ray floret number (8-13 vs. 26-39 in X. lorochaqui ). Xenophyllum incisum , moreover, is a species restricted to the banks of the salt lagoons and plains with a certain humidity of the desertic Puna ecoregion. With regard to X. dactylophyllum , the leaf apex shape let anyone readily discriminate from one another. In this latter species, it is ca. 9-divided (finger-like) with the primary division extending deeper than the subsequent ones, whereas in X. lorochaqui the leaf apex is 3-notched with the central lobe longer than lateral ones. Xenophyllum dactylophyllum is distributed from central Peru to central Bolivia. Some useful characters to differentiate the new species from X. poposa are the stem indumentum (arachnoid vs. glabrous in X. lorochaqui ), the leaf lamina length (2.5-6.1 mm vs. 7.9-11.5 mm in X. lorochaqui ), the involucral bract number (8-9 vs. ca. 13 in X. lorochaqui ), and the ray floret number (8-11 vs. 26-39 in X. lorochaqui ).

It is important to bring to light some considerations that previous botanists made regarding the identification of this species. The Argentinian D. Rodríguez identified it in sched. as " Werneria incisa Phil. vel aff.!" ( Werneria incisa or similar [≡ X. incisum ]), and annotated "f. foliis triplo longioribus" (leaves three times longer); see Rodríguez 1382. This latter remark perfectly matches one of the aforementioned characters that discriminates X. lorochaqui from X. incisum . On the other hand, L. Castillón identified his own collection as " Werneria dactylophylla Wedd. aff.", which also reveals the failure of providing an accurate identification; see Castillón 3365. Later, Cabrera (1948) and Freire and Ariza-Espinar (2014) placed the collection Rodríguez 1382 under the varietal name X. incisum var. pubescens (Rockh.) Cabrera & S.E.Freire.

On an orthographic note, it is important to state that the epithets lorochaqui and poposa respond to the respective vernacular names of these species, and therefore, they are nouns in apposition not to be declined.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes).

Argentina. Jujuy: Tumbaya, cerro Moreno, 23°46'S, 65°44'W, 7 Feb 1929, S. Venturi 9289 (US barcode 00622892); Salta: Cafayate, sierra de los Quilmes, 26°11'S, 66°4'W, 28 Jan 1943, A. Castellanos s.n. (BA-47088); abra del Gallo, ca. 40 km al SW de S. Antonio de los Cobres, en el camino a Pastos Grandes, 24°20'S, 66°30'W, 17 Dec 1946, A. Krapovickas 3215 (LIL-433562, SI s.n.); nevado del Cajón [sierra de Quilmes], 26°8'S, 66°13'W, 1 Mar 1914, D. Rodríguez 1382 (BA-25293, BR s.n.); Tucumán: cerro Muñoz, 26°52'S, 65°50'W, Jan 1916, L. Castillón s.n. (BR s.n. [mixed with X. poposa , individual on the bottom]); Tafí, cumbres de San José (La Mina), 26°41'S, 65°40'W, Mar 1933, Díaz s.n. (GH s.n., LIL-58643); Tafí, cumbre de Chasquivil, 26°41'S, 65°40'W, 12 Jan 1945, D. Olea 252 (LIL-122530); Chicligasta, estancia Las Rosas, 15 Jan 1927, S. Venturi 6342 (US barcode 00622889); Tafí, sierra del Cajón [sierra de Quilmes], Los Chuscos, 7 Feb 1926, S. Venturi 6647 (US barcode 00622888).

Figures

Figure 3. Distribution map of Xenophyllum funkianum (left hand) and X. lorochaqui (right hand).

Figure 4. Xenophyllum lorochaqui A habit B stem apical part with capitulum C adaxial leaf surface (left hand) and vertical leaf profile (right hand) D capitulum E ray floret with achene (pappus removed and not drawn) F disc floret without pappus and achene G stamen H style. A, B drawn from Diaz s. n. (GH) and C-H from Castellanos s. n. (BA). Illustration by Alice Tangerini.