Fosterella lilliputiana Leme & Forzza, 2019

Leme, Elton M. C., Forzza, Rafaela C., Halbritter, Heidemarie & Ribeiro, Otávio B. C., 2019, Contribution to the study of the genus Fosterella (Bromeliaceae: Pitcairnioideae) in Brazil, Phytotaxa 395 (3), pp. 137-167 : 154-156

5. Fosterella lilliputiana Leme & Forzza , sp. nov. ( figs. 11 A to F)

Diagnosis:—This new species is similar to F. hatschbachii , differing from it by its distinctly smaller size (8–35 cm vs. 42–75 cm high), shorter and narrower leaf blades (13–20 × 0.5–2 cm vs. 25–50 × 1.6–3.7 cm), leaf blades sparsely villous to subdensely tomentose with multifilamentous-stellate trichomes, type IV on the abaxial surface (vs. densely white tomentose with subpeltate, long filamentous trichomes, type V), the inner leaf blades with the margins densely lepidote with multifilamentous-stellate trichomes (vs. margins glabrous or with peltate, long dentate trichomes), shorter peduncle (5–17 cm vs. 20–38 cm long), shorter inflorescence (2.5–14 cm vs. 12–30 cm), simple or with no more than second order branches (vs. up to third or fourth order branches), and by the shorter primary branches (2–10 cm vs. 6–16 cm long).

Type:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso: Chapada dos Guimarães, on sandstone walls on plateau border, 13 February 1975, G. Hatschbach, W. Anderson, R. Barneby & B. Gates 36110 (holotype MBM!).

Description:— Plants acaulescent, flowering 8–35 cm tall, propagating by basal shoots. Leaves 8–15 in number, all alike, fasciculate, subspreading, drying out toward the base during anthesis, distinctly shorter than the peduncle; sheath inconspicuous, subreniform, 7–10 × 10–12 mm, membranaceous, distinctly nerved, greenish, abaxially and distally white tomentose with multifilamentus-stellate trichomes, adaxially glabrous, margins bearing coarse, filamentous-stellate white trichomes; blade narrowly narrowly lanceolate, inconspicuously if at all narrowed at the base, thin in texture throughout, nearly flat, without any thicker channel or bearing a narrow thicker channel toward the base in humid periods, apex slenderly caudate, 3–20 × 0.5–2 cm, green, finely nerved, abaxially sparsely villous to subdensely white tomentose with multifilamentous-stellate trichomes (type IV), adaxially the outer ones glabrous and the inner ones sparsely but distinctly white tomentose, margins entire, undulate, densely white tomentose with filamentous trichomes mainly in the inner leaves. Peduncle erect, 5–17 cm long, 1–1.5 mm in diameter, yellowish-green to bronze colored, glabrous; peduncle bracts 3–20 × 1–2 mm, with an ovate base and a long filiform (the basal ones) to narrowly lanceolate (the upper ones) blade, erect, membranaceous, paleaceous, green to reddish, nerved, bearing multifilamentous-stellate trichomes (the basal ones, also the margins) to glabrous (the upper ones), margins entire, all longer than the internodes or the upper ones distinctly shorter than the internodes. Inflorescence simple, racemose to shortly paniculate erect, 2.5–14 cm long, to 13 cm in diameter; main axis slender, ca. 1 mm in diameter, glabrous, green to pale bronze colored; primary bracts resembling the upper peduncle bracts, entire, 3–12 × 1–1.5 mm, distinctly shorter than the stipe; primary branches the lateral ones 1–5 (– 10 in cultivation) in number, suberect-ascending, laxly arranged, 2–10 cm long, 2–20- flowered, the terminal one (or when the inflorescence simple) 2.5–13 cm long, bearing 4–25 flowers; stipe slender, 8–20 × 1 mm, naked; rachis ca. 1 mm in diameter, nearly straight, greenish to pale bronze colored, glabrous; floral bracts ovate-lanceolate and acuminate (basal ones) to broadly ovate and acute (upper ones), 1.5–3 × 1 mm, entire, membranaceous, greenish to reddish, glabrous, equaling (basal ones) to shorter than the pedicel (upper ones). Flowers 8–10 mm long (with extended petals), 3–8 mm apart, nutant-secund mainly after anthesis; pedicel 1.5–3 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter, strongly curved downward; sepals broadly ovate, acute to subacute, 2.5–3 × 1.5 mm, greenish except for the reddish apex, glabrous, concave, membranaceous; petals narrowly oblong-lanceolate, narrowly obtuse, 7–8 × 2 mm, recurved at anthesis but not recoiled, greenish near the base and whitish toward the apex, membranaceous, naked; stamens distinctly shorter than the petals, but exposed at anthesis; anther narrowly oblong, 2–2.5 mm long, dorsifixed near the base, base bilobed, apex distinctly apiculate, distinctly recurved to recoiled at anthesis; pollen ellipsoid, yellow, sulcate, sulcus margins more or less well defined but not sharply cut, without a distinct entire marginal area, exine perforate to microreticulate; ovary ovoid, obtuse, green; ovules subcylindrical, long caudate; style slightly shorter than the petals to equaling them; stigma simple-erect with tendency to conduplicate, white, distinctly exceeding the anthers, lobes short, suberect, margins crenulate. Capsules oblong-ovoid, apex broadly acute, greenish to pale castaneous, ca. 3 × 2 mm; seeds narrowly fusiform, terete, filiform bicaudate, ca. 2 mm long.

Additional specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso: Chapada dos Guimarães, on vertical sandstone outcrops near Rio Sete de Setembro banks, 750–800 m elev., 11 November 2006, E. Leme & S. Gonzalez 6970 (HB) ; Cachoeirinha , próximo de Água Fria, 20 October 1995, G. Hatschbach et al. 63638 (MBM, NY) ; Portão do Inferno , on sandstone walls, 16 November 1975, G. Hatschbach 37652 (MBM, US) ; idem, 465 m elev., 15°22’48” S, 55°51’04” W, 23 June 2007, E. Leme 7090, fl. cult. Nov. 2007 (HB) ; Portão do Céu, old road Chapada-Cuiabá , on shaded sandstone walls, 556 m elev., 15°22’04” S, 55°50’22” W, 23 June 2007, E. Leme 7096 (RB) ; Alto da Chapada dos Guimarães, near Cachoeira Véu de Noiva , Rio Caxipozinho , 15°30’ S, 55°45’ W, 21 October 1985, J.R. Pirani 1313 (INPA, US) ; Alto do Céu to Ninho das Águias , on shaded sandstone walls, 707 m elev., 15°29’05” S, 55°48’99” W, 23 June 2007, E. Leme 7100, fl. cult. Nov. 2007 (HB) ; on sandstone rocks, disturbed forest on south slope of Chapada dos Guimarães, 5 km E of the town, on road to Embratel , ca. 720 m elev., 24 October 1973, G.T. Prance et al. 19368 (INPA, K, NY, U, US) .

Distribution and habitat:—This new species is endemic to Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso state, where it grows on vertical sandstone outcrops ( figs. 11 A, B, C ), in shaded or partially shaded sites inside the forest, nearby or along rivers and waterfalls, at 465–800 m elevation. It forms small groups of numerous plants that in the driest season are difficult to locate due to the leaves that dry toward the base, causing the leaf rosettes to almost disappear.

Etymology:—The name of this species is based on the word “Lilliput”, a fictitious island populated by tiny people in the novel “ Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships ”, better known simply as “ Gulliver’s Travels ” by Irish writer Jonathan Swift, being a reference to the distinctly small stature of F. lilliputiana .

Observations:— This new species is closely related to F. hatschbachii , differing from it by the distinct smaller size of the plants (8–35 cm vs. 42–75 cm high), leaf blades shorter and narrower (13–20 × 0.5–2 cm vs. 25–50 × 1.6–3.7 cm). Using the terminology proposed by Peters (2009) for Fosterella trichomes, the abaxial portion of the leaf blades of this new species is white villous or tomentose with multifilamentous-stellate trichomes (vs. tomentose with subpeltate, long filamentous trichomes). It is important to mention that Peters (2009) reported “stellate trichomes” for F. hatschbachii but this character was observed by her on the specimens from Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso (i.e. F. lilliputiana ), which she examined, while the specimen of F. hatschbachii from the holotype locality (i.e., Piraputanga, Mato Grosso do Sul), were only examined by her by means of photographs. Other differences of F. lilliputiana when compared to F. hatschbachii are the inner leaf blades with margins densely lepidote with multifilamentous-stellate trichomes (vs. margins glabrous or with peltate, long dentate trichomes), shorter peduncle (5–17 cm vs. 20–38 cm long), inflorescence simple or with no more than second order branches (vs. up to third or fourth order branches), and shorter (2.5–14 cm vs. 12–30 cm), and by the shorter primary branches (2–10 cm vs. 6–16 cm long).

In cultivation, both species become proportionally larger when fertilized, keeping however the distinctiveness.

Fosterella lilliputiana lives in higher altitude areas when compared to F. hatschbachii , which can be found in distinctly lower elevated habitats, 200–250 m, in Mato Grosso do Sul state.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Fosterella lilliputiana from Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso: A–B. Flowering individuals at the Sete de Setembro river banks (Leme 6970). C–D. Individuals fromAlto do Céu to Ninho das Águias (Leme 7100). C. Mature and juvenile sterile specimens. D. Habit. E–F. Specimen from Portão do Céu, old road Chapada dos Guimarães to Cuiabá (Leme 7096. E. Flower details. F. Trichomes along the margins of the inner leaf blades.