Fleischmannia laxa (Gardn.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Phytologia 19: 204. 1970

Robinson, Harold, 2015, The genus Fleischmannia in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay (Eupatorieae, Asteraceae), PhytoKeys 57, pp. 61-92 : 65-66

Fleischmannia laxa (Gardn.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Phytologia 19: 204. 1970

Eupatorium laxum Gardn., London J. Bot. 5: 476. 1846. Type: Brazil. Minas Gerais, In bushy places on the banks of the Rio Claro, June 1841, Gardner 4856 (holotype BM, isotype US).

Description.

Plants probably always perennial, scandent or scrambling stems, branches spreading at 65-80° angles. Leaves opposite; petioles 0.5-3.0 cm long; blade narrowly to broadly ovate, mostly 2-5 cm long, 1.5-4.0 cm wide, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 8-12 blunt teeth on each side, apex shortly acuminate, surfaces finely and densely hispidulous, abaxial surface paler, with scattered minute glandular dots; triplinervate from short basal acumination, major veins often pale. Inflorescence laxly branching; peduncles 5-25 mm long, hispid with stipitate glands; heads ca, 6 mm high, 4 mm wide; involucral bracts ca. 30 in ca. 4 series, 1-5 mm long, outer narrowly ovate, inner bracts narrowly oblong, inner bracts with green part reaching short-acute apices, scarious margins narrow. Florets ca. 17 in a head; corollas usually lavender or reddish, ca. 3 mm long, basal tube ca. 0.5 mm long, throat ca. 2 mm long, lobes ca. 0.5 mm long, without hairs outside; anther thecae ca. 0.8 mm long, apical appendage ca. 0.2 mm long; style branches slender. Achenes 1.5-1.8 mm long, not noticeably paler on ribs, setuliferous on ribs and sometimes on distal surfaces; pappus whitish, of ca. 20-23, slender non-contiguous bristles 2.5-2.8 mm long, not broadened at base, with dense fringe of setulae along margin of callus and between or on bases of bristles.

Specimens seen.

Brazil: Distrito Federal: Côrrego Samambaia, near Taguatinga, ca. 20 km W of Brasília, elev. 1000 m, Gallery forest, subshrub ca. 1.5 m tall, heads pale lavender, 13 July 1966, H.S. Erwin, J.W. Grear Jr., R. Sousa & R. Reus dos Santos 18196 (NY, UB, US); Distrito Federal: Reserva Ecológica do IBGE. Planta bastante delgada, capítulos alvacententos, beira da mata das nascentes de córrego Taquara, 23 June 1983, B.A.S. Pereira 587 (IBGE, US); Distrito Federal: Reserva Ecológica do IBGE, mata ciliar do córrego Roncador, 15°58'06"S, 47°53'43"W, erva ca. 1.2 m de altura, botão floral de cor verde, flores de cor rosa, 12 June 1989, D. Alvarenga & F.C.A. Oliveira 298 (IBGE, US); Goiás: Alto Paraíso, rod. Para Nova Roma, Pedra Ruim, capítulos alvos, transição campo cerrado-rupestra, 13 June 1993, G. & M. Hatschbach 59488 & Barbosa (MBM, US); Minas Gerais: Est. ecologica UFMG- BHMG, mata, beira da trilha, 13 July 1990, E. Tameirão Neto 85 & Glauco (BHCB 22.876, US); Est. ecologica UFMG- BHMG, cerrado, escandente voluvel, 16 May 1990, E.M. Santos 25 et alii (UFMG, US); Minas Gerais: Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, margens do rio Mato Grande, 15°119'06"S, 45°59'09"W, erva, annual, approx. 60 cm compr., capitulos arroxeados, 29 Apr. 1999, R. Rodrigues-da-Silva, T.S. Filgueras & F.C.A. Oliveira 259 (IBGE, US).

The obvious stipitate glands on the peduncles are distinctive. In Brazil, similar glands are seen elsewhere only in Fleischmannia microstemon var. paniculatum H.Rob. described below.