Hechtia pueblensis I.Ramírez & C.Jiménez, 2012

Ramírez, Ivón M. & Jiménez Nah, Carlos F., 2012, A new species of Hechtia (Hechtioideae, Bromeliaceae) from Puebla, Mexico, Phytotaxa 42, pp. 1-8 : 2-6

Hechtia pueblensis I.Ramírez & C.Jiménez , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1–3 )

This new species is characterized by its caespitose habit, small sized-rosette, leaves with white indument on both surfaces, central inflorescence, a simple pistillate panicle, a 2-divided staminate panicle, branches ascending, both emerging from a young, undeveloped rosette, erect, glaucous, flowers with green petals, fruits dark maroon, seeds elongated with two wings.

TYPE:— MEXICO. Puebla: Mpio. Coxcatlán, ca. poblado San Rafael, a 3 km al Este en la carretera Coxcatlán-Teotitlán del Camino , 943 m of elevation, 18°10’39’’N, 97°07’29’’W, colectada originalmente por Ivón Ramírez & Carlos Durán en marzo 2005, florecida en cultivo julio del 2011, Ivón M. Ramírez M. & Germán Carnevali 1689 ♂ (Holotype: CICY, isotypes: B, G, K, MEXU, MO, SEL, UAMIZ, XAL, WU) .

Epitype (designated here):— MEXICO. Puebla: Mpio. Coxcatlán, ca. poblado San Rafael, a 3 km al Este en la carretera Coxcatlán-Teotitlán del Camino , 943 m of elevation, 18°10’39’’N, 97°07’29’’ W, colectada originalmente por Ivón Ramírez & Carlos Durán en marzo 2005, florecida en cultivo, julio del 2011, Ivón M. Ramírez M. & Germán Carnevali 1689 ♀ (epitype: CICY, isoepitype: MEXU) .

Plants terrestrial, caespitose, small-sized rosettes for the genus, 35–40(–60) cm diameter, 30–40 cm tall. Leaves 12–16 per rosette, forming an open rosette; foliar sheath transversely oblong, 3–3.5 cm long, 3.5–5 cm wide, drying pale brown, glabrous, margins entire; foliar blades narrowly triangular, acute, pungent, 22–30 cm long, 2–2.5 cm wide at the base, densely white lepidote abaxially and white-lepidote adaxially, margins spinose, spines 0.4–0.5 mm long, half the size toward the apex, 1.5 cm apart, brown, forming a ca. 90° with the margin. Staminate inflorescence an erect, 2-branched panicle, central, emerging from a immature rosette, peduncle 13–30(–39) cm long, 8–9 mm diameter, terete, glabrous, green when fresh, drying dark maroon, internodes 1.7–2 cm long, peduncle bracts narrowly triangular, membranaceous, abruptly acute and long acuminate, 4.2–6.5 long, 1–1.2 cm wide, margins laxly serrate, basally entire, apical portion white lepidote, brownish when dry; rachis 1.5–1.6 m long, pale green, glabrous, straight, secondary branches when present two at the base of the primary branch, rachis internodes 2–2.5 cm long; 55 branches plus the apical one, these forming ca. 90° angle with the main rachis, some an acute angle, 10–23 cm long, 27–70 flowers each; secondary branches 3–4.5 cm long, 9–13 flowers; primary bracts triangular, acute, short apiculate, 1.5–3 cm long, 5 mm wide, brown, multinerved, apically white lepidote; floral bract ovate, acuminate, minutely serrate, 2.2–2.4 mm long, 1.1–1.3 mm wide, uninervate, basally light green, apically brown, glabrous; flowers ca. 5 mm long, cup-like, fragrant, short pedicellate, pedicel 1.4 mm long, thick; sepals broad-ovate, obtuse, entire, 2.1–2.2 mm long, 1.8–2 mm wide, green, 3-nerved; petals broad-oblong, obtuse, entire, 3–3.1 mm long, 2.3– 2.5 mm wide, pale green, fleshy, 7-nerved, some of the secondary nerves bifurcated; filaments 3.6–3.8 mm long; anthers basifixed, ca. 5 mm long; pistillode ovoid, 11 mm long, 1 mm diameter, with three remnant apical stigmata, 2.5 mm long, erect, white. Pistillate inflorescence an erect 1-branched panicle, with 2 (3) flowers at the base of each branch, peduncle and peduncle bracts as for the staminate inflorescence; rachis straight, glabrous, green, internodes 1.5–3 cm long; branches 15 plus the apical one, 18–20 cm long, forming an acute angle with the rachis, 34–60 flowers per branch, sometimes the apex of branches do not develop and become abortive, brown; primary bracts triangular, short acuminate, 1.2–1.5 cm long, 4–7 mm wide, brownish, multi-nervate, surpassing the pedicels of basal flowers; floral bract wide triangular, acute, 1–1.4 mm long, 1.4 mm wide, margins minutely serrate, brown, scarious, appressed to the short pedicel, 1-nerved; flowers 5–6 mm long, with petals spreading at anthesis, fragrant, short pedicellate; pedicel thick, 15–17 mm long, 6–7 mm diameter; sepals deltoid, obtuse, 2.2 mm long, 2 mm wide, entire, pale green, 3-nerved, nerves dark green, conspicuous, margins brown, scarious; petals triangular, acute, 3.7–3.8 mm long, 2 mm wide, green, margins very thin, 5-nerved, some branching into two; staminodes very narrowly triangular, acute, 2.2– 2.4 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, erect, white; ovary oblongoid, 7 mm long, 2.8 mm diameter, pale rose; stigmatic lobes green, strongly curved. Fruit a capsule, light brown when dry, smooth, ovoid to ellipsoid, 6–9 mm long, 3.5–5.8 mm in diameter, sometimes covered by a wax, sepals, petals and staminodes remnant; seeds brown, fusiform, 2.8–5.7 mm long, 0.8–1.2 mm diameter, with a terminal wing at each end, one 0.7–1.7 mm long and the other 0.4–1.2 mm long.

Distribution:— Hechtia pueblensis occurs in the southeastern portion of Puebla ( Fig. 3 ), close to the limits of the State of Oaxaca, in the area of the Tehuacan- Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, in xerophytic shrubland at elevations above 900 m. The Tehuacán Valley is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur, and it is characterized by mountains that surround the valley in the Rio Papaloapan drainage. It is an area with a warm or warm semi-tropical, dry clime, with moderate rains during the summer. It is located between 17° 39'– 18° 53' N and 96° 55'– 97° 44' W covering an area of 490.187 ha with elevations ranging from 600 to 2950 m. Median annual temperature varies from 18° to 22°C, depending on the elevation ( INEGI, 1981). The importance of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve lies in the great diversity of its flora. Rzedowski (1973, 1978) defined the area as a Floristic Province, belonging to the Mexican Xerophytic Phytogeographic Region. Smith (1965) suggested that at least one third of the plant species occurring at the Reserve are endemic. At several of its localities, Hechtia pueblensis is sympatric with an additional Hechtia species ( Hechtia sp. (Ivón Ramírez et al. 1581, CICY)) near Calipán, a species probably belonging to another group in the genus due to its inflorescences originating from the center of a mature rosette and a growth habit featuring long, thick axillary stolons. This species is also characterized by the pale green-yellowish color of its entire vegetative body.

Etymology: —The epithet refers to the Mexican State of Puebla, an area that houses several Hechtias species.

Additional specimens examined:— MEXICO. Puebla: Mpio. Coxcatlán ca. poblado San Rafael, a 3 km al Este en la carretera Coxcatlán-Teotitlán del Camino , 943 m of elevation, 18°10’39’’N, 97°07’29’’ W, colectada originalmente por Ivón Ramírez & Carlos Durán en marzo 2005, florece en cultivo junio del 2006, Ivón M. Ramírez M. & Germán Carnevali 1528a ♁ ( ENCB, OAX, UC, US); Ivón M. Ramírez M. & Germán Carnevali 1528 ♀ ( G, US); ca. 2 km NNE de Calipán , 0.8 km después del puente de carretera federal 908, camino que atraviesa maizal, sobre barranca, en selva baja caducifolia, 1033 m of elevation, 18°17’22’’N, 97°11’37’’W, 1 marzo 2005, Ivón M. Ramírez M. & Carlos Durán 1290 (frutos, CICY, MEXU, SEL, XAL, WU); 2 km después de Calipán, por el camino al poblado Cinco Señores, al NE de Calipán, carretera libre Tehuacán-Oaxaca , 18°18’14’’N, 97°09’03’’W, 1210 m, Ivón Ramírez, R. Duno, W. Tezara, G. Castillo & J. Pinzón 1586, frutos ( CICY); Municipio Caltepec, 2 km antes del puente Calapa, km. 81.3 de la autopista Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca , 1200 m of elevation, 18°11’02’’N, 97°16’30’’W, A. Espejo, A. R. López-Ferrari, J. Ceja & A. Mendoza R. 6308 (♂ CICY, ♂ UAMIZ) .

Discussion: —This species is very distinctive, particularly when compared with other Hechtia taxa in the State of Puebla. Relevant features of the species include the relatively small rosette (35–40(–60) cm diameter), thick succulent leaves, which are densely covered with trichomes on both surfaces. Furthermore, the whole vegetative body is silvery gray in natural habitats, often displaying red margins when stressed ( Fig. 1A ); the leaves become of a distinctive bluish hue in cultivation ( Fig. 1B ). Petals are mostly greenish in staminate flowers but some clones present pale green flowers; petals in the pistillate flowers are also green, widely opening as to form a star-shaped corolla at anthesis ( Fig. 1D ). The infructescence is pale brown, which starkly contrasts with the gray color of the rosette ( Fig. 1A ) in natural habitats. Fruits of the new species are similar to those of Hechtia tehuacana from Oaxaca and Puebla, but this species has central inflorescences emerging from a well developed, mature rosette and a large primary bract subtending proportionally short primary branches. Furthermore, the new species, by virtue of its small-sized rosettes, with usually simple panicles, is phenetically similar to such species as H. lyman-smithii Burt-Utley & Utley (1987: 37) and H. fragilis , both from Oaxaca, the second ranging into Puebla. Characters to differentiate these three phenetically similar species are featured in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Plant in habitat with fruits. B. Plant in cultivation (observe bluish color on leaves) with a young staminate inflorescence. C. Partial portion of a staminate inflorescence. D. Pistillate flowers in anthesis. (Photographs by I. Ramírez).

FIGURE 2. Flattened floral parts. Pistillate flower (A–E): A. Floral bract. B. Sepals. C. Petals. D. Staminode. E. Ovary with sessile stigmata. Staminate flowers (F–J). F. Floral bract. G. Sepals. H. Petals. I. Pistillode. J. Filament and anther. Illustrations by Carlos Jiménez.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Hechtia pueblensis in Mexico (black dots).