Leandra xantholasia (DC.) Cogniaux (1886: 94)

Reginato, Marcelo & Goldenberg, Renato, 2018, Taxonomic notes on Leandra (Melastomataceae, Miconieae) - II, Phytotaxa 371 (2), pp. 84-92 : 89-90

9. Leandra xantholasia (DC.) Cogniaux (1886: 94) ≡ Clidemia xantholasia Candolle (1828: 163) . Type:— BRAZIL.

Rio de Janeiro: Teresópolis, “in sylvis umbrosis altis montanis Serra dos Órgãos”, C.F.P. Martius s.n. (lectotype M-

173422! designated here).

= Leandra gardneriana Cogniaux (1886: 95) . Type:— BRAZIL. F. Sellow s.n. (lectotype BR-5190270! designated here). Additional syntypes: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, Caldas , J.F. Widgren 998 (BR-5190256!); J. Pohl 1195 (K-535587!) ; J. Pohl s.n. (BR-5190324!) ; F. Sellow 425 ( B - destroyed, photo in F!). Syn. nov .

= Leandra depauperata Cogniaux ex Kuntze (1898: 94) . Type:— BRAZIL. Rio de Janeiro: Itatiaia, O. Kuntze s.n. (lectotype NY-228707! designated here, former holotype B - destroyed, photo in F!). Syn. nov.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Castelo, R. Goldenberg 1275 (RB); Conceição do Castelo, M.M. Arbo 7737 (NY); Vargem Alta, L. Kollmann 10284 (RB). Minas Gerais: Carandaí, A.P. Duarte 629 (NY, RB); Carmópolis de Minas, L. Echternacht 261 (UPCB); Conselheiro Lafaiete, Vasco 11966 (SP); Juiz de Fora, P. Krieger 1269 (RB). Rio de Janeiro: Nova Friburgo, M. Reginato 1118 (NY, RB, UPCB); Petrópolis, G. Gardner 385 (NY); Teresópolis, M. Reginato 1108 (NY, RB, UPCB). São Paulo: Bananal, L.R. Lima 407 (SP); Santo André, S.A.C. Chiea 211 (SP); São Paulo, A.C. Brade 13049 (R).

Cogniaux (1888) placed L. xantholasia and L. gardneriana together in his key, where he used leaf shape and hypanthium indumentum to discriminate the taxa. Leandra xantholasia would have oblong-lanceolate leaves with slightly attenuate bases (vs. ovate-oblong with rounded base in L. gardneriana ), and hypanthium with a denser indumentum. Nonetheless, the type specimens of both species are extremely similar, including the putative differences highlighted by the author. Kuntze (1898) only compared L. depauperata to a morphologically distinct species ( Leandra echinata Cogniaux 1886: 607 ). Despite the type specimen of L. depauperata being very poor, it is possible to notice that both the indumentum on the branches and hypanthium and anther size and shape are similar to L. xantholasia . The only difference would be the reduced number of flowers in the inflorescence of L. depauperata , but this feature seems to be within the variation observed in L. xantholasia .

Leandra xantholasia and L.gardneriana were recognized by Souza&Baumgratz(2009).While their circumscription of L. xantholasia is similar to the one adopted here, the specimens identified as L. gardneriana in that study would be better placed under Leandra sparsisetulosa Hoehne (1822: 119) . The type specimen of L. sparsisetulosa presents some differences to both L. xantholasia and L. gardneriana types. In L. sparsisetulosa the indumentum is sparser, the density of flowers per inflorescence is lower, the hypanthium is less urceolate (campanulate to slightly urceolate) and the calyx external teeth are longer and slender. Additionally, in recent collections, the anthers are reported as white (vs. yellow in L. xantholasia ). Recent collections that can be assigned to L. sparsisetulosa include Guerra 120 (SP), Eiten 6379 (SP), Chiea 260 (SP), among a few others. Nonetheless, a higher sampling of L. sparsisetulosa is desirable to further evaluate its status.

Leandra xanthocoma ( Naudin 1851: 352) Cogniaux (1886: 124) is another species morphologically close to L. xantholasia . The former species has a distribution more centered in southern Brazil, while L. xantholasia is predominantly found in southeastern Brazil. Nonetheless, their distribution overlaps in São Paulo state, where some intermediate specimens are observed (such as Brade 13048, RB). In general, L. xanthocoma has leaves ovate to elliptic (vs. lanceolate in L. xantholasia ) and the hypanthium indumentum is dense and lanose (vs. sparse and setose in L. xantholasia ). A detailed review is in need for the core Leandra sect. Nianga e Cogniaux (1886: 92), including these two species, as well as some other species pairs with more obscure circumscriptions, such as Leandra australis (Chamisso 1836: 44) Cogniaux (1886: 104) vs. Leandra nianga (Candolle 1828: 163) Cogniaux (1886: 96) , and Leandra xanthostachya Cogniaux (1886: 93) vs. Leandra niangaeformis Cogniaux (1886: 93) , among others.