Pitcairnia aleserratoae Gonz.

González-Rocha, Edith, López-Ferrari, Ana Rosa, Espejo-Serna, Adolfo & Carrillo-Reyes, Pablo, 2024, Novelties in Pitcairnia (Bromeliaceae; Pitcairnioideae): three new species from Mexico, Phytotaxa 660 (3), pp. 205-224 : 207-211

Pitcairnia aleserratoae Gonz. -Rocha, López-Ferr. et Espejo, sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 3 )

Type: — MEXICO, Morelos: municipality of Puente de Ixtla, 3.7 km sobre la brecha Tilzapotla-El Salto, a partir de la carretera Tilzapotla-Coaxitlán, 18º28’0” N, 99º16’37’’ W, 1600 m, 10 November 2012, E. González-Rocha, A. Espejo & A.R. López-Ferrari 191 (holotype UAMIZ!, isotypes IBUG!, MEXU!).

Diagnosis: — Pitcairnia aleserratoae is similar to P. micheliana but differs in the size of the spikes (16–27 cm vs. 12.5–25 cm long), in the indument of the abaxial surface of the peduncle and the sepals (densely white-lepidote vs. sparsely white-lepidote), as well as the shape of the petals (oblanceolate vs. narrowly elliptic to very narrowly oblong).

Description: — Plant saxicolous, cespitose, 22–55 cm high in flower. Roots fibrous. Stem bulbous, 2.6‒4.8 cm long, 2.5‒4.8 cm diameter; stolons present, terete, ca. 1 cm long, ca. 5 mm in diameter. Leaves not petiolate; sheath dark brown abaxially, light brown adaxially, widely depressed-ovate, 1.4‒4.5 cm long, 1.3‒3.5 cm wide, spiny-toothed on the margins distally; leaf blades of three different kinds: the first and main ones foliaceous, green, linear, 37‒86 cm long, 6‒11 mm wide, entire except the persisting base, conspicuously nerved, glabrous adaxially, densely white-lepidote abaxially, present during flowering season, deciduous by a transverse line of abscission well above the sheath, and the persistent portion denselly white-lepidote on both sides and with retrorse spiny-teeth ca. 1.5 mm long on the margins; the second ones without blade and much reduced, sheath like, 6–9 cm long, 0.8–2 cm wide, lanceolate to narrowly triangular, entire, acuminate; the third ones non-photosynthetic, with a stiff persistent brown linear blade of 1.5–5 cm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, densely white-lepidote on both sides, with retrorse spiny-teeth ca. 1.5 mm long on the margins. Inflorescence terminal, simple, spicate, erect; peduncle green, 11–31 cm long, 2.5–5.5 mm diameter, densely white-lepidote; peduncle bracts green, sometimes brownish towards the basal portion, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 2.5–8.5 cm long, 6–16 mm wide, entire, glabrous adaxially, densely white-lepidote abaxially, decreasing in size distally; the basal ones acuminate, sometimes extending into a needle-like blade of 1–2 cm long, ca. 1 mm wide, with a spiny toothed margin, just exceeding the internodes; the distal ones exceeding the internodes; spike 16–27 cm long, with 19–34 flowers densely arranged along the rachis, polystichous; rachis densely white-lepidote, internodes up to 1.9 cm long; floral bracts reddish brown, triangular-ovate, 2.2–3.5 cm long, 8–15 mm wide, entire, narrowly sub-acuminate, glabrous adaxially, densely white-lepidote abaxially, imbricate, usually shorter than sepals, sometimes slightly longer specially in the basal ones, decreasing in size distally; flowers erect, appressed to ascendent to the rachis at anthesis, sessile, slightly zygomorphic; sepals pinkish red at the apex, greenish towards the base, lanceolate, 1.9–2.7 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, acuminate, glabrous adaxially, densely white-lepidote abaxially, the two adaxial ones carinate; petals red, oblanceolate, 4.6–6 cm long, 7–10 mm wide, rounded then broadly subacute, or ocassionally slightly emarginate, turning to one side forming a cap over the stamens, short unguiculate, the claw 5–7 mm long, cream colored, without a nectary scale at the base; stamens 4.8–5.6 cm long, of about equal length, equal to or shorter than petals; filaments white, linear, 4–4.7 cm long; anthers yellow, linear, 8–10 mm long, basifixed; pistil exceeding the stamens; ovary 6–7 mm long, 2–4 mm diameter, ovoid; style linear, white, 5–5.3 cm long; stigma of the spiral conduplicate type, reddish. Capsules dark brown, ovoid, trigonous, 8–12 mm long, 3–6 mm diameter, rostrate; seeds light brown, fusiform, without appendages ca. 2 mm long, bicaudate, the caudae filiform, ca. 2 mm long.

Distributon, habitat and phenology: —The species is known from the biogeographic Balsas Basin and Sierra Madre del Sur provinces ( Fig. 1 ), in the states of Guerrero, Morelos and Puebla, where it grows on rocky walls and humid slopes in Quercus and tropical deciduous forests, at elevations between 900 and 2000 m. The species flowers from September to December and bears mature fruits in December.

Etymology: —The specific epithet honors Dra. Alejandra Serrato Díaz (1972–2021) ( Fig. 4A ), professor who was in charge of Divisional Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa. She always supported her students and contributed notably to the first author’s doctoral project, allowing that it was developed and concluded successfully.

Comments: —The new species had previously been identified by several authors as Pitcairnia roseana L.B. Sm. (1937: 27) ( Pulido-Esparza et al. 2004, Espejo-Serna & López-Ferrari 2010, González-Rocha et al. 2016). However, upon analyzing in detail and comparing the specimens of both taxa, we were able to notice that in the plants of P. roseana , distributed in northwestern Mexico (Durango, Jalisco and Nayarit), all the bracts of the peduncle are long foliaceous and equaling or exceeding the peduncle, while in P. aleserratoae all the bracts of the peduncle are bractiform and much shorter, and just exceeding the internodes, and the species restricts its distribution to the central-southern region of the country (Guerrero, Morelos and Puebla).

Pitcairnia aleserratoae is rather similar to P. micheliana ; both have inflorescences in spike narrowly cylindrical with sessile flowers, and their phenology is also similar, they flower when photosynthetic leaves are present. However, the two species differ in the size of their inflorescences and in the indument of leaves, as well as in their distribution.

The nomenclatural type of Pitcairnia micheliana , was prepared from cultivated plants obtained from seeds collected by Eugène Langlassé in Inguarán, Michoacán. Smith and Downs (1974) mentioned that the figure included in the original description could be considered as the type. Herbarium specimens from sites close to the type locality are scarce in institutional collections (Michoacán: La Huacana, Santa Mónica, Sierra de Inguarán, A.R. López-Ferrari et al. 2057, UAMIZ!), and it has been extremely complicated to collect additional material due to the current situation of insecurity in that area. We have decided to consider P. micheliana as a valid species, including under this name all the specimens from Michoacán, Jalisco, and Colima that match with the original description and the figure that accompanies it, until we have living material to carry out a more complete analysis.

Examined specimens (paratypes): —GUERRERO. Buenavista de Cuéllar. Al S de El Salto, del lado del estado de Guerrero, 14 km al SW de Tilzapotla, S. Morales S. 71 (FCME). Iguala de la Independencia. Cañón de la Mano, entre los Amates y El Naranjo, 10 km al N de Iguala por el ferrocarril, C. Catalán H. 249 (CHAPA), C. Catalán H. 295 (CHAPA); C. Catalán H. 318 (CHAPA), C. Catalán H., F. Terán & S. Vázquez 371 (CHAPA), C. Catalán H. 482 (CHAPA). La Unión de Isidoro Montes de Oca. Distrito de Montes de Oca, Vallecitos, G.B. Hinton 11345 (GH, K, US). Zirándaro. El Plátano, 12 km al SE de Guayameo, J.C. Soto N. & G. Silva R. 4421 (ENCB, MEXU, MO). MORELOS. Amacuzac. 1.62 km al SE del puente de la presa Rancho Nuevo, en la cañada al W del camino al Zoquital, R. Ramírez, M. Bello, A. Sánchez & M. Méndez 4548 (MEXU). Puente de Ixtla. 3.7 km sobre la brecha Tilzapotla-El Salto, a partir de la carretera Tilzapotla-Coaxitlán, E. González-Rocha, A. Espejo & A.R. López-Ferrari 191 (UAMIZ); 0.85 km al NE del poblado de El Zapote, camino a Cerro Frío, E. González-Rocha, A. Espejo, A.R. López-Ferrari & I.N. Gómez E. 263 (UAMIZ). Tepalcingo. Cerro La Piedra, B. Guerrero C. 1415 (XAL). Tlaquiltenango. 0.5 km al SW de Ajuchitlán, A. Valdés 237 (UAMIZ); 1 km sobre el camino a Ajuchitlán a partir del camino a Huautla, A.R. López-Ferrari, A. Espejo, R. Jiménez M. & L. Sánchez S. 2404 (UAMIZ); 1.3 km al S de Huaxtla, J.C. JuárezDelgado, R. Cerros, A. Valdez, A. Ramírez & O. Dorado 93 (FCME, HUMO); 1.4 km sobre la brecha a Ajuchitlán, a partir del camino San José de Pala-Huautla, E. González-Rocha, L.J. Hérnandez B., R. Cerros, A. Espejo & A.R. López-Ferrari 299 (UAMIZ); 1.5 km antes de Huaxtla, SE de Huaxtla, A. Valdez T. & R. Cerros 237 (HUMO); 3 km al NW de Huautla, R. Cerros T. 545 (UAMIZ); 5.2 km al SW de Santiopan sobre la carretera a Huautla, R. Ramírez, G. Flores, B. Rojas, A. Rodríguez & A. Sánchez 4738 (MEXU); a 1.25 km al SW de Huaxtla, R. Cerros T. 487 (HUMO, UAMIZ); Ajuchitlán, 1 km al NW de la cañada de Ajuchitlán, R. Cerros T., A. Valdez, R. Ramírez & E. Leyva 563 (FCME, HUMO, UAMIZ); Ajuchitlán, 1 km al S de Huautla, CR 57 (UAMIZ); Ajuchitlán, cascada El Salto, R. Cerros T., A. Ramírez, G. Ramírez & A. Valdez 772 (HUMO); Xantiopa, 1.5 al N de Xantiopa, BMA 1242 (UAMIZ). PUEBLA. Jolalpan. Cañada del Diablo, aproximadamente 2 km al NW del poblado El Salado, G. Flores F. 6117 (FCME, HUMO); cañada Los Limones, a 400 m del poblado El Salado, J.M. Vidaña R. 114 (CHAP).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A) Combined distribution map for the species Pitcairnia aleserratoae, P. gracielae, P. pugana, P. jaliscana, P. karwinskyana P. micheliana, P. palmeri, and P. pteropoda.

FIGURE 3. Pitcairnia aleserratoae, A) floral bract and flower, lateral view, B) flowering plant, C) inflorescence detail, D) dissected flower: D1 floral bract, D2 sepals, D3 petals, D4 stamens, D5 pistil, E) group of plants in habitat, F) base of a plant, E. González et al. 249 bis (UAMIZ). Photos:A. Espejo (E), and E. González-Rocha (A–D, F).

FIGURE 4. A) Dra. Alejandra Serrato Díaz (1972–2021), B) Dra. Graciela Calderón Díaz Barriga (1931–2022), and C) Professor Luz María Villarreal de Puga (1913–2013). Photos: Yanin Islas Barrios (A), Sergio Zamudio Ruiz (B), and Luz María González Villarreal (C).