Passiflora rogitamensis Molinari, Kuethe & Bernal, 2024

Kuethe, J. R., Bernal, Hernan Dario, Molinari, Miguel & Vecchia, Maurizio, 2024, Validating the names of three species of Passiflora from the northern portion of South America, Phytotaxa 663 (2), pp. 77-89 : 82-83

Passiflora rogitamensis Molinari, Kuethe & Bernal sp. nov. ( Fig. 4 ).

Type: — COLOMBIA. Boyacá: Arcabuco, Reserva Natural de la Sociedad Civil Rogitama , 05°47’24”N, 73°27’26.29”W, 2470 m. a.s.l., 4 October 2019, (fl., fr.) M. Molinari s.n. (holotype: JBB32921!; isotypes: COL) .

Diagnosis: — Passiflora rogitamensis is similar to P. longipes but differs in the colour of the corona (white vs. purple), shape and size of the stipules (oblong,> 3 cm vs. ovate, <3 cm), and the shape of the fruit (long ellipsoid vs. ovate-ovoid). It also differs notably in the shape and size of the leaves, which are linear oblong to lanceolate (up to 16 cm), but ovate to oblong-ovate (up to 8 cm) in P. longipes .

Description: —climbing vine, 5–8 m long, glabrous throughout, woody at base, younger parts occasionally somewhat glaucous. Stems terete, reddish-purple to green, internodal distance 5–16 cm. Stipules 2.5–4.2 × 1.1–2.3 cm, semi-ovate or oblong, rounded or obtuse at base, sharp acute or aristulate at apex, margin entire, deep green with reddish venation. Petioles 1.4–2.5 cm long, terete, bearing 4 or 6 subopposite conspicuous nectaries within the apical quarter of the petiole length, the glands stipitate, very slightly globose at the tip, 1–2 mm in length, green. Leaf blade 6–16 × 2.1–4 cm, linear oblong to lanceolate, obtuse or rounded to semi-rounded at base, acute to acuminate at apex, margin entire, foliar texture coriaceous to chartaceous, deep green and glabrous on both sides, often with reddish purple venation at underneath. Inflorescence solitary, very showy, borne on long peduncles. Peduncles 6–14 cm long, slender, pendent, green to reddish purple, articulate 1–1.5 cm beneath the base of the flower. Bracts 1.8–2.1 × 1.8–2 cm, triangular to triangular-ovate, obtuse to cuneate at base, acute and mucronulate at apex, margins minutely serrated, reddish purple to light green. Flowers 13–14 cm in diameter, deep fuchsia pink; hypanthium 0.7–1 × 2.3–2.7 cm, campanulate, green with purple outside, whitish-yellow inside; sepals 6.0–6.5 × 1.2–1.3 cm, linear-oblong to linear, obtuse at apex, greenish yellowish abaxially, bright deep pink adaxially,, dorsally corniculate, awn 4–10 mm long, green, thin; petals 4.7–5.3 × 0.8–1 cm, subequal to the sepals, lanceolate-oblong to linear-oblong, slightly concave at apex, deep fuchsia pink on both sides, membranous; corona composed of 6–9 closely spaced filamentose series, whitish purplish to white becoming darker purple at base; outer series the shortest, 2–5 mm long, filiform, deep purple to lavender, outfacing; intermediate series becoming progressively longer in length, 1.3–2.1 cm, purple at base soon becoming whitish distally, filiform, erect; inner series hidden, 6–8 mm, inclined towards the androgynophore, pinkish lavender to pinkish; operculum 6–7 mm long, membranous, cleft nearly to base into clavate segments, greenish becoming purple distally, upper margin crenulate, terminating into dorsally attached filiform appendages,; limen whitish to whitish green, membranous, inclined upwards towards the base of the androgynophore, not spotted; androgynophore 3.8–4.6 cm long, whitish to yellow speckled with pink; anthers 7–9 mm long, pale yellow; ovary 1.31.5 × 3–5 mm, ovoid to obovoid, glabrous, green with very pale white specks. Fruit 4.5–7 × 2.5–4 cm, ellipsoid, terminating in an elongated semi-acute tip on both ends, glaucous, light green to yellowish green when mature with slightly mottled white variegation, inedible; mesocarp white; arils dark grey. Seeds black [not measured].

Phenology: — Passiflora rogitamensis was found in flower in December and January and with fruit in January to March.

Etymology: — Passiflora rogitamensis is named after the Rogitama Biological Reserve in Colombia. This was the location where it was first collected by Miguel Molinari who introduced the species under this name.

Distribution: — Passiflora rogitamensis is known only from the Departments of Boyaca and Santander, northeast Colombia, where it was found near to the cities of Arcabuco and Tunja ( Fig. 1 ). It is commonly sighted in the dense cloud forest reserve of its namesake Reserva Rogitama Biodiversidad in Boyaca department, where it grows at elevations between 2000 and 2750 m above sea level. Another notable population was seen in the Paramo de Iguaque near to the city of Tunja. It grows as a moderate to large, tendrillate vine in the undergrowth of dense rain and cloud forest. It was reported by the collectors that this species rarely (if ever) grows in direct sunlight.

Conservation: —There have been several occurrences of Passiflora rogitamensis reported on public science websites such as iNaturalist or Flickr, indicating a moderate to high abundance of this species within its natural habitat. The largest population of P. rogitamensis is seen within the Rogitama Biological Reserve, which is a protected forest reserve that should help protect this species’ longterm survival. AOO is 3150 km 2, EOO is 24 km 2, scaling the species as Endangered (EN) criteria B1, B2civ and D.

Paratypes: — COLOMBIA. Boyacá. Arcabuco, Reserva Rogitama , 2450 m, 16 October 2004, G. Morales- Lizcano 6369 ( JBB) ; Rogitama Reserve near to Arcabuco, Vereda Peñas Blancas , Hacienda Las Delicias , 05°46’56″N, 73°26’37″W, 2300 m.a.s.l., 11 May 1996, (fl.) J.L. Fernández-Alonso 14097 ( COL) ; Arcabuco, Via que conduce a Bucaramanga. “La Cumbre”, 2300 m, 22 May 1980, (fl.) J.E. Valencia 11 ( COL) ; ibid., Via Arcabuco-Moniquira , cañon de Arcabuco, 2600 m.a.s.l., 14 May 1996, J.L. Fernández-Alonso 14235 ( COL) ; Duitama, Trayecto entre la vereda El Carmen y Virolín , páramo La Rusia , 05°57′58″N, 73°09′57″W, 1900 m.a.s.l., 21 November 1994, (fl.) J.L. Fernández-Alonso 12097 ( COL, MA) ; Santander. Floridablanca, between Tona and El Doce , 07°07′18″N, 73°04′37″W, 1750 m.a.s.l., 21 June 2004, J.L. Fernández-Alonso 21527 ( COL) ; Charalá, Carretera El Carmen a Virolin , Duitama , 05°57′49″N, 73°11′39″W, 2300 m.a.s.l., 1 November 1994, (fl.) J.L. Fernández-Alonso 12286 ( COL) ; Onzaga, Paramo Las Vegas, montanos de Las Vegas , 06°19’N, 072°44’W, 2300 m.a.s.l., 20 December 1926, E. Killip & A. Smith 15911 ( US) ; Charalá, Vereda Santa Helena, predio la Sierra , Santuario de Fauna y Flora Guanentá Alto Río Fonce , 06°00′24″N, 73°08′53″W, 2450 m.a.s.l., 13 November 1997, (fl.) J.J. Cadena 83 ( COL) .

Cultivated collections: —Bagsvaerd Collection ( Denmark), F.R. Stausholm; Jardin Botanico Bogota ( Colombia), G. Morales; Passiflorahoeve ( Netherlands), A. Lommen; RBG Kew ( UK), C. Magdalena.

Notes: — Passiflora rogitamensis belongs to Passiflora subg. Passiflora supersect. Stipulata sect. Kermesinae (Cervi) Feuillet & MacDougal (2003: 38) for having elongated, often pendent peduncles (> 5 cm), 4–6 stipitate petiolar nectaries and flowers with complex coronal structures containing more than 4 series of filaments. Among the several species with a nomen nudum, P. rogitamensis appears to be the most used in [sub-]scientific databases (iNaturalist, biodiversity4all, minambiente.gov.co) and floral surveys (e.g., Ocampo 2018).Although, hypothetically, the application of such a name that is not validly published is unfounded, and therefore the name should not be used in any scientific writing. Passiflora rogitamensis is most similar to P. longipes Jussieu (1805: 111) and was often identified as such during earlier collections. However, the two species can readily be identified by the difference in foliar shape. In P. rogitamensis , the leaves are distinctly longer (up to 16 cm in length), narrow oblong to lanceolate, with large oblong stipules measuring up to 4–5 cm in length. In contrast, P. longipes has ovate to oblong-ovate leaves no more than 8 cm in length, with ovate stipules up to 3 cm in length. The corona of P. rogitamensis is a very light purple to whitish pink in colour, while in P. longipes the corona is dark purple to blue. There is also a strong allopatry in habitat and distribution: with P. rogitamensis being found in south-facing hills of northern Boyacá and Santander, but P. longipes confined to the west-facing slopes of the department of Cundinamarca.

There remains some assertion that Passiflora rogitamensis should be named P. longipes var. oxyphylla L. Uribe (1977: 15) , for the species strongly resembling the [insufficient] description and subsequent herbarium filed under this name, however. Uribe (1977) allocated his own specimen collected from Subachoque, Cundinamarca (COL99282) as acting holotype, delivering a manuscript with merely a single sentence stating the leaf to be ovate-lanceolate with an acuminate apex as the defining trait to this species ( Uribe, 1977). The paratype (COL333274), collected nearby Virolín in Boyacá, was described as having solely narrow elliptic-lanceolate leaves with acute apices. No defining traits concerning the flower, fruit or other vegetative traits were provided. Upon studying both those specimens, however, it became overwhelmingly evident that the holotype and paratype do not correspond with the same species; with the holotype featuring a typical P. longipes found across Cundinamarca and the paratype being consistent with P. rogitamensis found from Boyaca up into Santander. This was supported further by recent collections in both of these areas (e.g., iNaturalist observations: 115774902 and 50654857, as well as the photos presented in this paper). For the fact that the holotype and paratype do not correspond, combined with the explicit holotype belonging to a plant of P. longipes , the validity of the taxon “ Passiflora longipes var. oxyphylla ” can be called into question. To resolve this, either the taxon needs to be redescribed with a new type (neotype) assigned or to segregate this conundrum and apply the popular name P. rogitamensis as it has already been used in surveys and literature to this point.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing the allopatric distribution of the concerning new species (diamonds) and their nearest relatives (circles). Passiflora azulitensis (white); P. cocuyensis (red); P. rogitamensis (purple); Passiflora gritensis (green); P. semiciliosa (yellow); and P. longipes (blue). Map generated using both herbarium coordinates and georeferenced sightings (fieldwork supplemented with iNaturalist observations).

FIGURE 4. A–F. Passiflora rogitamensis., Lankaster Composite Dissection Plate (LCDP); A. flower in situ; B. comparison between P. rogitamensis (B1) and P. longipes (B2); C. Habit in situ; C1. Detail of the stipules; C2. Detail of the petiolar nectaries; D. Longitudinal of the flower; D1. Detail of the bracts; E. Detail of the fruits; F. Direct comparison between the leaves of P.rogitamensis (F1) and P. longipes (F2). Compiled from photographs taken by Miguel Molinari, Hernan Bernal and Christian Moliné.