Ipomoea veadeirosii J.R.I.Wood & Scotland, 2017

Wood, John R. I., Munoz-Rodriguez, Pablo, Degen, Rosa & Scotland, Robert W., 2017, New species of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) from South America, PhytoKeys 88, pp. 1-38 : 28-29

Ipomoea veadeirosii J.R.I.Wood & Scotland sp. nov. Figure 17

Diagnosis.

Ipomoea veadeirosii is a densely tomentose woody liana that appears closest to I. calyptrata Dammer because of the persistent bracteoles which are appressed to the calyx with the pedicel supressed. It differs most obviously in the glabrous corolla, near glabrous sepals and the roughly tomentose indumentum of the leaves and stem, which differs from the white tomentellous indumentum of the stem, leaves, bracteoles, sepals and corolla exterior of I. calyptrata .

Type.

BRAZIL. Goiás, Chapada dos Veadeiros, 42 km N. of Alto do Paraiso , H.S. Irwin, R.M. Harley & G.L. Smith 33148 (holotype FTG114415, isotype?NY, n.v.) .

Description.

Twining liana to c. 3 m; stem stout, somewhat woody, densely tomentose. Leaves petiolate, 5-11 × 4-9 cm, ovate, shallowly cordate to subtruncate with rounded auricles, margin undulate, apex obtuse and shortly mucronate, the mucro rather stout, adaxially yellow-green, tomentose, glabrescent when old, abaxially grey-tomentose, the veins highlighted; petioles 0.5-4 cm, tomentose. Inflorescence of flowers borne on axillary bracteate branchlets; bracts 2-2.5 × 1-1.7 cm, ovate, tomentose; cymes 1-2-flowered; peduncles 1-6 cm, tomentose; secondary peduncles pedicel-like, 0.8-1.7 cm, pubescent, more slender than primary peduncles; bracteoles 2-2.3 × 0.8-1.4 cm, narrowly elliptic, obtuse, somewhat boat-shaped, tomentose, persistent and ± clasping the calyx; pedicels 1-4 mm, glabrous; sepals subequal, 11-13 × 5-7 mm, elliptic, obtuse to rounded, outer glabrous, margins scarious; corolla 6-7 cm, narrowly funnel-shaped, glabrous, deep pink.

Distribution and habitat.

BRAZIL. Endemic to rocky cerrado (campo rupestre?) at 1250-1700 m in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Figure 9 .

Additional collection seen.

Goiás: Chapada dos Veadeiros, 25 km N of Alto Paraíso, 1700 m, W.R. Anderson et al. 6691 (FTG114414,?NY, n.v.)

Conservation status.

The two collections were made on different dates from two nearby locations. Field notes do not indicate the plant’s frequency and in the absence of other collections or any information about threats to its habitat, it can only be classified as Data Deficient (DD) within IUCN (2012) guidelines. It would be treated as a "black star" species within the classification of Hawthorne and Marshall (2016), but again this must be considered a provisional classification as no systematic search has been made for the species at the type locality or in other suitable habitats, although it must be presumed to be rare. Both recorded locations lie within the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park and enjoy legal protection.

Etymology.

This species is named after the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goiás State. It is one of the biologically richest and most important protected areas of the cerrado biome and four species described in this paper are endemic to this National Park.

Note.

Although we have not been able to sequence this species, I. veadeirosii appears to belong to a small clade consisting of I. descolei O’Donell, I. marcellia Meisn. and I. calyptrata . All these species are somewhat woody and liana-like and share a densely tomentose indumentum. The inflorescence structure, with a tendency for the inflorescence to develop on foliose branchlets, is found in a number of woody species, notably in the Arborescens clade. Ipomoea veadeirosii appears closest to I. calyptrata because of the persistent bracteoles which are appressed to the calyx with the pedicel supressed but is readily distinguished from all these species by the glabrous exterior of the corolla.

Figures

Figure 9. Map of Eastern Brazil showing distribution of I. ensiformis, I. fasciculata, I. kraholandica, I. longirostra, I. revoluta, I. scopulina, I. veadeirosii, and I. walteri.

Figure 17. Ipomoea veadeirosii. A habit B abaxial leaf surface C bracteole D outer sepal E inner sepal. Drawn by Rosemary Wise: A-B from H. S. Irwin et al. 33148, C-E from W. R. Anderson et al. 6691.