Tillandsia ertonii E.H.Souza & Leme, 2022

Souza, Everton Hilo De, Cavalcante, Brayan P., França, Rivã Ribeiro Do N., Aona, Lidyanne Y. S., Souza, Fernanda V. D. & Leme, Elton M. C., 2022, Two New Species of Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae: Tillandsioideae) from Brazil, Phytotaxa 560 (1), pp. 93-103 : 94-99

Tillandsia ertonii E.H.Souza & Leme , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2A–C , 3A–G , 4 ).

Diagnosis:— This new species is morphologically similar to Tillandsia burle-marxii , but can be distinguished from it by its shorter peduncle (3.2–4 cm long vs. 5 cm long), slightly exceeding the leaves (vs. distinctly exceeding the leaves), greenish-pink floral bracts (vs. greenish-yellow), petals smaller (1.5–1.7 × 0.3-0.4 cm vs. 2–2.3 × 0.5–0.65 cm) and light blue (vs. whitish), smaller ovary (2–2.1 × 1.5–1.8 mm vs. 4–4.5 × 2.5 mm), and subglobose ovary (vs. ovoid).

Type:— BRAZIL. Pernambuco: Belo Jardim, Serra dos Ventos, 25 October 2020, E. H. Souza 1111 & I. B. Lira & E. M. Almeida (holotype HURB) .

Plant rupiculous, heliophyte, caulescent, forming clumps, 15–18 cm long, 0.9–1.1 cm in diameter; stem curved, 0.2–0.3 cm in diameter, internodes 0.5–1 mm long. Leaves 3.2–4.8 cm long, 150–185 in number, imbricate, erect to suberect, cinereous lepidote on both sides, trichomes partially to completely obscuring the green color of the leaves; sheath slightly distinct from the blade, broadly elliptic, 0.5–0.8 × 0.7–0.9 cm, pale-green, whitish lepidote to glabrous; blade narrowly triangular, attenuate-caudate, 2.9–4 × 0.2–0.35 cm. Peduncle 3.2–4 cm long, 0.2–0.35 cm in diameter, slightly exceeding the leaves, pale greenish, slender, completely covered by the peduncle bracts, lepidote to glabrous; peduncle bracts 3–4 in number, partially imbricate, not completely concealing the peduncle, the basal ones foliaceous, 2.5–2.9 × 0.5–0.7 cm, the distal ones caudate, 1.6–1.9 × 0.4–0.6 cm. Inflorescence (fertile portion) a simple spike, fusiform, 2.1–3 × 1.3–1.5 cm, with 2–3 flowers, 0.5–0.8 cm apart, ascending or horizontal oriented. Floral bracts ovate to elliptic, the proximal ones acuminate, the distal ones acute, 1.2–1.5 × 0.6–0.9 cm, greenish-pink, distinctly exceeding the sepals, nerved, membranaceous, ecarinate, glabrous on both sides. Flowers sessile, polystichously arranged, 2–2.3 cm long; sepals lanceolate, acute, 0.7–1 × 0.3–0.4 cm, pale green, membranaceous, inconspicuously nerved, the adaxial ones connate for 2/3 of their length, glabrous; petals spathulate, 1.5–1.7 × 0.3–0.4 cm, rounded, free, the blade spreading to reflexed, light blue. Stamens included, 0.9–1 cm long; filament flattened, flaccid, plicate in the middle region, sublinear, whitish, slightly translucent, free; anther yellowish, 2–3 × 0.25–0.3 mm, basifixed. Pistil equaling the stamens; ovary pale greenish, subglobose, 2–2.1 × 1.5–1.8 mm; style erect, whitish, 0.7–0.8 mm long, 0.3–0.4 mm in diameter; stigma simple-erect. Capsules and seeds not seen.

Etymology:— The specific epithet honors the Agronomist, botanist, researcher and conservation enthusiast Dr. Erton Mendonça de Almeida, who provided the information that allowed us to locate the remaining population of this new species.

Phenology:— The blooming season starts in September and extends to November.

Distribution and habit:— Tillandsia ertonii was found growing saxicolous on an inselberg in the Caatinga domain, close to Belo Jardim municipality, Pernambuco state ( Fig. 1 ). The inselberg is located on the Borborema Plateau and in the Capibaribe River basin, at an average altitude of 636 m, reaching 1,195 m at Pico da Boa Vista. The municipality belongs to the Mesoregion of Agreste Pernambucano and to the Microregion of Vale do Ipojuca, and is characterized by the prevailing caatinga vegetation and the presence of several inselbergs, despite some patches of Atlantic forest are observed in the highest parts of the municipality. The population of T. ertonii grows on the most vertical part of the rock, fully sun exposed, without any organic substrate. The populations are composed of densely aggregated specimens, forming clumps of many individuals of different stages of development.

Conservation status:— Tillandsia ertonii is an endemic species of Pernambuco state and has a restricted area of occurrence, living exclusively on this inselberg, being surrounded by deforested area, not protected by any conservation unity. Besides periodical fires, criminal extractivism for regional and international illegal trade are the main causes that seriously affect the existence of this and other species.

Based on the IUCN criteria and the limited geographic range of the species, the GeoCAT (geocat.kew.org) evaluated that the area of occupancy (AOO) is 0,367 km ², classifying the species as critically endangered [CR B2ab (i, ii, iii, iv)], threatened by habitat fragmentation and fast population decline.

Observations:— Tillandsia ertonii belongs to subgenus Anoplophytum and is morphologically related to T. burlemarxii Ehlers (1994: 74) and T. araujei Mez (1894: 600) . In relation to T. burle-marxii , this new species differs mainly by the green leaves (vs. grey), the shorter peduncle, slightly exceeding the leaves, greenish-pink floral bracts, smaller flowers with light blue petals, and suborbicular ovary (see Table 1 , fig. 4).

It is important to note that the locality of occurrence of T. burle-marxii is not known. It was originally described from Bahia, without further details, it is only known from the holotype specimen. Initially, in an attempt to locate the collecting site of T. burle-marxii , we did discover T. ertonii , which was identified as T. burle-marxii by the collector E.M. Almeida in 2016. On the basis of the field information, a specific field mission was carried out to collect this plant, supposed to be T. burle-marxii , which would extend its range to the state of Pernambuco. Surprisingly, we verified that the visited population in Pernambuco, which is restricted to a difficult-to-reach area, presented distinct morphological characteristics when compared to T. burle-marxii (see diagnose), justifying to describe it as a new species.

Tillandsia ertonii can also be confused with T. araujei , an endemic species from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo ( Tardivo et al. 2020), but this new species is clearly distinct by the narrower plant habit 0.9–1.1 cm in diameter (vs. 1.1–1.5 cm), erect-suberect leaf orientation (vs. unilaterally secund), shorter inflorescence (2.1–3 cm long vs. 3–5 cm long) and peduncle length (3.2–4 cm long vs. 4–6 cm long), fewer flowers (2–3 vs. 5–12), shorter flowers (2–2.3 cm long vs.> 3 cm long), shorter petals (1.5–1.7 cm long vs. 2–3 cm long), shorter sepals (0.7–1 cm long vs. 1.2–1.5 cm long), subglobose ovary (vs. ovoid), and light blue petals (vs. white), among other traits ( Table 1 , fig. 4).

We observed further six species of Tillandsia living sympatrically with T. ertonii , such as T. gardneri var. rupicola E.Pereira (Pereira & Moutinho-Neto, 1981: 214), T. tenuifolia var. nigrifolia Gouda (2017: 22) both of subg. Anoplophytum , T. polystachia ( Linnaeus 1753: 286) Linnaeus (1762: 410) of subg. Tillandsia , T. streptocarpa Baker (1887: 241) of subg. Phytarrhiza , and T. recurvata ( Linnaeus 1753: 287) Linnaeus (1762: 410) and T. usneoides ( Linnaeus 1753: 287) Linnaeus (1762: 411) both of subg. Diaphoranthema . Other bromeliad species registered in forest fragments of the same inselberg are Aechmea leptantha ( Harms [1929: 789]) Leme & Siqueira ( Siqueira-Filho & Leme, 2006: 213), Dyckia pernambucana Smith (1970: 179) , Encholirium pernambucanum Smith & Read (1990: 302) , Hohenbergia catingae Ule (1908: 195) , Orthophytum disjunctum Smith (1955: 180) , and Vriesea limae Smith (1970: 181) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Tillandsia ertonii and T. nathanii, endemic to Brazil. Photo map: Made with Qgis software and species photos: E. H.Souza.

FIGURE 2. A–C: Inselberg where Tillandsia ertonii was found in Belo Jardim, Pernambuco, Brazil. A: Habitat, a steep face of granitic outcrop. B: Collecting the species showing the difficulty. C: Natural population showing the clumps of the species. D: Overview of the granitic outcrop where Tillandsia nathanii was found in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. E: Close up of a few plants on the granite. F: A collected plant of the species. Photos: A–C: E. M. Almeida; D–E: N. M. G. David.

FIGURE 3. A–G: Tillandsia ertonii. A: Habit. B: Leaf. C: Inflorescence. D: Floral bract. E: Flower. F: Petal detail. G: Androecium (partially)and Gynoecium.H–N: T.nathanii.H: Habit.I: Leaf.J: Inflorescence.N: Floral bract.K: Flower. L:Petal detail.M:Androecium (partially) and Gynoecium. Bars:A = 1.8 cm; B, C, J, K = 1.2 cm, D = 1.5 cm; E, I, N = 1 cm; F, L = 0.5 cm, G, L = 0.2 cm; H = 0.8 cm; M = 0.3 cm. (Drawing: B. P. Cavalcante).

FIGURE 4. Tillandsia ertonii. A: Habit. B: Leafs in adaxial and abaxial view. C: detail of flowering shoot. D: Inflorescence including peduncle. E: Inflorescence fertile part. F: Flower with floral bract. G: Peduncle bracts. H: Floral bracts. I: Petals. J: Sepals. K: Stamens. L: Gynoecium. Photos: E. H. Souza. Bars: A = 2.5 cm; C = 1.5 cm; B, D, I-J, K = 5 mm; E-H = 1 cm; L = 2 mm.