Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn, 2021

Muchhala, Nathan & Mashburn, Brock, 2021, Three New Species of Burmeistera (Campanulaceae) Endemic to Ecuador, Phytotaxa 490 (3), pp. 253-262 : 257-260

2. Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn , sp. nov.

TYPE: Ecuador. Tungurahua: Baños, Parque Nacional Llanganates , Cordillera Sacha Llanganates , summit ridge, overlooking Amazon lowlands to east, Río Zuñac watershed to west, 2740 m, 01°21’50”S 78°07’32”W, 28 Nov. 2001 (fl, fr), D. Neill, L. Jost, J. Caranqui & E. Toapanta 13469 (holotype, MO-5945905 ! ; isotype, QCNE-162813 ! ). Figures 1 D-F, 4.

Diagnosis. This new species is differentiated from other Burmeistera by the presence of small (16–18 mm) flowers with red corolla lobes and its yellow to tan strigose hairs.

Scandent herbs, reaching ca. 0.5 m. Latex unknown. Stems up to 3 mm wide on terminal branches, tan, basally glabrous, scaly, apically strigose with 0.2–1.5 mm long, yellow to tan, simple, multicellular, uniseriate hairs. Leaves alternate, distichous, the internodes 5–15 mm long; petioles 3–6 mm long, tan, strigose; lamina 25–70 × 10–22 mm, elliptic, the base cuneate, the apex attenuate, the margins callose-serrate; adaxial surface dark green, glabrous; abaxial surface light green, strigose with yellow to tan hairs; venation craspedodromous, the primary vein slightly raised, the secondary veins barely visible, the tertiary veins not visible. Pedicels ebracteolate, 15–20 mm long, green to tan, strigose. Flowers 16–18 mm long, solitary in the upper leaf axils; hypanthium 3–4 × 3–4 mm, green to tan, strigose, the ridges slightly raised; calyx lobes 4–5 × 0.5–1 mm, linear, patent to reflexed at anthesis, green, strigose; corolla pink to red, drying to a translucent pale-yellow to violet color, sparsely pilose with tan hairs, membranous; corolla tube 3–4 mm wide basally, the throat narrowing to 2–3 mm wide; corolla lobes lanceolate, the margins smooth, the two dorsal lobes 9–12 × 5–6 mm, ascending further than the androecium, the dorsal sinus 10–11 mm from the corolla base, the two lateral lobes 8–11 × 4–5 mm, slightly falcate, recurved, the ventral lobe ca. 9–10 × 4–5 mm, the ventral sinus 5–6 mm from the corolla base; androecium 13–14 mm, exserted 6–8 mm from the ventral opening, the filament tube pale green, pilose with white hairs, the anther tube pale-green, glabrous, the three dorsal anther tips glabrous, the two ventral anther tips sparsely pubescent with white hairs; style and stigma unknown. Fruits turbinate, pink; seeds unknown.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Lou Jost, mathematician, ecologist, conservationist, and orchid taxonomist, who helped to discover the species. Along with his intellectual contributions to biological literature, Lou is to be commended for his dedication to protecting Ecuadorian forests and keeping them accessible to scientists and nature enthusiasts. Fundacion Ecominga, which Lou and colleagues established in 2006, now owns a network of twelve preserves across Ecuador that conserve a total of 14,000 acres of forest.

Phenology. This species has been collected with flowers in November and February.

Distribution & Conservation Status. Burmeistera jostii occurs in wet, high elevation cloud forest. This species is known from a narrow distribution near the border of Tungurahua and Pastaza provinces in central Ecuador ( Fig. 3 ). Two collections come from the type location, inside the southern portion of Llanganates National Park, in the Cantón of Baños (Tungurahua province). A third collection is labelled from Pastaza province, but also states “Rio Zuñag, north of Rio Topo,” which is likely very close to the other collections in Tungurahua (no GPS location given). The lack of collections of this species result in a narrow extent of occurrence (<1 km 2) and area of occupancy (4 km 2). Given that these collections come from just inside Llanganates National Park, it is presumed B. jostii also occurs in nearby unprotected areas bordering the park. We project a continued decline in area and quality of habitat, as this forest outside of the National Park is subject to continued deforestation for pastures and other agriculture activities. Therefore, we propose assessing B. jostii with a status of ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR B1ab[iii]) following the IUCN (2019) guidelines.

Discussion. This species is unique among Burmeistera , especially those in Ecuador, because of its relatively small pink to red flowers. Burmeistera jostii is most similar to the Colombian endemic B. antioquiensis , but differs in having 0.2–1.5 mm long, yellow to tan strigose hairs on the stem, abaxial leaf surface, pedicel, hypanthium, and corolla (vs. entirely glabrous in B. antioquiensis ); in its attenuate leaf apices (vs. acute to acuminate); and in having generally shorter (15–20 mm long) pedicels at anthesis (vs. 18–45 mm long). The leaves of B. jostii are similar to those of B. arbusculifera Lammers (2002: 207) , but the green flowers of the latter are much larger (ca. 34 mm vs. 16–18 mm long), and the calyx lobes are longer (7–11 mm vs. 4–5 mm long).

Paratypes. ECUADOR. Pastaza: Rio Zuñag, north of Rio Topo , 2600 m, 23 Feb. 1990 (fl), A. Hirtz 4614 ( QCNE) . Tungurahua: Banos Cantón, Parque Nacional Llanganates, Cordillera Sacha Llanganates . Flat ridge above Río Zuñac, 2550 m, 01°21’51”S 78°08’00”W, 28 Nov. 2001 (fl), Neill et al. 13451 ( MO, QCNE) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Images of leaves, fruits, and flowers of the new species. A–C. Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by N. Muchhala. D–F. Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by J.L. Clark. G–I. Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn; photographs by N. Muchhala. Scale bars correspond to 10 cm in A and G, and 10 mm in all other panels. Images correspond to the collections N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 553 (A, C), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 558 (B), J.L. Clark & L. Clavijo 14255 (D–F; note scale bars are approximated here based on other collections, as we did not have access to this collection), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 556 (G), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 554 (H, I).

FIGURE 3. Geographic distribution maps of known herbarium collections. Triangles correspond to Burmeistera catulum Muchhala & Mashburn, squares to Burmeistera jostii Muchhala & Mashburn, and circles to Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn.