Tillandsia ramon-lopezii Carnevali & I. Ramírez, 2024

Ramírez-Morillo, Ivón, Fernández-Concha, Germán Carnevali, Pinzón, Juan P. & Cen, Iván Tamayo, 2024, Tillandsia ramon-lopezii: a new species from Venezuela, similar to T. brachycaulos (Bromeliaceae), Phytotaxa 660 (2), pp. 137-148 : 139-143

Tillandsia ramon-lopezii Carnevali & I. Ramírez , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 )

Type:— VENEZUELA. Mérida: Municipio Sucre: vecindades de Lagunillas, unos 1.5–2.5 km al este de la salida a la carretera Lagunillas-Mérida, unos 20 km al SW de Mérida, por la vía Mérida-Barinitas , approx. 8.485469°N, - 71.372789°W, 800–850 m, collected originally by Ramón López in January 2006, flowered in Mérida, Yucatán, México, 14 January 2016, G. Carnevali & I.M. Ramírez 7864 (holotype: VEN!; isotype: CICY!) .

Diagnose: A species similar to Tillandsia brachycaulos but differing by its longer inflorescence peduncle (7–10 cm vs 3–5 cm long), by its coloring differently at anthesis (pale, dull vinaceous-red or remaining greenish vs bright red), bearing smaller flowers (petals 23–26 vs 50–70 mm) with pale blue-lilac petals and filaments (vs dark violet-blue) and pale yellow (vs bright yellow) stamens, and the style not exceeding the petals (vs stamens and style conspicuously exceeding the petals).

Herbs epiphytic, cespitose, 15–30 cm high counting the inflorescence, each rosette producing 2–4 new shoots after flowering. Roots 50–80 mm long, 0.6–0.9 mm in diameter, abundant, filiform, attaching firmly the plants to the phorophyte. Rosettes 10–20 cm diameter, crateriform, bearing 15–30 leaves that gradually range into peduncle and primary bracts. Leaves 25–39 cm long, pale green, drying pale castaneous to cream, often coloring pale, dull vinaceous-red (or else remaining greenish) upon anthesis, flexible, arching, subcoriaceous, somewhat concave; sheaths densely castaneous lepidote, 4.0–5.5 × 3.0– 3.5 cm, pale green-yellow, elliptical, grading almost imperceptibly into the blade, approximately 1/6–1/7 the length of the total leaf; blades 15–25 cm long, 2.0– 2.5 cm wide just above the sheaths, shiny green and glabrous above, dull pale-green to dull vinaceous red and white lepidote below, narrowly triangular and gradually attenuating into a flagelliform-caudate apex, ca. 1mm wide, slightly concave. Inflorescence erect, (8–) 13–19 cm long, once-branched, spikes 4–8, appressed to peduncle, the spikes totally enclosed and hidden by leaf-like primary bracts that are lepidote as the leaf blades, the lowermost somewhat reflexed, the uppermost patent to suberect; peduncle 4–8 cm long, 4–5 mm diameter, 3–4 mm diameter upon drying, main axis 3–11 cm long, with 4–8 spirally arranged spikes, primary bracts same colored as the leaves or else tinged dull reddish, pale vinaceous to castaneous, similar to the leaves, gradually diminishing in size upwards, the longest and basalmost to 25 cm long, the smallest ca. 10 cm long, ca. 10 mm wide at the apex of the sheaths; spikes 3–5 cm long, almost sessile, 2–3 flowered, rachis laterally compressed, pale green, subtended by 2 sterile, carinate bracts, 29–30 × 10–11 mm, shaped like the floral bracts (elliptic-lanceolate, acute, asymmetrical), the apical spikes of the inflorescence 1-flowered, rachis of the spike angular; floral bracts 17–29 × 9 mm, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, very slightly asymmetrical, pale green, thickly coriaceous, totally enclosing the flower with the exception of the upper half of the petals, covered with peltate trichomes, which are castaneous distally on the abaxial face; sepals 17–19 × (6–) 8–9 mm, similar to floral bracts but thinner, pale green, the two outermost connate at the base for 2.5–3 mm, the third one free; petals 23–26 × 5–6 mm, narrowly obovate, rounded, membranaceous, blue-lilac, paler toward the apex, margins slightly revolute, somewhat constricted just at sepal tube opening, portion extending beyond the sepals 12–14 mm long; stamens 20–22 mm long, all equal, included within the corolla; filaments pale blue, plicate-flattened in the apical half, 3.2–3.5 mm, shorter than the petals; anthers 2.4–2.5 × 1.2 mm, elliptical, dorsifixed, pale yellow; style 18–20 mm long, included within the corolla; ovary 7–8 × 3 mm diameter, fusiform, apically attenuated; stigma pale blue to dull white, conduplicate, with three lobes, ca. 1 mm long. Capsules 30–40 × 7–8 mm long, fusiform, green, straw color upon maturity; seeds 2.8–3.2 mm long, pale brown with a short proximal coma of 0.8–1 mm and a long distal one of 14–18 mm.

Distribution and habitat:— Tillandsia ramon-lopezii is widely ranging and locally common yet endemic in Venezuela. It has remained largely undetected (and misidentified in herbaria) because it is usually inconspicuous and discrete and the flowers are barely visible at anthesis to the casual observer; thus, most plant collectors have mistaken individuals in full bloom with sterile plants of other Tillandsia species. It is known from both slopes of the Coastal Range, where plants from the windward slopes are the largest. There used to be a large population of this taxon growing on the roofs of houses and huts at the southern road entrance to the Ocumare de la Costa village in Aragua state (G. Carnevali & I. Ramírez 6926, CICY) and the authors have seen large, dense populations of the species at other places of the northern slopes of the Coastal Range (e.g., Carnevali et al. 1989, VEN!). It is rare but locally common in the inner, dry valleys of the Cordillera de Mérida, in the Llanos region, as well as in the northern, drier section of the Guayana in Bolívar state. It has also been seen and photographed but rarely collected on both slopes and in the drier inland valleys of the Cordillera de Mérida. The distribution of the species, as documented by herbarium specimens, is depicted in Fig. 3 .

Tillandsia ramon-lopezii occurs in lowland tropical dry forests ( Huber & Alarcón 1988), at elevations of (5–)150– 500(–1100) m. It is most commonly found as isolated individuals in Tillandsia communities that include taxa such as T. balbisiana Schultes f. (1830: 1212) , T. schiedeana Steudel (1841: 688) , and T. aff. fasciculata Swartz (1788: 56) . It has also been found as an epiphyte on living fences; the type collection comes from one such population. It always occurs as an epiphyte on several phorophyte species, as all known close relatives of the T. brachycaulos . It flowers mostly during the dry season, with most flowering collections occurring January–March whereas fruiting specimens are mostly recorded during the early rainy season.

IUCN Red List category:—According to the IUCN (2022), Tillandsia ramon-lopezii would be considered a Least Concern (LC) species because it occurs over a large surface area (“Extent of Occurrence”) of 131,487.596 km 2. However, based on the Area of Occupancy of 40 km 2 (cell width of 2 km) it would rate as an Endangered (EN) taxon. Nonetheless, the species is actually widely ranging and occurs in a variety of tropical dry to tropical semi-deciduous forests, which occupy most of the central portion on Venezuela north of the Orinoco River. As mentioned above, the species is most likely more common than the collection records suggest, but we believe it has been largely overlooked by plant collectors, both professional botanists and horticulturists. As stated above, several of the authors of this article (GC, IMRM) have seen the species many times in the field and have found it to be widespread and locally common. Thus, we propose assessing the species as Least Concern (LC).

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— VENEZUELA. Aragua: Maracay, jardines de la Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, 10°16’22.01”N, 67°36’47.48”W, 450 m, 15 August 1988, G. Carnevali & I. Ramírez 2739 (VEN!) ; Ocumare de la Costa , “bosque seco tropical, atmosféricamente húmedo”, 10°27’12.14”N, 67°46’7.29”W, 0–50 m, 25 January 1986, G. Carnevali, I. Ramírez & C. Fleming 1989 (VEN!) ; approximately same locality, 26 January 1986, G. Carnevali, F. Hernández & C. Fleming 1990 (VEN) ; Ocumare de la Costa, 10°27’31.69”N, 67°46’7.41”W, 20–50 m, cultivated at Mérida, Yucatán , flowering 12 February 2004, G. Carnevali & I. Ramírez 6926 (CICY!) ; 4–5 km NE de Tejerías, Autopista Caracas-Valencia , “bosque seco premontano”, 10°14’54.77”N, 67° 8’6.08”W, 400–500 m, 7 March 1986, G. Carnevali & I. Ramírez 2003 (VEN) ; carretera MaracayChoroní, ca. de Choroní, 10°28’39.08”N, 67°36’23.98”W, ca. 100 m, Brinkmann s.n., photo voucher (CICY!). Bolívar: La Grulla , about 8.2 km NE of the Ciudad Guayana-Upata Road , approx. 8°12’24.24”N, 62°22’10.73”W, “bosque semideciduo”, 340 m, July 1978, F. Delascio & R. L. Liesner 6830 (VEN!). Carabobo: Carretera Canoabo-Urama, ca. 200 m, 10°25’48.83”N, 68°19’9.19”W, no date, Brinkmann s.n., photo voucher (CICY!). Mérida: Municipio Sucre: same locality as type, vecindades de Lagunillas, unos 1.5–2.5 km al este de la salida a la carretera Lagunillas-Mérida, unos 20 km al SW de Mérida, por la vía Mérida-Barinitas, approx. 8.485469°N, 71.372789°W, 800–850 m, 11 Jan 2023, collected originally by Ramón López, flowered in Mérida, Yucatán, México, G. Carnevali & I.M. Ramírez 10084 (CICY, MEXU). Miranda: ca. Sta. Teresa del Tuy , 10°15’41.33”N, 66°41’43.15”W, no date, Brinkmann s.n (photo voucher, CICY!). Portuguesa: ca. Apartadero, 9°40’31.86”N, 68°56’47.78”W, no date, Brinkmann s.n., photo voucher (CICY!). Yaracuy: San Felipe, sector NO, Avenida La Paz , terreno al E de la Contraloría del estado Yaracuy, “isla de la avenida con árboles de ceiba, apamates y araguaneyes”, 10.349802°N, 68.736393°W, 280–300 m, October 2023, R.A. López 1 (UCOB!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. (A–G). Tillandsia ramon-lopezii Carnevali &. I. Ramírez A. Flowers subtended by primary bract. B. Details of floral bracts. C. Flower showing petal constriction caused by sepals; see inserted stamens in the corolla tube. D. Three petals showing no variation in size and shape; see constriction on petals caused by sepals. E. Stigma, style, and stamens without corolla. F. Details of stigma. G. Plicate filament. Illustration by Alberto Guerra based on G. Carnevali & I.M. Ramírez 7864 (isotype: CICY).

FIGURE 2. (A–E). Tillandsia ramon-lopezii. A. Rosettes. B. Details of flowers and inflorescence. C. Floral bracts. D and E. Details of flowers and subtending bract. Photographs by Germán Carnevali based on G. Carnevali & I.M. Ramírez 7864 (isotype: CICY).

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Tillandsia ramon-lopezii. View of northern Venezuela.