Ophryosporus floribundus (DC.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Phytologia 25: 66. 1972

Merklinger, Felix F. & Luebert, Federico, 2020, Notes on the genus Ophryosporus (Asteraceae, Eupatorieae) in Chile, PhytoKeys 161, pp. 61-77 : 61

Ophryosporus floribundus (DC.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Phytologia 25: 66. 1972

Basionym: Piqueria floribunda DC., Prodr. 5: 105. 1836.

Type.

Peru. "Perou cordilliere, 1834, T.P.X. Haenke s.n. (holotype: G-DC [G00130596, photo!]; isotype: P [P00742191, photo!]).

This taxon is cited for Chile in Muñoz-Schick et al. (2001), Pinto and Luebert (2009), Zuloaga et al. (2008) and Rodríguez et al. (2018) based on four specimens. Three of them were collected by R. Pinto in the late 1990s at three coastal localities in northern Chile, Alto Chipana, Punta Lobos and Punta Gruesa (Pinto, s.n., SGO 142948, SGO 142949 and SGO 142950). Recent field work at the coastal localities has not resulted in any collections that match the type of O. floribundus. Rather we found plants that we identified as O. anomalus , another species that has been reported for this area ( Johnston 1932) and has been only sporadically collected since. The type of O. floribundus has opposite, solitary leaves and long internodes of about 3-4 cm in length. The type of O. anomalus has crowded leaves that are borne in fascicles and with very short internodes. The leaves of the Chilean coastal specimens assigned to O. floribundus vary in size and shape, some corresponding well to the type of O. anomalus being narrowly oblanceolate and with entire margins and an obtuse apex, others becoming more broadly lanceolate to triangular with dentate margins and an acute apex thus remotely resembling O. floribundus but actually more similar to those of O. triangularis . On younger shoots the leaves appear more or less opposite but generally they are borne in fascicles. The cypselae of the plants on both sheets of the type specimen of O. anomalus (Cuming 953, K) bear quite visible, slightly spreading squamellate pappus setae, while no pappus is recorded for O. floribundus. We therefore conclude that O. floribundus is restricted to Peru from the area of Lima, while the coastal plants in northern Chile should be referred to O. anomalus .

Specimens examined.

Peru. Dept. Amazonas: Purruchuca [sic], s.a., Mathews, A. 1015 (G). Dept. Lima: Prov. Canta, road from Canta to Lima below San José turnoff towards Lima, 11.49383S, 76.65187W, 2322 m, 1 Mar 2018, M. Weigend & K.A. Peña Ramos 9719 (BONN); road from Canta to Lima, road down from Canta to turn off San José, 11.49383S, 76.65187W, 2322 m, 1 Mar 2018, M. Weigend & K.A. Peña Ramos 9722 (BONN). Prov. Huarochiri, between Matucana and Tambo, 26 Dec 1901, Weberbauer, A. 115 (G); Matucana, c. 2400 m, 25 May 1940, E. Asplund 11072 (S); Matucana, c. 2600 m, 25 May 1940, E. Asplund 11079 (S).