Cypella guttata Deble & F.S.Alves, 2015

Deble, Leonardo Paz, Alves, Fabiano Da Silva, González, Andrés & Deble, Anabela Silveira De Oliveira, 2015, Three new species of Cypella (Iridaceae) from South America, and taxonomic delimitation of C. suffusa Ravenna, Phytotaxa 236 (2), pp. 101-120 : 105-109

Cypella guttata Deble & F.S.Alves , sp. nov. ( Figs. 3 , 4, 5D–F )

Cypella guttata is closely related to C. herbertii but it can be distinguished by its smaller flowers, stamens with filaments narrower, tape-shaped, fused only in the base, and shorter crests of style branches. From C. lapidosa , this new species differs mainly by its golden-yellow flowers, with central concavity with purplish-brown spots, stamens with broad connective, and filaments tape-shaped, gradually thickened toward the base.

Type:— URUGUAY. Artigas: Sarandy de Arapey, “cerca de 11 km nordeste da vila de Sarandy de Arapey, 30° 57’ 45.22”S and 56° 06’ 09.75”O, 22 October 2014, L. P. Deble, A. S. de Oliveira & F. S. Alves 14991 (holotype MVFA! Isotype SI! ICN!)

Plant up to 20–60 cm high above the soil, underground stems up to 20 cm long. Bulb nearly globose or ovoid, often compressed, 25–40 × 25–35 mm, prolonged in a collar up to 13 cm; cataphylls dark-brown, broadly ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate. Leaves at anthesis 2–7, blades elliptic-lanceolate 18–35 × 0.5–1.2 cm. Cauline leaf elliptic-ensiform, 12.5–18 × 0.5–1 cm, base sheathing the stem. Flowering stems 12–45 cm long, geniculate, furcate in distal third. Spathes 2–8 per branch, 2.7–3.4 × 0.3–0.4 cm, herbaceous, pallid-green, bivalved, one-flowered, pedunculate, peduncles 1.6–4.5 cm long; outer valve 1.4–1.9 cm long, the inner 2.7–3.4 cm long, both with membranous and hyaline edges covered with sparse parallel dark brown longitudinal glandular strips; pedicel filiform, 2.5–3.5 cm long. Flowers golden-yellow, shiny, the concave part densely stained with red-brown, and 33–40 mm diameter; central concavity 12–14 mm diameter, and 6–8 mm deeper. Tepals whorls sharply dissimilar: outer tepals oblong, 28–33 mm long, golden-yellow, yellow veined, concave at the base for 8–9 mm, lightly patent distally; blades yellow, with sparse spots in the proximal half, 20–25 × 10–12 mm, slightly patent with margin undulate and facing down, apices truncate or rounded, apiculate; claws broadly cuneate, 9–10 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide at the base, and 8.5–9.5 mm wide at the apex, dull-yellow, densely covered by red spots. Inner tepals geniculate-recurved, 8–9 mm long, the proximal half patent, slightly inclinate, then curved upward, the distal one-third incurved and strongly reclinate; blades 7–8 mm wide, golden-yellow, with a white-cream central depression densely covered with glandular trichomes at the base, surrounded by a lateral high part, golden-yellow with reddish-brown parallel stripes and stains; claws cuneate, 4.5–5.5 mm long, 2–2.2 mm wide at the base, and 4–5 mm wide at the apex, dull-yellow, translucent, with reddish-brown or red stripes and spots. Filaments tape-shaped 4.5–5 mm long, slightly porrect, white-cream, base thickened, with red stripes, attached for 0.5–0.8 mm; anthers broadly oblong 5.5–6 × 2.2–2.5 mm; connective dull-yellow, 2–2.2 mm, locules darker, pollen dark-grey. Ovary pallid-green, 5–6 mm × 1.7–2.1 mm. Style 7.5–8.5 mm long. Style branches channeled, porrect, 4.5–5 mm long, crests at the apex 3, translucent and golden-yellow, adaxial crests lanceolate, 2.5–3.5 mm long, abaxial crest deltate, at apex shortly bifid, 1–1.4 mm long. Capsule oblong, 14–20 mm × 6.5–10 mm. Seeds oblong to obconical, 2.8–3.5 mm long, angulate, reddish-brown, epidermis papillose striate.

Phenology:—Specimens with flowers and capsules can be found between October–November, and February. The flowers bloom in the sunrise and wither mid-morning. In cloudy days the flowers remain opened up to midday.

Etymology:—From the Latin “ guttatus ” that means spot-painted, and refers to perigone with central concavity with red-brown spots.

Additional specimen examined (paratypes):— BRAZIL. Santana do Livramento: road BR 293 , along the Sarandy stream, 30° 34’ 33,38” S and 56° 03’ 48,92” W, 23 October 2014, L. P. Deble, A. S. de Oliveira-Deble & F. S. Alves 14490 ( SI! MVFA!) ; in the sources of Quaraí river , 30° 53’ 49,19” S and 55° 41’ 29,00” W, 15 November 2014, L. P. Deble, A. S. de Oliveira-Deble & F. S. Alves 14992 ( SI!) ; “no campo rochoso, entre os arroios Sarandi e Mata-Olho , próximo a rodovia federal— BR 293 ”, 30° 34’ 41.31”S and 56° 02’ 25.28”W, 16 February 2010, L. P. Deble & A. S. Oliveira-Deble 12994 ( PACA!) . URUGUAY. Rivera: “ruta UY 30, 31° 05’ 23,15” S y 55° 58’ 59,54” W, cercanias de Masoller”, 10 October 2012, L. P. Deble & A. S. de Oliveira-Deble 14228 ( PACA!) .

Distribution and habitat:— Cypella guttata occurs in Artigas and Rivera Departments, Northern Uruguay, and adjacent areas in the border with Rio Grande do Sul State Brazil. This species is probably endemic to the middle portion of “Cuesta de Haedo” geomorphological unit (see Müller Filho 1970, IBGE 1986), developing in the cracks among volcanic rocks belonging to “Serra Geral” geological formation (see Gordon Júnior 1947, PAULIPETRO 1981, Melfi et al. 1988). The specimens occur in elevation range between 200–380 m, growing in small rivers among rocks and in flooded river banks. Cypella guttata is more one species of the genus occurring in these habitats, the others three species with similar habitat are C. aquatilis Ravenna (1981a: 489) , C. rivularis Chauveau & L.Eggers in Chauveau et al. (2014: 36), and C. herbertii ( Herbert 1825: 2599) Herbert (1826: 2637) ; this last species occurs in sympatry with C. guttata , however, no intermediate forms were observed.

Conservation status:— Cypella guttata occurs in less than 100 km ² and the area of occupancy is smaller than 10 km 2, moreover the populations are composed by few individuals and require highly specific habitats in small rivers among rocks and in flooded river banks. According to the IUCN Red List assessment protocol ( IUCN 2013), the species can be assigned to Critically Endangered (CR, B1a, b(iii) + B2a, b(iii) + D) category.

Taxonomic relationships:— Cypella guttata belongs sect. Cypella (sensu Ravenna 1981a, 1981b, 2003, 2009), and it is closely related to C. herbertii and C. lapidosa Ravenna (1981b: 21) . It can be distinguished from the first species by its smaller flowers, with central depression painted with red spots, narrower filaments, style branches with shorter adaxial crests, and small transverse stigmatic surface of the abaxial crest. From C. lapidosa , the new species is separated mainly by its broader leaves, flowers with central depression painted with red spots, and tape-shaped filaments.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Cypella gutatta. A. Habit. B. Distal branch. C. Flower and spathe, lateral view. D. Flower, upper view. E. Flowers, tepals removed F. Inner tepal, lateral view. G. Spathe with immature capsule H. Capsule. I. Seed. J. Cauline leaf. K. Distal bract. L. Crests of the style branches. (A–L from L.P. Deble et al. 14991).

FIGURE 5. Cypella aurinegra. A. flower, upper view. B. flower, lateral view. C. Detail of stamens and style. Cypella gutatta. D. Flower, upper view. E. Flower, lateral view. F. Detail of stamens and style (A–B from L.P. Deble et al. 15105; C from González 2250; D from L.P. Deble et al. 14990; E–F from L.P. Deble et al. 14991).