Burmeistera quimiensis Mashburn & Á.J.Pérez, 2020

Mashburn, Brock, Pérez, Álvaro J., Persson, Claes, Zapata, Nicolás, Cevallos, Daniela & Muchhala, Nathan, 2020, Burmeistera quimiensis (Lobelioideae, Campanulaceae): A new species from the Cordillera del Cóndor range in southeast Ecuador, Phytotaxa 433 (1), pp. 67-74 : 68-72

Burmeistera quimiensis Mashburn & Á.J.Pérez , sp. nov. Figures 1–3 .

Type:— ECUADOR. Morona Santiago: Cantón Gualaquiza, Parroquia Bomboiza, Reserva Biológica El Quimi, cumbre de la meseta de El Quimi, suelos de arenisca, sendero y alrededores entre el campamento Río Cristalino y la frontera con Perú, 1900–2200 m, 03°31’05”S, 78°23’28”W, 24 January 2019 (fl, fr), Á. J. Pérez, C. Persson, N. Zapata & W. Santillán 11518 (holotype, QCA!; isotype, MO!) .

Diagnosis: — Burmeistera quimiensis is differentiated from all other species of Burmeistera in its unique combination of: red-violet stems and veins; spiral phyllotaxy; ascending, bullate leaves with a revolute margin; puberulous abaxial leaf surface; cupuliform hypanthium; and white to red-violet fruits.

Herbaceous shrubs with 1–5 erect stems, reaching ca. 1 m in height. Latex white. Stems 3–6 mm wide throughout, red-violet, puberulous, basally defoliated. Leaves alternate, spiral, ascending, bullate, drying with a dark-violet tinge, the internodes 15–25 mm long; petioles 5–10 mm long, red-violet, puberulous; lamina 35–70 × 10–27 mm, elliptic to obovate, the base attenuate, the apex obtuse to rounded, the margin shallow callose-dentate, revolute, the teeth intramarginal; adaxial surface dark green, sometimes tinged dark violet, glabrous, glossy; abaxial surface lighter green with red-violet veins, puberulous; venation rectipinnate, sometimes branching just before the margin, the primary and secondary veins prominently raised, the tertiary veins visible. Flowers 25–31 mm long, solitary in the upper leaf axils; pedicels at anthesis ca. 60 mm long, ascending, in fruit 70–80 mm long, reflexed, pale green to red-violet, glabrous to puberulous; hypanthium 5–6 × 4.5–6 mm, cupuliform, light green tinged with red-violet, glabrous, the ridges smooth; calyx lobes 3–5 × 1–2 mm, ascending to patent at anthesis, deltate to ligulate, light green tinged with red-violet, glabrous, the margin shallow callose-serrate with 5–11 teeth, red-violet, the apex obtuse; corolla basally red-violet, becoming pale green distally, glabrous; corolla tube 3–4 mm wide basally, the throat narrowing to 2–3 mm wide; corolla lobes ligulate, the margins smooth, the two dorsal lobes 10–13 × 2–3.5 mm, falcate, arched forwards, the dorsal sinus 12–15 mm from the corolla base, the two lateral lobes 7–8 × 2–3 mm, falcate, slightly recurved, the ventral lobe 5–6 × 3–4 mm, slightly recurved, the ventral sinus 7–10 mm from the corolla base; androecium 19–25 mm long, exserted 12–16 mm from the ventral opening, the filament tube pale red-violet, puberulous with white hairs, the anther tube ca. 7 × 3 mm, violet, puberulous with tan hairs, all five anther tips glabrous to sparsely pubescent; the style and stigma unknown. Fruits ca. 30 × 30 mm, globose, thick-walled, spongy, entirely white to red-violet; seeds 0.5-0.9 mm long, elliptic, light brown, the surface shallowly foveate.

Etymology and discovery: —The specific epithet refers to the Reserva Biológica El Quimi which encompasses a portion of the Cordillera del Cóndor in southeast Ecuador. The first collection of this species was made in 1993 during a Rapid Assessment Program to the Cordillera del Cóndor. This trip was the first scientific exploration of the area by researchers from Conservation International and Escuela Politécnica Nacional, and the team was supported by the Ecuadorian Army. The group named the collecting area ‘Achupallas Camp’ for the dominance of the many terrestrial bromeliads ( Schulenberg & Awbrey 1997). Alwyn H. Gentry, the leading botanist of the expedition, made one collection of this species ( Figure 2 ). More recently, botanical fieldwork was carried out in and around El Quimi Biological Reserve in January 2019. The team was led by botanists from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (Herbarium QCA) with support from the University of Göteborg (Herbarium GB). The expedition resulted in the first collections of flowering material, which allowed for the description of this species.

Distribution, habitat and ecology: —Specimens of B. quimiensis have only been collected from the Cordillera del Cóndor, a chain of mountains running 150 km north-south along the border of Ecuador and Peru ( Figure 3 ). This mountain range is isolated from the main Andean range and is geologically distinct, formed with an intermixture of limestone, quartzitic sandstone, and igneous rock of the Hollín Formation ( Gregory-Wodzicki 2000; Neill 2005). Individual mountains jut up from the surrounding forest, effectively creating geological islands with distinct forest patches.As a result, B. quimiensis is endemic and thus far only known from forests within and immediately surrounding El Quimi Biological Reserve in the Cordillera del Cóndor region. The geology of these mountains is similar to the tepuis of the Guyana shield in northwest South America. In fact, a number of angiosperm genera once thought to be endemic to the tepuis of the Guyana shield have also been found along the Cordillera del Cóndor ( Berry et al. 1995; Schulenberg & Awbrey 1997).

The ecosystem of the Cordillera del Cóndor is an open tepui-like bromeliad sward and elfin forest at 1900–2200 m, with a hyper-humid environment on wet soil covered by abundant organic matter. According to the Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador (2015), this locality lies within a much larger zone dominated by evergreen mountain forest with sandstone plains surrounding the Cordillera del Cóndor (bosque siempreverde montano sobre mesetas de arenisca de la Cordillera del Cóndor, BsMa01).

The location of the Cordillera del Cóndor along the border of Ecuador and Peru indicates that B. quimiensis may also occur in Peru. If so, the species would likely occur within Ichigkat Muja—Cordillera del Cóndor National Park in Peru, which borders El Quimi Biological Reserve along the Ecuador-Peru border. However, to date the only known collections of this species come from within and around El Quimi Biological Reserve in Ecuador, a protected area that was officially designated in 2006.

Burmeistera quimiensis joins Burmeistera draconis Á.J.Pérez & Muchhala in Vallejo et al. (2018: 267) and Burmeistera zamorensis Muchhala & Á.J.Pérez (2015: 36) as the only species with ranges restricted to south of the Girón-Paute Valley.

Phenology: — Burmeistera quimiensis has been collected with flowers in January and with fruits in January, July, and December. This species is likely similar to most Burmeistera by flowering year-round, though more collections are necessary for verification.

Conservation status:—This extremely rare species is only known from the broad plateau with quartzitic sandstones of the Hollín Formation in and around the El Quimi Biological Reserve, a protected area of 9276 hectares. The surrounding areas are currently threatened by an ongoing open-pit copper mine of the ‘Mirador Project’, which has already caused deforestation of an area of about 1300 hectares ( Mazabanda et al. 2018 (interactive maps), Vandegrift et al. 2018). Given this, we proposed ranking this species as Vulnerable (Vu).

Discussion: —Despite being known from only a handful of collections, the distinctive morphology of B. quimiensis sets it apart from any other species of Burmeistera . However, this fact also makes it difficult to determine its closest relatives without performing molecular analysis. The flowers of B. quimiensis are similar in size to those of Burmeistera zamorensis , which occurs south of B. quimiensis in Zamora-Chinchipe province. These two species are easily differentiated with vegetative features: the leaves of B. zamorensis are ovate-lanceolate with a long drip tip, while those of B. quimiensis are obovate with an obtuse to rounded apex. A few other species of Burmeistera in Ecuador have white fruits, including Burmeistera huacamayensis Jeppesen (1981: 22) , which has also been collected in Morona-Santiago province.Again, these species can be differentiated easily with vegetative characters: the leaves of B. huacamayensis are narrowly lanceolate with a long drip tip, while those of B. quimiensis are obovate with an obtuse to rounded apex.

Additional specimens examined: — ECUADOR. Morona Santiago:Cantón Gualaquiza,CampamentoAchupallas, Cordillera del Cóndor, 15 km east of Gualaquiza , 2090 m, 03°27’S, 78°22’W, 21 July 1993, A. Gentry 80302 ( MO!) ; Cantón Gualaquiza, Cordillera del Cóndor, cresta de la Cordillera, arriba del Valle de Río Quimi , 2000 m, 03°30’45”S, 78°24’33”W, 11 December 2000, M. Cuascota et al. 268 ( MO!) ; Cantón Gualaquiza, Parroquia Bomboiza, Reserva Biológica El Quimi, sendero y alrededores entre el campamento Río Cristalino y la frontera con Perú, sector de El Laberinto, 1900–2200 m, 03°31’05”S, 78°23’28”W, 24 January 2019, N. Zapata et al. 553 ( QCA!, MO!) ; Cantón Gualaquiza, Parroquia Bomboiza, Reserva Biológica El Quimi, sendero y alrededores entre el campamento Río Cristalino y la frontera con Perú, sector de El Laberinto, 1900–2200 m, 03°31’05”S, 78°23’28”W, 24 January 2019, Á. J. Pérez et al. 11442 ( QCA!, MO!) ; Cantón Gualaquiza, Parroquia Bomboiza, Reserva Biológica El Quimi, sendero y alrededores entre el campamento Río Cristalino y la frontera con Perú, 1900–2200 m, 03°31’05”S, 78°23’28”W, 26 January 2019, N. Zapata et al. 564 ( QCA!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Burmeistera quimiensis Mashburn & Á.J.Pérez, sp. nov. A. View of adaxial leaf surface and erect flowers. B. Lateral view of a flower in male stage with pollen load at anther tube orifice. C. Ventral view of a flower in male stage with pollen load at anther tube orifice. D. View of red-violet veins on abaxial leaf surface and red-violet fruits. E. View of white fruits and reflexed position of the fruits. A, B, D, E from AP 11518, C from AP 11442. Photographs by Álvaro J. Pérez.

FIGURE 2. The first known collection of Burmeistera quimiensis made by Alwyn Gentry on July 21, 1993, during his last field trip.

FIGURE 3. Collections of Burmeistera quimiensis along the Cordillera del Cóndor range in Morona-Santiago province, Ecuador.