Xyris cervii E.D. Lozano & Wand., 2016

Lozano, Eduardo Damasceno, Smidt, Eric De Camargo & Wanderley, Maria Das Graças Lapa, 2016, A new species of Xyris (Xyridaceae) from Brazil, Phytotaxa 245 (1), pp. 84-88 : 84-88

Xyris cervii E.D. Lozano & Wand. , sp. nov. Figs. 1 and 2

Type:— BRAZIL. Paraná: Ponta Grossa, Capão da Onça, Fazenda Pinheirinhos 25°06’ 08”S – 50°01’31”W, 11 March 2014, E.D. Lozano & D. P. Saridakis 2682 (holotype MBM!, isotypes B!, ICN!, K!, S!, NY!, RB!, SP!, UPCB!).

Herbs, isolated or cespitose, perennial, slightly bulbous. Roots slender, fibrous. Rhizome horizontal with short internodes, 1–3 mm long. Leaves 21–50 cm long, spiral, erect, contorted; sheaths 4.1–8.7 × 0.72–1.21 cm, widely dilated towards the base, deliquescent, light brown, smooth, margin brown-hyaline to golden, with hairs on the margins, these light brown to golden, 1–1.8 mm long; blades 14.5–41.3 × 0.05–0.1 cm, narrowly flattened to subterete, smooth, green, margin glabrous, apex acuminate. Ligule absent. Spathes 7.7–19 × 0.15–0.29 cm, light brown, ecarinate, margin hyaline, blade short, 4.4–19 mm. Peduncles 25.5–68 × 0.05–0.07 cm, subterete, ecostate, green, glabrous. Spikes 6.4–8.6 × 2.8–4.1 mm, with few flowers, elliptical, bracts light brown, carinate, mainly at the apical region, the basal bract rarely excurrent, macula absent, margin short-lacerate, glabrous; sterile bracts ca. 5, 3.6–4.7 × 1.9–2.6 mm, lanceolate; fertile bracts ca. 10, 5.7–6.8 × 3–3.7 mm, obovate to oblong. Flowers with dorsal sepal cucullate, membranaceous, reddish, caducous; lateral sepals 4.9–6.9 mm long, included, free, narrowly lanceolate, slightly inequilateral, apex acute, keel narrow, glabrous to sparsely short-ciliate, mainly on the middle portion; petals yellow, lobe obovate, ca. 3.8 × 2.6 mm, margin erose; androecium yellow, staminodes bifid, ca. 2 mm long, the branches densely penicillate; stamens ca. 2.5 mm long, anthers oblong; gynoecium yellow, style ca. 5.7 mm long, branches ca. 2.2 mm long, stigma dilated; placenta suprabasal. Capsule ca. 3.6 × 1.5 mm, obovoid, with long funicles. Seeds ca. 0.6 × 0.2 mm, reddish brown, translucent, obovate to fusiform, ribbed, apex apiculate.

Distribution and habitat:— Xyris cervii is known from the States of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná ( Fig. 3 ). It occurs in grasslands, usually on water-saturated sandy soil. Generally, this species does not form large populations.

Phenology:— Xyris cervii blooms from December to June and bears fruits immediately after flowering.

Etymology:—The specific epithet is a tribute to the late Professor Armando Carlos Cervi (*Brusque 08 Oct 1944 — †New York 26 Dec 2014), a renowned Brazilian botanist who devoted much of his life to the study of Passifloraceae . During his career as a professor at the Universidade Federal do Paraná he advised 32 master’s degree students in botany and published 115 scientific papers. He had a strong personality, but was always open to answering questions from students and was known for his good conversations. Besides his friendship with the authors, he also contributed with comments to an earlier version of this text. And so we offer this tribute to this great botanist, who shall be missed but never forgotten..

Discussion:— Xyris cervii belongs to Xyris sect. Nematopus Seub (1855: 211) , a group that is characterized by its basal to central placentation ( Wanderley 2011). The new species has suprabasal placentation, which is a variation between basal and central placentation and for this reason it is placed in this section. Xyris cervii is characterized by the presence of an underground and deliquescent sheath with long golden hairs near the base and lateral sepals that are lanceolate and sub-equilateral to equilateral. Xyris tortula is morphologically similar due to its habit, sheath which is dark brown to black at the base, and bracts with lacerated margins. Both species are also sympatric and synchronic. They can be differentiated by characteristics of the sheath, lateral sepal, peduncle and placentation type, which are summarized in Table 1.

Paratypes: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Gouveia, ca. 8km N of Gouveia on the road to Diamantina 18°24’25” S – 43°40’48” W, 04 February 1972, W. R. Anderson, M. Stieber & J. H. Kirkbride Jr. 35423 ( MBM) ; Santana do Riacho, km 98 ao longo da rodovia Belo Horizonte-Conceição do Mato Dentro , 04 July 1978, M. G. L. Wanderley CFSC 5487 ( SP) ; Santana do Riacho, Serra do Cipó , 3 March 1958, E. P. Heringer & A. Castellanos 22007 ( SP) ; São Gonçalo do Rio Preto, Parque Estadual do Rio Preto, 23 May 2007, M. G. L. Wanderley et al. 2579 ( BHCB, MBM, SP). Paraná: Jaguariaíva , Estrada de Ferro Jaguariaíva-Piraí do Sul 24°24’26’’ S – 49°51’50’’ W, 05 May 2006, E. Barbosa, E. F. Costa & L. von Linsingen 1369 ( MBM). Ponta Grossa, Estrada para o Capão da Onça 25°06’24” S – 50°01’23” W, 20 December 2013, E. D. Lozano & B. Damasceno 2516 ( FLOR, K, MBM, NY, RB, SP, UPCB) ; Parque Nacional dos Campos Gerais—Cachoeira São Jorge 25°02’04’’ S – 50°03’20’’ W, 11 March 2014, E. D. Lozano & D. P. Saridakis 2642 ( HCF, MBM, NY, SP). Tibagi, Guartelá 24°34’06” S – 50°15’37” W, 16 June 1992, I. J. M. Takeda 508 ( HUPG). São Paulo: Itararé, Fazenda Santa Izabel (Ripasa), 26 April 2000, A. P. Prata, L. Rossi & M. C. H. Mamede 863 ( MBM, SP) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Xyris cervii. A. Habit. B. Flower. C. Common spike. D. Spike with excurrent basal bract. E. Sheath base. F. Sepals. G. Capsule. H. Open capsule. I. Suprabasal placenta. Photos by E.D. Lozano.

FIGURE 2. Xyris cervii. A. Habit. B. Sheath base, sheath-blade junction and blade apex. C. Common spike. D. Spike with excurrent basal bract. E. Excurrent bract. F. Sterile bracts. G. Fertile bracts. H. Lateral sepal. I. Flower. J. Petal, stamen and staminode. K. Gynoecium. L. Capsule with suprabasal placentation. M. Seed. Drawing by Klei Sousa (based on E.D. Lozano & D.P. Saridakis 2682).

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Xyris cervii.