Euploca procumbens (Miller) Diane & Hilger

Melo, José Iranildo Miranda De, Paulino, Renan Da Cruz, Oliveira, Regina Célia De & Vieira, Diego Daltro, 2018, Flora of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil: Boraginales, Phytotaxa 357 (4), pp. 235-260 : 250-251

1.5. Euploca procumbens (Miller) Diane & Hilger in Hilger & Diane (2003: 48). ( Fig. 4D )

≡ Heliotropium procumbens Miller (1768: 10) .

Common names: erva-santa, fedegoso.

Herbs or semidecumbent to prostrate subshrubs, when erect presenting up to 70 cm tall; branches cinereous, sericeous to tomentose. Leaves alternate; blade 1–2 × 0.3–1 cm, subcarnose, obovate, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, apex mucronate, base attenuate, margin entire, adaxially and abaxially sericeous to tomentose; venation eucamptodromous; petiole 2–7 mm long, ventrally sulcate. Inflorescences 0.8–6.5 cm long, terminal and axillary, solitary, dichotomous, trichotomous or 2-dichotomous, without bracts; peduncle 0.2–1.5 cm long. Flowers 1.6–2.5 mm long, subsessile; calyx 1–2 × 0.3– 0.5 mm, externally and internally pubescent, lobes oval-lanceolate, filiform lobes 1–1.8 mm long; corolla 1.2–2 mm long, tubular-salverform, white, equal or slightly shorter than the calyx; tube 1–1.5 mm long; lobes ca. 0.5 mm long, oval to oval-lanceolate. Stamens free, subsessile; anthers ca. 0.5 mm long, linear to oval-lanceolate, coherent. Ovary ca. 0.3 mm long, subglobose, pubescent; style inconspicuous; stigma 0.3–0.5 mm long, narrowly conical, pubescent. Schizocarp 1-1.5 mm diam., subglobose, sericeous to hirsute; nutlets 4, trigone; seeds ca. 1 mm long, trigone.

Notes:— Euploca procumbens is easily recognized by the cinereous branches, ebracteate inflorescences, corolla tube equal or slightly shorter than the calyx and oval-lanceolate lobes, pubescent stigma, and subglobose, sericeous to hirsute fruit. Illustrations of this species can be found in Melo & Semir (2010).

Geographic distribution:— Distributed from southern United States to Argentina, including the Antilles ( Frohlich 1981). In Brazil, found in all regions ( Melo & Semir 2010). B1, B2, B4, C2, C4, D2, D4, D6, D7, E1.

Habitat:— Caatinga.

Phenology:— Collected in flower and fruit from January to May and in July, and from October to November.

Selected material examined:— BRAZIL. Rio Grande do Norte: Almino Afonso , 06º09’08”S, 37º45’58”W, November 1994, fl. fr., P.B. Barra et al. 18 (MOSS). Apodi, 05º39’51”S, 37º47’56”W, July 1994, fl. fr., C.P. Medeiros 20 (MOSS). Bom Jesus, January 1994, fl. fr., K. Jacinto 01 (MOSS). Caraúbas, 05º47’33”S, 37º33’24”W, October 1999, fl. fr., E. Moreira 05 (MOSS). Florânia, April 2004, fl. fr., J.I.M. Melo & S.R.S. Xavier 447 (MOSS, PEUFR). Governador Dix-Sept Rosado, 05º27’32”S, 37º31’15”W, October 1990, fl. fr., R. Alves 02 (MOSS). Mossoró, s.d., fl. fr., R.C. Oliveira et al. 1550 (MOSS). Pedro Avelino, May 2005, fl. fr., R.C. Oliveira et al. 1562 (MOSS). Santana dos Matos, 05º49’00”S, 36º28’30”W, February 1980, fl. fr., O.F. Oliveira et al. 66 (MOSS). Serra Negra do Norte, 06º34’46”S, 37º15’21”W, October 2006, fl. fr., C.G.T. Ferreira 294 (MOSS) ; 06º34’S, 37º15’W, April 2002, fl. fr., M.I.B. Loiola 642 (MOSS, UFRN). Serrinha, March 2005, fl. fr., R.T. Queiroz 132 (MOSS, UFRN). Severiano Melo, 05º46’38”S, 37º57’28”W, November 1999, fl. fr., M. Freitas 15 (MOSS). Tenente Laurentino da Cruz , 06º06’45,3”S, 36º42’10,7”W, April 2004, fl. fr., J.I.M. Melo & S.R.S. Xavier 449 (MOSS, PEUFR) .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Reproductive branches of species: A. Cordia trichotoma; B. Varronia leucocephala; C. Euploca polyphylla; D. Euploca procumbens; E. Heliotropium elongatum; F. Myriopus rubicundus. (Photo credits: A and B of M. Oliveira; C of M.J. Silva; D–F of J.I.M. Melo).