Vriesea magnibracteata Leme & L. Kollmann, 2014

Leme, Elton M. C., Till, Walter, Kollmann, Ludovic J. C., De Moura, Ricardo L. & Ribeiro, Otávio B. C., 2014, Miscellaneous New Species of Brazilian Bromeliaceae, Phytotaxa 177 (2), pp. 61-100 : 94

Vriesea magnibracteata Leme & L. Kollmann , sp. nov. ( Figs. 20 F–I , 21 , 22 )

This new species is closely related to Vriesea appariciana and V. euclidiana , differing mainly by the floral bracts being dark reddishcastaneous near the base (vs. castaneous-stramineous or greenish toward the base before anthesis and stramineous afterwards), these are also longer (34–47 mm vs. 25–35 mm long), the basal ones equaling the petals and the upper ones exceeding the sepals (vs. distinctly shorter than the sepals) and the obtusely denticulate stigma blades (vs. long digitate-laciniate).

Type: –– BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Água Doce do Norte, Rio Preto, right margins of Rio Preto , 184 m elevation, 18° 37’ 57” S, 40° 56’ 70” W, 27 May 2008, E . Leme 7357, L . Kollmann , A. P . Fontana , M . Zanoni & O . Ribeiro (holotype RB!) .

Plants rupicolous, flowering 58–65 cm tall. Leaves ca. 18 in number, rosulate, thick coriaceous, forming a funnelform rosette; sheaths elliptic-obovate, ca. 10.5 × 7.3 cm, densely and minutely brown lepidote on both sides castaneous, nerved; blades narrowly triangular, acuminate-caudate, canaliculate toward the base, suberect, ca. 23 cm long, ca. 4.3 cm wide at the base, completely covered on both sides by a dense layer of coarse white-cinereous trichomes completely obscuring the color of the blades, margins ca. 1 mm thick. Peduncle ca. 32 cm long, 0.7–0.8 cm in diameter, green, glabrous, rugulose at anthesis; peduncle bracts the basal ones subfoliaceous, the upper ones ovate-lanceolate, acuminate to caudate, 5–6.5 × 3 cm, erect, distinctly exceeding the internodes, imbricate, densely and coarsely white lepidote toward the apex, stramineous, strongly nervate-sulcate at anthesis. Inflorescence simple, ascending, ca. 19 cm, apex acute before and at anthesis; main axis rugulose at anthesis, green, glabrous, flexuous, internodes 10–15 × 10–11 mm; floral bracts ovate, acute, 34–47 × 28–37 mm, abaxially densely white lepidote near the apex, ecarinate, before and at anthesis distinctly imbricate mainly the apical ones, secund with the flowers at anthesis, coriaceous, lustrous toward the base, stramineous toward the apex, dark reddish-castaneous near the base mainly at the beginning of anthesis, strongly and coarsely corrugate-sulcate at anthesis, base weekly truncate, the basal ones equaling the petals and the upper ones exceeding the sepals. Flowers ca. 4.5 cm long, ca. 13 in number, nocturnal, with a garlic odor, distichous, densely arranged and distinctly secund at anthesis; pedicel ca. 8 mm long, ca. 8 mm in diameter at distal end, stout, green, glabrous; sepals elliptic, obtuse, rounded or subacute, ca. 26 × 15 mm, yellowish-green except for the wine-spotted to wine colored apical margins and apex, abaxially glabrous, adaxially inconspicuously and minutely lepidote, ecarinate, thick coriaceous near the base; petals obovate, apex obtuse and distinctly emarginate, subspreading to recurved near the apex at anthesis, ca. 40 × 22 mm, greenish-white, thicker toward the base, bearing 2 appendages at the base; appendages 10 × 2.5–3 mm, apex caudate to irregularly bidentate; corolla ca. 33 mm in diameter; filaments 27 × 1–1.5 mm; anthers ca. 10 mm long, dorsifixed near the base, base bilobed, apex obtuse, subequally and radially arranged at anthesis; stigma tubo-laciniate, obtusely denticulate at the margins, ca. 2 mm in diameter, greenish; ovules short caudate. Capsules unknown.

Distribution and habitat:— Vriesea magnibracteata is a rupicole, living on bare, nearly vertical granitic surfaces of an isolated inselberg located in the county of Água Doce do Norte, Espírito Santo state, facing Rio Preto. At the type locality, the heliophytic plants are densely scattered in the higher part of the inselberg, forming a large population.

According to the “B1a” and “B2a” criteria adopted by IUCN (2010), V. magnibracteata can be considered a critically endangered species.

Etymology:—The name of this new species is a reference to the comparatively large size of the floral bracts, which exceed the sepals and sometimes the petals, a unique feature for the tubo-laciniate stigma type complex of species.

Observations:— Vriesea magnibracteata is another member of the tubo-loaciniate stigma type group of tillandsioids which are endemic to Brazil and have an exclusively rupicolous habit. It is closely related to Vriesea appariciana and V. euclidiana Leme & Brown ( Leme et al. 2010b: 57) , differing from them mainly by the floral bracts being dark reddish-castaneous near the base mainly at the beginning of anthesis (vs. greenish toward the base before anthesis and stramineous afterwards), being longer (34–47 mm vs. 25–35 mm long), the basal ones equaling the petals and the upper ones exceeding the sepals (vs. distinctly shorter than the sepals) and the obtusely-denticulate blades of the stigma (vs. long digitate-laciniate). Compared to V. appariciana , this new species can also be distinguished by the green color of the leaf blades completely obscured by a dense layer of white-cinereous trichomes (vs. color not completely obscured by trichomes). Vriesea magnibracteata also differs from V. euclidiana by the leaf blades with the margins ca. 1 mm thick (vs. ca. 2 mm thick), and the flowers with a garlic odor (vs. with a fruit-like fragrance).

Figures

FIGURE 20. A–E. Vriesea bifida (Leme 7368 et al.). A. Apex of the leaf blade. B. Floral bract. C. Flower. D. Sepal. E. Petal with two basal appendages and stamens. F–I. Vriesea magnibracteata (Leme 7357 et al.). F. Apex of the leaf. G. Floral bract. H. Sepal. I. Petal with two basal appendages and stamen. J–N. Vriesea lilliputiana (Linhares s.n.). J. Leaf. K. Floral bract. L. Flower. M. Sepal. N. Petal with two basal appendages and a stamen. O–S. Vriesea tubipetala (Silva 731 & Tatagiba). O. Flower. P. Floral bract. Q. Sepal. R. Petal with two basal appendages and two stamens. S. Apex of the leaf.

FIGURE 21. Vriesea magnibracteata (Leme 7357 et al.). A. Habit (leaf rosette wet). B. Frontal view of the inflorescence and flower. C. Side view of the basal segment of the inflorescence and flower. D. Details of the corolla, pistil and stamens. E. Habit (leaf rosette dry). F. Details of the population and rupicolous habit at type locality.

FIGURE 22. Vriesea magnibracteata (Leme 7357 et al.). The large rupicolous population of densely grouped individuals at type locality.