Forzzaea flavipetala Leme

Leme, Elton M. C., Ribeiro, Otávio B. C., Souza, Fernanda Vidigal D., Souza, Everton Hilo De, Kollmann, Ludovic J. C. & Fontana, André P., 2020, Miscellaneous new species in the “ Cryptanthoid complex ” (Bromeliaceae: Bromelioideae) from Eastern Brazil, Phytotaxa 430 (3), pp. 157-202 : 171

2.2. Forzzaea flavipetala Leme & O.B.C. Ribeiro, sp. nov. ( Fig. 6 A–F )

Diagnosis:— This new species is morphologically closely related to F. leopoldo-horstii but differs from it by the larger leaf blades (30–45 × 2.5–3.5 cm vs. 15–20 × 1.5 cm), sepals obtuse (vs. acute to subobtuse and mucronulate), higher connate at the base (5–7 mm vs. 1–2 mm), petals pale greenish-yellow (vs. white), and stigma greenish-yellow (vs. white), with the lobes obovate to narrowly spathulate (vs. ovate to elliptic).

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Gouveia, Usina Eólica, 1151 m elevation, 18°32’16.6” S, 43°53’47.9” W, 19 September 2015, E. Leme 9085 & O. Ribeiro (holotype RB!).

Description:— Plants stemless, flowering ca. 5 cm tall, propagating by short and thick basal rhizomes. Leaves ca. 25 in number, thick coriaceous mainly toward the base, subspreading, forming a subdense rosette; sheath subreniform, inconspicuous, 2–2.5 × 4 cm, yellowish and glabrous toward the base, densely and coarsely white lepidote at distal end; blade narrowly subtriangular-attenuate, ending with a caudate apex, 30–45 × 2.5–3.5 cm, 2.5–3 mm thick in the basal portion, slightly canaliculate, both surfaces not contrasting with each other, densely and coarsely white lepidote, margins densely spinose; spines 1–3 mm long, 2–7 mm apart, triangular-uncinate, antrorse. Inflorescence sessile, compound, ca. 3.5 cm long, ca. 3.5 cm in diameter (not including the primary bracts); primary bracts resembling the leaves, spreading; flower fascicles ca. 10 in number, densely arranged, flabellate, slightly pulvinate, excluding the petals 25 × 12–15 mm, 3–6-flowered; floral bracts triangular, acuminate, hyaline and membranaceous toward the base, glabrous except for the densely white lepidote apex, finely nerved, distinctly exceeded by the sepals, carinate, 12–14 × 7–15 mm, margins entire or inconspicuously spinulose. Flowers all perfect, sessile, 28–29 mm long, strongly fragrant; sepals narrowly oblong or narrowly obovate, obtuse, ca. 11 × 2 mm, unequally connate at the base for 5–7 mm, greenish with hyaline margins, sparsely and inconspicuously white lepidote toward the apex, obtusely carinate or carinate; petals spathulate, 21–22 × 5.5–6 mm, connate at the base for ca. 3 mm, pale greenish-yellow, rounded, slightly emarginate to subacute, longer than the stamens but spreading at anthesis and exposing them, bearing 2 inconspicuous longitudinal callosities to ca. 10 mm above the base; filaments subequal in length, terete, the antesepalous ones slightly exceeding the antepetalous ones, the antesepalous ones adnate to the petal-tube, the antepetalous ones adnate to the petals for ca. 4 mm; anthers ca. 4 mm long, dorsifixed near the base, base distinctly bilobed, apex acute, straight or slightly recurved at anthesis; pollen oblate, ca. 40 μm in diameter (longest axis), sulcate, sulcus without exine elements, margins indistinct, exine reticulate; ovary 8–9 × 4 mm, trigonous, subclavate, white, glabrous; epigynous tube inconspicuous; ovules few in number, obtuse; placentation apical; style equalling the anthers; stigma simple-patent, greenish-yellow, lobes distinctly longer than broad, obovate to narrowly spathulate, transversely U-shaped, apical margins inconspicuously crenulate, inconspicuously papillate. Fruits narrowly ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoidal, 10 × 5–6 mm, white except for the greenish apex, persistent sepals about equalling the fruit length; seeds not seen.

Distribution, habitat and conservation:— Forzzaea flavipetala is known from two distinct subpopulations in the type area of Gouveia, in Minas Gerais state: the type subpopulation itself, in the area of the Usina Eólica, at 1151 m elevation ( Fig. 6 A–B ), and a second one about 5 km distant, at 1120 m elevation (18°30’ S 43°51’ W) in the lower part of the valley ( Fig. 6 D ). However, this second subpopulation, despite morphologically very typical, was not documented in bloom, and so specimens were introduced into cultivation (Leme 9246) but not herborized.

This new species grows as saxicolous or terrestrial, in partial shaded spots, on or around more or less horizontal quartzitic rock outcrops in the Campos Rupestres. It forms dense and comparatively large groups of plants, despite the known subpopulations are rather small and occupy a geographically limited area. Taking this in account, it must be considered critically endangered (CR) on the basis of the “A.1. c + d” and “B. 2. a. + b. i to iv” criteria adopted by IUCN (2012).

Etymology:—The chosen name for this new species is a reference to its unusual pale greenish-yellow petal color, which is in contrast to the white petals of all other known Forzzaea species.

Observations:— Forzzaea flavipetala is morphologically close to F.leopoldo-horstii but can be easily distinguished from it by the following features: much larger plant size due to the distinctly larger leaf blades (30–45 × 2.5–3.5 cm vs. 15–20 × 1.5 cm), triangular (vs. narrowly triangular to lanceolate) and broader (7–15 mm vs. 5–6 mm) floral bracts, obtuse sepals (vs. acute to subobtuse and mucronulate), which are higher connate at the base (5–7 mm vs. 1–2 mm), pale greenish-yellow petals (vs. white), pollen with sulcus margins indistinct (vs. weakly distinct), and greenish-yellow stigma (vs. white), with obovate to narrowly spathulate lobes (vs. ovate to elliptic).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Forzzaea flavipetala from Gouveia, Minas Gerais state (Leme 9085 & Ribeiro): A–B. Saxicolous habit at the type locality, forming dense groups of plants. C. Details of the inflorescence.D. Second distant subpopulation about 5 km from the type locality, without flowering specimens to be documented and herborized (Leme 9246). E. Details of the flowers. F. Simple-patent stigma type.