Johnstonella punensis M.G.Simpson & Munoz-Schick, 2022

Simpson, Michael G., Hasenstab-Lehman, Kristen, Mabry, Makenzie E. & Munoz-Schick, Melica, 2022, Johnstonella punensis (Boraginaceae), a new species endemic to the dry Puna of Chile, PhytoKeys 197, pp. 149-164 : 149

Johnstonella punensis M.G.Simpson & Munoz-Schick sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 (Note: all cited herbarium specimens indicate herbarium accession numbers)

Type.

Chile. Prov. de Antofagasta, Entre Calama y San Pedro de Atacama, Anual, abundante, Expedición al Desierto. 22°41.27'S, 68°28.46'W [estimated from label locality data], 2800 m elevation. 3 January 1944, C. Muñoz 3710 (holotype: SGO 119165!)

Diagnosis.

Johnstonella punensis resembles J. diplotricha and J. parviflora in having nutlets that are marginally sharp-angled, but differs in having nutlets lacking a lineate-rimmed margin and in having a surface that is dimpled to rugulose, lacking tubercles.

Description.

Plants annual herbs, base of plant sometimes woody at maturity, 10-15 cm tall. Root a taproot, not reddish. Stems with primary axis giving rise to secondary branches from base and mid-region, densely appressed-strigose only or appressed-strigulose and spreading to inclined-hispidulous, the trichomes whitish to greyish, 0.5-1.1 mm long. Leaves alternate, sessile, conduplicate, often recurved, grey-green, 8-13 × 1-2 mm, smaller above and at extreme base, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, entire, apex obtuse to rounded, both surfaces short-hirsute, trichomes ascending, basally white-pustulate on adaxial surface. Inflorescence of ca. 10-20 cymules, terminating upper lateral branches, straight at maturity, cymules 3-7 cm long in fruit, with ca. 10-20 flowers, peduncles 1-2 cm long, fruits erect to ascending, lowest fruits not touching, inflorescence bracts at cymule base and along peduncles, bracts similar to, slightly smaller than vegetative leaves. Flowers mostly, but not all, bracteate, bracts linear to narrowly elliptic, ascending, slightly conduplicate, straight to incurved, 3-10 mm long, decreasing in size towards apex. Pedicels ca. 0.5 mm long. Calyx ovoid, symmetric, ca. 2 mm long in flower, 2.5-3 mm long in fruit, deciduous at maturity, aposepalous, sepals lanceolate, apically narrowly acute, ascending to erect, straight to slightly recurved apically, mid-rib abaxially slightly thickened, margins appressed-hirsute, mid-rib inclined to spreading-hispid. Corolla white, rotate to funnelform, tube as long as calyx, limb ca. 1 mm broad. Gynobase 1.1-1.4 mm long, ca. as long as nutlet. Style ca. 0.5 mm long, extending 0.3-0.5 mm beyond nutlet apices. Nutlets 4, brown, erect, 1.1-1.5 × 0.7-0.9 mm, homomorphic or slightly heteromorphic in size only with the abaxial nutlet slightly larger and more adherent to the gynobase, all nutlets brown, generally ovate (length:width ratio ca. 1.3-1.8), very rarely lance-ovate, base rounded, margins sharp-angled but lacking a prominent lineate rim, apex acute, rounded at extreme tip, abaxially convex, adaxially concave-incurved, lacking papillae or tubercles, surface nearly smooth to dimpled or rugulose, spinal ridge absent, attachment scar ventral groove margins abutted or with one side slightly overlapping in upper two-thirds, with an open triangular areole in the lower third, margins laterally bifid at base.

Distribution and habitat.

Johnstonella punensis is endemic to Chile, ranging in elevation from ca. 2800 to 3420 m. It occurs in the south-western dry Puna region near the eastern margin of the Atacama Desert (biogeographic region after Luebert 2021; see Fig. 6 ).

Phenology.

Based on data from available specimens, Johnstonella punensis is reported to flower in January or June, the flowering time presumed to be dependent on precipitation.

Rarity and conservation status.

Johnstonella punensis is known from only six collections to date. Known populations range from near La Taira (just south of Reserva Nacional Alto Loa) south to near Cuadrilla Díaz (just southwest of Parque Nacional Llullaillaco). Based on the paucity of specimens currently known, the species is likely to be deemed Data Deficient, according to guidelines of the IUCN (2022). However, we suspect that this species may qualify as a species of elevated conservation concern ( IUCN 2022), because of its relatively narrow geographic range and limited known population sizes.

Etymology.

The specific epithet punensis means "of the Puna " (the word puna derived from Spanish via Quechua, the language of the aboriginal people of that region; Merriam-Webster.com 2022). The epithet highlights the restriction of this new species to the dry Puna biogeographic region (after Luebert 2021; Fig. 6 ).

Paratypes (arranged chronologically).

Chile. Prov. de Antofagasta, Ascotán, suelos arenosos, graníticos o volcánicos, crece bajo las rocas en lugares protegidos del viento, 21°32.87'S, 68°19.61'W [estimated from label locality data], 3970-4200 m elevation, 23-24 January 1943, E. Pisano & J. Venturelli 1738 (SGO 139111!). Prov. de Antofagasta, Socaire, suelo arenoso, en lugares secos entre las piedras, 23°35.42'S, 67°53.49'W [estimated from label locality data], 3000 m elevation, 22 February 1943, E. Pisano & J. Venturelli 1961 (SGO 138942!). Prov. de Antofagasta, Depto. El Loa, Valle río Vilama en las pendientes pedregosas en el desierto, 22°55.21'S, 68°11.43'W [estimated from label locality data], 2400 m elevation [estimated from label locality data], 9 June 1968, O. Zalensky XVII-972 (SGO 078510!). Región de Antofagasta (II), Conchi: Planta mina El Abra, Hierba perenne, flores blancas. 21°51.82'S, 68°43.11'W [estimated from label locality data], 3100 m elevation, 8 June 1995, S. Teillier 3686 (SGO 139488!). Región de Antofagasta (II), Camino Calama-Ascotán Volcán Poruña, Hierba anual, flores blancas, 21°53'S, 68°30'W, 3420 m elevation, 17 June 2000, S. Teillier 4754 (CONC 150914!) [Note: DNA was extracted from leaf material of this specimen for the studies of Simpson et al. (2017a) and Mabry and Simpson (2018)].

Figures

Figure 1. Paratype of Johnstonella punensis, sp. nov., Teillier 4754 (CONC 150914) [originally identified as Cryptantha hispida] A whole herbarium sheet B close-up of a single plant; note very small corollas and flower bracts C close-up fruit; note dense appressed-strigose along margin and spreading-hispid trichomes along mid-rib D nutlet in (left to right) dorsal, ventral and lateral views; note slightly dimpled surface.

Figure 2. Paratype of Johnstonella punensis, sp. nov., Teillier 3686 (SGO 139488) [originally identified as Cryptantha cf. phaceloides] A whole herbarium sheet B close-up of inflorescences; note very small corollas and flower bracts C close-up inflorescence axis and fruits; note dense appressed-strigose and spreading-hispidulous trichomes of axis and note bract subtending lowermost fruit D close-up of fruiting calyx, showing short, appressed hirsute trichomes along marginal surface and ascending to horizontal hispid trichomes along mid-rib, only two nutlets per fruit illustrated E fruit opened, showing gynobase, style and stigma F nutlet, in (left to right) dorsal, ventral and lateral views; note dimpled surface, narrow ventral groove with triangular areole at base and sharp-angled, but not lineate-rimmed margin.

Figure 3. Holotype of Johnstonella punensis, sp. nov., C. Munoz 3710 (SGO 119165) [originally identified as Cryptantha] A whole herbarium sheet B close-up of one plant C close-up of inflorescence cymules with fruits; note flower bracts D close-up of two fruiting calyces, showing short, appressed to ascending hirsute trichomes along marginal surface and ascending to horizontal hispid trichomes along thickened mid-rib E nutlet, in dorsal (left), ventral (middle) and lateral (right) views; note dimpled to rugulose surface and narrow ventral groove with triangular areole at base.

Figure 4. Paratype of Johnstonella punensis, sp. nov., Pisano & Venturelli 1738 (SGO 139111) A plant from herbarium sheet B nutlet, in dorsal (left), ventral (middle) and lateral (right) views; note rugulose surface, narrow ventral groove with triangular areole at base and sharp-angled margin.

Figure 5. Paratypes of Johnstonella punensis, sp. nov. A-C Pisano & Venturelli 1961 (SGO 138942) A plant from herbarium sheet B nutlet in dorsal view, showing strongly dimpled surface C fruit showing four homomorphic nutlets and elongate style D-E Zalensky XVII- 972 (SGO 078510) D plant from herbarium sheet E four nutlets of single fruit, dorsal view; note dimpled surface and slight heteromorphism, larger, more adherent nutlet at upper left.

Figure 6. A distribution map of six known type collections of Johnstonella punensis in South America, endemic to north-eastern Chile B distributions of J. punensis and of the other three species of South American Johnstonella, the latter derived from GBIF. org (2022 a, b, c) data; pertinent biogeographic regions of Luebert (2021) are overlain; note restriction of J. punensis to the western dry Puna Region C close-up of distribution of J. punensis, showing localities of six known collections (* = holotype locality); note boundary between Atacama Desert and dry Puna; all maps from Google 2021, INEGI Data.

Figure 7. A Cladograms of Johnstonella clade from Simpson et al. 2017 a, showing relationships of Teillier 4754 (CONC 150914) specimen of J. punensis (indicated with *) from analyses using sequence data of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), nuclear ribosomal DNA (nr DNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA); note that J. punensis and J. diplotricha are sister taxa in the cpDNA and mtDNA analyses, but that J. punensis forms a polytomy with J. parviflora and J. angelica in the nrDNA analysis B-J comparison of nutlet morphology of Johnstonella species occurring in South America, all shown at the same scale of magnification B-G Johnstonella punensis, nutlets dimpled to rugulose, specimen source cited B C. Munoz 3710 (SGO 119165) C Pisano & Venturelli 1961 (SGO 138942) D Zalensky XVII- 972 (SGO 078510) E Teillier 4754 (CONC 150914) F Teillier 3686 (SGO 139488) G Pisano & Venturelli 1738 (SGO 139111); H Johnstonella diplotricha, nutlets white-tuberculate, generally homomorphic, Haene 1779 (SI 47823) I Johnstonella parviflora, nutlets white-tuberculate, heteromorphic with one larger (left in dorsal view) and three smaller (one of three at right, ventral view), M. Munoz 2715 (MO 4317600) J Johnstonella albida, nutlets coarsely tuberculate, attachment scar deep, appearing excavated, Kiesling 3589 (SI 87780).