Hechtia reticulata L.B.Sm. (Smith 1937)

Flores-Argueelles, Alejandra, Hernandez-Cardenas, Rodrigo Alejandro, Rosales-Martinez, Santiago, Espejo-Serna, Adolfo, Lopez-Ferrari, Ana Rosa & Siekkinen, Andrew, 2024, Two new species of Hechtia (Bromeliaceae; Hechtioideae) from Jalisco, Mexico, Plant Ecology and Evolution 157 (1), pp. 20-31 : 20

Hechtia reticulata L.B.Sm. (Smith 1937)

Figs 1 , 3 , 5

Type.

Mexico - Colima • Manzanillo [along the ocean just above high tide and extending back to the base of the mountains, 2 to 18 Mar. 1891 (see Rose 1895)]; E. Palmer 1352; holotype: GH [GH00275619]; isotypes: F [V0077707F, V0077708F] , US [00089102, 01095364].

Epitype (designated here).

Mexico - Colima • Manzanillo, ca 3 km sobre el camino La Central-Peña Blanca, a partir de la carretera Manzanillo-Cihuatlán; 19°07 ’57.9” N, 104°26 ’54.6” W; 200 m; 19 Jul. 2022; R. Hernández-Cárdenas, A. Flores-Argüelles & S. Lara-Godínez 2618 ♀; UAMIZ [8 sheets: UAMIZ89782, UAMIZ89783, UAMIZ89784, UAMIZ89785, UAMIZ89786, UAMIZ89787, UAMIZ89788, UAMIZ89789].

Description.

Plants saxicolous or terrestrial, in flower 170-360 cm tall, rosettes 80-100 cm tall, 60-80 cm diameter, solitary or forming clumps of 3-6 rosettes. Leaves 10-20, recurved towards the apex; sheaths purplish-grey, whitish-brown to yellowish-white when dry, widely depressed ovate to widely ovate, 7-10 cm long, 7-11 cm wide, with minute marginal sharp teeth, glabrous near the base and lepidote distally on the abaxial surface, glabrous on the adaxial surface; blades purplish-green to greyish-purple, pale brown when dry, narrowly triangular, 65-85 cm long, 3.5-5.5 cm wide at the base, long attenuate, lepidote on the abaxial surface, glabrous on the adaxial surface, margin with divaricate to ascending sharp teeth, yellowish-brown, 5-7 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, 2-3 cm apart. Inflorescences terminal, erect, once branched in pistillate plants, twice branched in staminate plants. Staminate inflorescence 190-210 cm tall; peduncle green, brown when dry, terete, 1.1-1.3 cm diameter, sparsely lepidote, internodes 5-8 cm long; peduncle bracts whitish-grey to greenish-grey, whitish-brown when dry, foliaceous, sheaths triangular, 1-2 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, lepidote on both surfaces, hyaline at the margin and with minute marginal sharp teeth, blades linear, 4-16 cm long, 0.6-1 cm wide, decreasing in size distally, lepidote on both surfaces, entire and spinose, the basal ones larger than the internodes, the upper ones shorter; primary bracts greenish-brown, whitish-brown when dry, triangular to narrowly triangular, 1.5-4 cm long, 0.4-1 cm wide when extended, caudate, entire, hyaline, erose to spinose at the margin, lepidote on both surfaces; primary spikes 35-40, terete, 15-25 cm long, 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter; secondary spikes 40-50, terete, 6-10 cm long, 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter; floral bracts brown in living material and dry, triangular to widely ovate, 3.8-4.2 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, longer than the pedicels, apiculate to acute, entire to erose at the margin, glabrous on both surfaces. Staminate flowers numerous; pedicels 0.8-1.1 mm long; sepals greenish-brown, whitish-brown when dry, ovate to widely ovate, 2.3-2.7 mm long, 2-2.3 mm wide, obtuse, entire, glabrous on both surfaces; petals white, whitish-brown when dry, oblong, 4.5-4.8 mm long, 3.1-3.5 mm wide, obtuse at the apex, entire, glabrous on both surfaces; stamens equal in length; filaments white, narrowly oblong, flattened, 4.1-4.7 mm long; anthers green, brown to pale green when dry, oblong, 1.8-2.2 mm long, versatile; pistillode conspicuous, white rose, brown when dry, glabrous. Pistillate inflorescence 250-260 cm long; peduncle green, brown when dry, terete, 1.9-2 cm in diameter, glabrous, internodes 2-6 cm long; peduncle bracts greenish-grey to brownish-grey, greyish-white when dry, foliaceous, sheaths triangular, 1-2.5 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, glabrous on both surfaces, hyaline and spinose at the margin, blades linear to narrowly oblong, lepidote on both surfaces, entire, the basal ones larger than the internodes, the upper ones shorter; primary bracts brown, triangular, 1.5-3 cm long, 0.4-0.6 cm wide when extended, caudate, entire, hyaline and spinose at the margin, glabrous on the adaxial surface, lepidote on the abaxial surface; primary spikes 30-40, terete, 8-30 cm long, 1.5-1.8 cm in diameter; floral bracts whitish-green, whitish-brown when dry, triangular, 3.7-4.2 mm long, 2.9-3.3 mm wide, longer than the pedicels, acute, entire to erose at the margin, glabrous on the adaxial surface, lepidote on the abaxial surface. Pistillate flowers numerous; pedicels 2-2.5 mm long, sulcate; sepals brownish-green in living material, whitish-brown when dry, very widely ovate, 2.3-2.7 mm long, 2.2-2.5 mm wide, acute, entire, glabrous on both surfaces; petals white, brown when dry, lanceolate, 4.2-4.8 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, acuminate, entire, glabrous on both surfaces; staminodes rudimentary, white, narrowly triangular, 3.2-3.6 mm long; ovary superior, green, brown when dry, oblong, 4-4.4 mm long, 2-2.4 mm diameter, glabrous; stylar branches white, brown when dry, recurved, slender, 1.7-2 mm long, stigma papillose. Capsules brownish-dark when dry, ovoid, 7.5-11 mm long, 3-6.4 mm in diameter, with prominent longitudinal ridges or creases, glabrous; seeds reddish-brown, fusiform, 3.7-6.4 mm long, caudate.

Distribution, habitat, and ecology.

Hechtia reticulata is only known from the municipality of Manzanillo in the state of Colima and belongs to the Pacific Lowlands biogeographic province (Figs 3 , 5 ). It grows on rocky slopes in tropical deciduous forests forming colonies along with Agave colimana , Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng., Pilosocereus purpusii (Britton & Rose) F.M.Knuth, and other species at elevations from sea level to around 200 m.

Phenology.

Hechtia reticulata blooms from July to August.

Additional material examined.

MEXICO - Colima • Rocky cliffs southern end of Manzanillo Bay, vicinity of Manzanillo ; 28 Nov. 1925; R.S. Ferris 6111 ♀; GH • Manzanillo , ca 3 km sobre el camino La Central-Pena Blanca , a partir de la carretera Manzanillo-Cihuatlán; 19°07 ’57.9” N, 104°26 ’54.6” W; 200 m; 19 Jul. 2022; R. Hernández-Cárdenas, A. Flores-Argüelles & S. Lara-Godínez 2619 ♂; UAMIZ • ca 3 km sobre el camino La Central-Peña Blanca, a partir de la carretera Manzanillo-Cihuatlán; 19°07 ’57.9” N, 104°26 ’54.6” W; 200 m; 6 May 2023; A. Flores-Argüelles & G. Contreras-Félix 1735 ♀; IBUG, UAMIZ .

Notes.

The type specimens of Hechtia reticulata (holotype and isotypes) are composed only of fragments of mature pistillate inflorescences, collected by Edward Palmer in March 1891 so, in order to facilitate the precise application of the name, it was important to designate an epitype that included complete and representative material of the species. Specimens of Hechtia reticulata have been misidentified as H. laevis or H. laxissima . Nevertheless, H. reticulata differs from H. laevis in the length of the leaf sheath (7-10 vs 4-4.5 cm), in the size of the leaf blade (65-85 × 3.5-5.5 vs 20-60 × 2.5-3 cm), in the arrangement of the staminate inflorescence (once to twice branched vs once branched), in the length of its pedicels (0.8-1.1 vs 1.5-3 mm), and in the size of the floral bract of the pistillate inflorescence (3.7-4.2 × 2.9-3.3 vs 2 × 0.3-0.5 mm). Hechtia reticulata differs from H. laxissima in the number of leaves (10-20 vs> 20), in the length of the leaf blade (65-85 vs 40 cm), in the length of the sepals of the pistillate inflorescence (2.3-2.7 mm vs 3), and in the shape of its petals (lanceolate vs ovate). Hechtia reticulata is also similar to H. costalegrensis and H. pacifica , with which they were compared in this work. For more details, see Table 1 . Lyman B. Smith described the fruits of H. reticulata as "capsula carpellis grosse irregulariterque reticulatis". However, in all the examined specimens, including the types, the fruits are not reticulate. McVaugh (1989) noticed the same and mentioned that "I have not seen the holotype, but in other fruiting specimens (Ferris 6111) the carpels are not reticulate in the ordinary sense; they are provided with prominent longitudinal ridges (nerves) that are weakly and irregularly connected by smaller lateral nerves". These ridges or creases could be due to the maturation or dehydration of the fruits and were also observed in the carpels of H. pacifica .

Figures

Figure 1. Type specimens of Hechtia reticulata. A. E. Palmer 1352 (holotype: GH). B. E. Palmer 1352 (isotype: US). C - D. E. Palmer 1352 (isotypes: F).

Figure 3. Distribution map of Hechtia chamelensis, H. costalegrensis, H. ibugana, H. iltisii, H. jaliscana, H. laevis, H. pacifica, H. pedicellata, H. reticulata, H. santanae, and H. subalata. Biogeographic provinces according to Morrone et al. (2017).

Figure 5. Hechtia reticulata. A - C. Plants at the type locality. D. Detail of the rosettes. E. Detail of the staminate spike. F. Staminate flower. F 1. Floral bract. F 2. Sepals. F 3. Petals. F 4. Stamens. G. Detail of the pistillate spike. H. Pistillate flower. H 1. Floral bract. H 2. Sepals. H 3. Petals. H 4. Pistil. Photographs A-C by Alejandra Flores-Argueelles; D-H by Rodrigo Hernandez-Cardenas.