Salvia sirenis J.G.González & G.González, 2018

González-Gallegos, Jesús Guadalupe, Fragoso-Martínez, Itzi, González-Adame, Gabriel, Martínez-Ambriz, Emmanuel & López-Enríquez, Irma Lorena, 2018, Salvia ozolotepecensis, S. patriciae and S. sirenis (Lamiaceae), three new species from Miahuatlán district, Oaxaca, Mexico, Phytotaxa 362 (2), pp. 143-159 : 154-156

Salvia sirenis J.G.González & G.González , sp. nov. ( Fig. 7 )

A Salvia pericona foliis concoloribus (vs. bicoloribus), foliorum laminae basi truncatis vel leviter obliquis (vs. cordatis), floribus 6–8 in nodis floralibus (vs. 10–12), bracteis floralibus magnioribus [(10.8–)14–15.3 × 7.2–10 vs. 6–8 × 4–6 mm], calycibus magnioribus (11–12.7 × 4.5–6.5 vs. 8–9 × 3–3.5 mm), calcycum labiis superis 5 vel 7-nervatis (vs. 7-nervatis), corollarum tubis longioribus [(12.4–)13.6–15 vs. (8–) 10–13 mm longis], corollarum labiis superis longioribus (6.4–7.8 vs. 4–6 mm long) et corollarum labiis inferis longioribus [(5.5–)7–9.2 vs. 4.5–6 mm long) statim dignoscenda.

Type:— MEXICO. Oaxaca. Miahuatlán district. Mun. San Juan Ozolotepec: La Sirena, summit, 2980 m, 23 October 1995, G. B. Hinton 26385 (holotype CIIDIR!, isotype GBH!).

Shrub, erect, 1 m tall; stems puberulent and short pilose in the nodes. Leaves with petioles 7–13.4 mm long, puberulent and sparsely hispidulous; blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, (4.6–)7–8 × 3.2–4 cm, acuminate to acute at apex, rounded to slightly oblique at base, margin finely serrate, both faces puberulent, sparsely hispidulous to glabrescent and covered with ocher glandular dots. Inflorescence in racemes 19–27.5(–58) cm long, with 10–14 floral nodes, each with 6–8 flowers, the lowermost 3–3.2(–5.8) cm apart from each other; floral axis hispidulous and with short glandular-capitate hairs and amber glandular dots. Floral bract deciduous, ovate to ovate-rhomboid, (10.8–)14–15.3 × 7.2–10 mm, caudate at apex, truncate at base, margin entire, puberulent and scarcely hispidulous. Flowers with pedicels 2.7–5(–5.7) mm long, up to 7.8 mm in fruit, hispidulous, with short glandular-capitate hairs and amber glandular dots. Calyx 11–12.7 × 4.5–6.5 mm, pubescence outside as in the pedicel, short hispidulous inside, lips subequal, 4.8–5.4 mm long, the upper one entire and 5 or 7-veined. Corolla white, dorse and upper lip sparsely pilose, tube (12.4–)13.6–15 × 4.3–5.4 mm, ventricose at the middle, straight at the base and with two papillae inside; upper lip 6.4–7.8 mm long, lower (5.5–)7–9.2 × (6.8–) 9.4–10.6 mm. Stamens inserted, filament 2.2–3.3 mm long, connective 9–10.1 mm long almost straight and with a retrorse acute tooth at midportion, theca 1.8–2.1 mm long; a pair of small staminodes above and behind filament insertion. Gynobasic horn 1.3–1.4 mm long, style 18.2–21.6 mm long, slender throughout, short pilose near the apical portion, lower stigmatic branch acute and shorter than the upper one. Mericarp ovoid, 2–2.1 × 1–1.1 mm, brown and irregularly marbled with a darker tone, glabrous and smooth.

Etymology:—The epithet make reference to the type locality of the species, La Sirena, in its Latinized form.

Distribution, habitat and phenology:— Salvia sirenis is an endemic species from Oaxaca, known only from two localities in Miahuatlán district 2572–2980 m elevation ( Fig. 3 ). It inhabits pine-oak forests. Flowering and fruiting probably from September to December.

Notes:— Salvia sirenis matches with S. sect. Scorodonia Epling (1939: 166) in every character according to Epling (1939), Turner (2009a) and Olvera-Mendoza et al. (2017) circumscriptions. Salvia sirenis is morphologically most similar to Salvia pericona Turner (2009: 260) sharing ovate leaves, truncate to rounded at base, no glandular hairs in the calyx, white corollas, ventricose, upper corolla lip longer than the lower one, and short pilose style. However, Salvia sirenis differs in having almost concolorous leaf blades (vs. bicolored), rounded to slightly oblique at base (vs. cordate), 6–8-flowered floral nodes (vs. 10–12-flowered), larger floral bracts [(10.8–)14–15.3 × 7.2–10 vs. 6–8 × 4–6 mm], larger calyx (11.5–12.7 × 4.5–6.5 vs. 6–8 × 4–6 mm), 5 or 7-veined upper calyx lip (vs. 7-veined), longer corolla tube [(12.4–)13.6–15 vs. (8–) 10–13 mm long], and longer upper (6.4–7.8 vs. 4–6 mm long) and lower [(5.5 –) 7–9.2 vs. 4.5–6 mm long)] corolla lips.

It is interesting that in the last two decades several species with white corollas have been described from Mexico: Salvia diegoae Martínez-Gordillo & Lozada-Pérez (2011: 211) , S. madrigalii , S. meera Ramamoorthy ex González-Gallegos et al. (2012: 593) , Salvia pericona and S. wixarika González-Gallegos & López-Enríquez (2016: 178) . This corolla color is unusual among Mexican species, being present now in 18 of them (González-Gallegos et al. 2012, González-Gallegos & López-Enríquez 2016, Zamudio & Bedolla-García 2018), i.e. about 6 % of the total.

Additional specimen examined (paratype):— MEXICO. Oaxaca. Miahuatlán district. Mun. Santiago Xanica: Punto Trino en el Cerro Lobo, 16º1’20.2”N 96º7’39”W, 2572 m, 17 December 2003, J. Pascual 958 (SERO!).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Salvia ozolotepecensis (white dots), S. patriciae (white triangles) and S. sirenis (white squares). Upper right corner showing the location of Oaxaca and Miahuatlán district; the red rectangle highlights the territory magnified in the rest of the figure. Sand lines correspond to municipalities boundaries within Miahuatlán district. Orange shadows represent the towns of, from top to bottom, San Juan Mixtepec, Santo Domingo Ozolotepec, San Juan Ozolotepec and Santiago Xanica.

FIGURE 7. Holotype of Salvia sirenis kept in CIIDIR.