Hohenbergia nidularioides B.P. Cavalcante, E.H. Souza, A.P. Martinelli & Versieux, 2021

Cavalcante, Brayan Paiva, Silva, Kleber Resende, Pereira, Mayara A., Souza, Everton Hilo De, Versieux, Leonardo M. & Martinelli, Adriana Pinheiro, 2021, Establishment of the Hohenbergia capitata complex (Bromeliaceae) with notes on leaf anatomy and description of a new endangered species, Phytotaxa 518 (3), pp. 196-208 : 200-202

Hohenbergia nidularioides B.P. Cavalcante, E.H. Souza, A.P. Martinelli & Versieux , spec. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 4 )

Hohenbergia nidularioides is closely related to H. capitata , but can be distinguished by its smaller size when flowering (<60 cm vs. 60–80 cm), terrestrial habit (vs. epiphytic habit), inflorescence with short peduncle (<20 cm) (vs. inflorescence with longer peduncle,> 50 cm), basal primary bracts sub-orbicular, covering the lanceolate secondary bracts of the fascicles (vs. sub-orbicular primary and secondary bracts of the inflorescence), the inflorescence shorter than the higher portion of the rosette (vs. inflorescence not exceeding the height of the rosette), green floral bracts with pinkish apex (vs. pinkish floral bracts), and green sepals (vs. pinkish sepals).

Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia. Una, in an unnamed road that connects Una (BA-001) to Beachvilla Martin , in a small fragment of Atlantic Forest surrounded by Restinga and dunes in sandy soil, 15°13’25.3”S, 39°01’48.1”W, 1 m. a.s.l.., 28 November 2018, B.P. Cavalcante & E.H. Souza 26 (Holotype HURB18862 ) ( Fig. 1 , 4 ) .

Plants relatively small sized, about 60 cm of height when flowering, terrestrial, mesophytic, reproducing by basal shoots, rosette crateriform, up to 70 cm in diameter, with a good capacity of water impounding, tank ca. 24 × 20 cm. Leaves 65–70 cm long, more than 20 in number, greenish and lustrous, margins inconspicuously serrate; leaf sheaths 10–12 × ca. 10 cm, brownish, elliptic, very dilated, margins entire; leaf blades 55–68 × 3–5 cm, lanceolate or linearlanceolate, with an underdeveloped central channel; prickles inconspicuous, 0.05 mm long; apical mucro 5–6 mm long, greenish, similar to leaf blade in color. Peduncle 10–20 × 1–1.3 cm, green, hidden by the peduncle bracts, whitelanate; peduncle bracts 6–7 cm long, lanceolate, margins entire, imbricate, exceeding the internode. Inflorescence compound, twice branched, fertile portion 8–13 cm long × 10–15 cm wide at the base, branches congested, subglobose to pyramidal, internodes of the rachis hidden by the fascicules, not exceeding the height of the rosette; primary bracts 7–9 cm long, suborbicular, margins entire, green with the pinkish apex, white-lepidote, longer than the branches; secondary bracts 4–6 cm long, lanceolate, similar to the primary bracts in color; branches 6–7 cm long, sessile or with a short stipe; floral bracts ca. 2.5 cm long, triangular with a prominent and acuminate apex, exceeding and covering the sepals, similar in color to the primary bracts; flowers 3.2–3.5 cm long, with a diurnal anthesis (4 am–3 pm) and with a slightly sweet odor, corolla tubular; sepals 15–18 × 7–9 mm, green with pinkish and acuminate apex, lepidote on both sides, triangular, asymmetrical, with a one-sided extended margin, like a wing; petals 24–25 × 7–8 mm long, spatulate, apex cuspidate, lilac, erect at anthesis, hiding the androecium with two petal appendages; petal appendages ca. 3–4 mm long, margins entire, situated in the basal 1/3 portion of the petals; stamens 1.8–2.0 cm long, white, included; ovary 8–10 mm long, ovoid-triangular, with interlocular nectaries; ovules numerous, anatropous, with a prominent chalazal appendage; style 1.5–1.6 cm long, white, erect, shorter than the stamens; stigma conduplicate-spiral, lobes congested; fruit 2.8–3.1 cm long, green or blue when ripe; seeds 0.9–3 mm long, sub-ellipsoidal, brownish.

Paratypes: — Brazil, Bahia: Una, 11 km north of Una, on the road to Ilhéus , then 200 m east of the road. 15°13’24”S, 39°05’51”W, 1 January 2012, R.F. Monteiro et al. 458 ( RB 536587) ; ibidem, Estrada Una-Olivença, km 11, Restinga arbórea. 15 December 1982, G. Martinelli et al. 8929 ( RB 211366) ; ibidem, km 17, Estrada que liga Rod. BR-101 a BA-215, Região de mata higrófita sul baiana, 29 October 1978, S.A. Mori & C.B. Thompson ( CEPEC 15027 ) ; ibidem, arredores da REBIO Una, Restinga , solo arenoso, terrícola, 15°13’19”S, 39°01’45”W, December 2008, J.R. Maciel et al. 1842 ( RB 755345) .

Etymology:— The specific epithet nidularioides refers to the main characteristic of this species, the inflorescence with a short peduncle and with the branches congested, conferring a nidular-like aspect to the blooming plant.

Distribution and habitat: — Hohenbergia nidularioides was found growing in sandy soils in an unnamed road that connects Una (BA-001) to Beachvilla Martin ( Fig. 3 ), in a small fragment of Atlantic Forest surrounded by Restinga and dunes, sympatric with H. belemii , H. hatschbachii and H. pabstii . It shares some ecological and morphological characteristics with H. belemii , such as the terrestrial habit, small size of the flowering plant (less than 100 cm in height) the long and lanceolate leaves, and the congested inflorescence. The region corresponds to a small fragment of Atlantic Forest near the beach, surrounded by highways and farms. The climate is humid, with high temperatures and with a long regularly distributed rainy season.

Phenology:— Hohenbergia nidularioides was collected in blooming in October, with some individuals blooming until January. Due to a low number of flowers per inflorescence, the same plant has a short blooming period (no more than 30 days), with specimens flowering successively, thus extending the blooming season.

Conservation status:— The type locality of the species is a small fragment of Atlantic Forest near the beach, at Una municipality (close to a Protected area called REBIO UNA). The region suffers constantly with deforestation for the expansion of touristic activities, and in 2019 most of this fragment was burned, destroying many endemic species of the region, including specimens of H. nidularioides . Plotting the known occurrences of this species in Geocat software (geocat.kew.org), the estimated extent of occurrence is 0.009 km 2, while the area of occupancy is estimated to be 4.000 km 2. With these areas the status of the species is to be considered Critically Endangered (CR). The Critically Endangered (CR B1ab (iii)) is reinforced by the constant expansion of beach area and the strong deforestation. We found this species exclusively in its type locality, and due to the last fires, the type population has decreased to only a few clusters of plants.

Comments: — Hohenbergia nidularioides is the smallest species of the H. capitata complex, sharing characteristics with H. belemii and H. capitata ( Table 2), but most of the morphological characteristics are shared with H. capitata , such as the congested inflorescence, sub-orbicular primary bracts, the secondary bracts lanceolate and longer than the branches, and flowers longer than 3.2 cm. Hohenbergia nidularioides can be easily recognized by the short peduncle (<20 cm), but also by other characteristics, such as the terrestrial habit, growing in sandy soils near the beach (vs. epiphytic habit growing on mountainous fragments of Atlantic Forest in H. capitata ), smaller rosette diameter than in H. capitata and H. belemii , shorter leaves (<70 cm long vs.> 100 cm long in H. capitata and H. belemii ) with inconspicuous and leaf-like prickles (vs. conspicuous black prickles in both species), shorter than the rosette height (vs. inflorescence reaching the same height or exceeding the height of the rosette in H. capitata and H. belemii ), the fertile part of the inflorescence sub-globose to pyramidal (vs. globose shape) and green-pinkish floral bracts (vs. full-pinkish floral bracts).

Furthermore, H. nidularioides can be mistaken with Aechmea weberi ( Pereira & Leme, 1986: 231) , Leme (1997: 80), a species also described from Una ( Pereira & Leme 1986), which can be distinguished by the larger rosette (ca. 70 cm diam. vs. less than 40 cm diam.), linear-lanceolate leaf-blades (vs. ligulate slightly narrowed toward the base), leaf sheaths brownish and broader, ca. 10 cm wide, (vs cream colored to pale brown, 5–7 cm wide), peduncle short but visible (vs. peduncle completely hidden in the center of the rosette), petals with appendages (vs. petals lacking appendages), and triporate pollen (vs. biporate pollen) ( Halbritter 2019). The similarities seen between these two species are obvious, but both are placed in different genera, although growing in the same habitat. This might be a convergent evolutionary result from similar selective pressures, such as pollinators, however, field work is necessary to check this hypothesis.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Species within the Hohenbergia capitata complex. A–C: H. belemii (HURB18863); D–F: H. capitata (HURB25319); G–I: H.nidularioides (HURB18862). A, D, G: General aspect of the plant; B, E, H: Inflorescence shape; C, F, I: Details of flowering branches. Photographs by Brayan Paiva Cavalcante

FIGURE 3. Geographic distribution of the Hohenbergia capitata complex, endemic to the coastal region of Bahia State, Brazil. The map was prepared in QGIS software and the geographic points are available in biodiversity databanks.

FIGURE 4. Hohenbergia nidularioides. A. Habit. B. Fertile part of the inflorescence. C. Stigma. D. Flower. E. Longitudinal cut of a flower showing the ovary and relative length of the style and stigma. F. Petal with petal appendages, stamen, style, and stigma. Drawn by Brayan Paiva Cavalcante. Bars: A = 20 cm. B = 25 mm; C = 0.5 mm; D, E = 1 cm; F = 5 mm.