Neea bradeana E.F.S.Rossetto & J.R.Ferraz

Rossetto, Elson Felipe Sandoli, Costa, Daniel Da Silva & Ferraz, José Roberto, 2024, Neea bradeana (Nyctaginaceae: Pisonieae), a new species with whorled leaf arrangement from the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil, Phytotaxa 644 (1), pp. 10-18 : 11-15

Neea bradeana E.F.S.Rossetto & J.R.Ferraz sp. nov. ( Figures 1–2 )

Type:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Santa Teresa, São Lourenço , trilha do Caravage , 850 m, 26 August 1998, fl. ♂, Kollmann, Bausen & Pizziolo 444 (holotype MBML00017270 !) .

Diagnosis:— Neea bradeana is similar to N. verticillata , but differs by the leaves sessile or short-petiolate (petiole up to 2 cm long) (vs. petiolate with petioles 3‒4 cm long), inflorescences erect and congested or sometimes loose in staminate inflorescence (vs. pendulous and always loose), staminate flowers urceolate (vs. tubular to ellipsoid), and pistillate flowers subcylindrical (vs. ellipsoid).

Description:— Shrubs, 0.8‒1.5(‒4.0) m tall. Stems unbranched, bark brownish or grayish, glabrous. Leaves with 2‒5 whorled leaf arrangement along the stem, very crowded at the apex of the stem; petiole absent to 2 cm long, finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent; blades 14.5‒57.0 × (2.5‒)5‒13(‒17) cm, oblanceolate or elliptic, base attenuate, apex acute to acuminate, chartaceous, glabrous, adaxially dark green and abaxially pale green or sometimes pale pink when fresh, dull black on both surfaces when dried. Midrib pinnate, impressed on the adaxial surface and prominent on the abaxial surface, secondary venation impressed on the adaxial surface and prominent on the abaxial surface, brochidodromous in 10‒18 pairs, diverging from the primary vein at an angle of 60º‒70º in the middle of the blade and 35º‒40º at the base, intersecondary veins 1 or 2. Inflorescences of both sexes terminal, erect, very crowded or sometimes loose in staminate inflorescence, solitary cymes or fascicles 2‒3-flowered at the distal part, each consisting of a cyme with three flowers; peduncle 17‒140 × 1‒5 mm, primary axis with branches alternate, 4‒65 × 1‒4 mm, secondary axes 1‒40 × 0.5‒2.0 mm, finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent; bracts 1‒8 × 0.5‒1.0 mm, lanceolate, apex acuminate, finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent, ventral surface glabrous; bracteoles 3, 0.8‒1.5 × 0.3‒0.5 mm, unequal, lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, concave, dorsal surface finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent, ventral surface glabrous. Flowers of both sexes sessile; perianth 5-lobed. Staminate flowers 10‒12 × 4.0‒ 4.5 mm, urceolate, lobes deltoid, yellowish, reddish or pinkish, glabrous; stamens 6‒7, filaments 1‒4 mm long, unequal, connate at the base, anthers 0.6‒0.8 mm long, bithecate, dorsifixed, longitudinal slits; pistillode 3‒4 mm long. Pistillate flowers 3‒5 × 1.5‒2.0 mm, subcylindrical, thickening in the middle of the tube, reddish to pinkish, finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent, trichomes more concentrated at the base; ovary 1.0‒ 1.5 mm long, globose to ovoid; style 2.5‒4.2 mm long; stigma lacerate; staminodes 6‒7, filaments connate at the base and forming a ring ca. 2 mm long around the ovary. Anthocarps 0.8‒1.5 × 0.4‒0.6 cm, fleshy, ellipsoid to ovoid, green when immature, reddish to pinkish when mature, black when dried, finely appressed puberulous with ferruginous trichomes to glabrescent; apical cupule 0.6‒2.0 mm long.

Etymology:— The epithet honors Alexander Curt Brade (1881–1971), a prolific German born botanist based on Brazil who was the first to mention the taxon described here as a new species. A. C. Brade made collections of the species in the current area of Itatiaia National Park in the early 1930s. Duplicates of these materials were sent to herbarium B, which one of them (Brade 14618, B101107162) was clearly analysed by the Nyctaginaceae specialist Anton Heimerl, who noticed it was a new species. Although A. Heimerl wrote the note in this material “ist eine neue, schöne Art von Neea ” ([this] is a new, beautiful species of Neea ), he never described this species, which was ended up later cited just as “ Neea sp. nov. ” by Brade (1956) in his flora of Parque Nacional do Itatiaia.

Phenology:— This species exhibits flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Geographic distribution and habitat:— Neea bradeana inhabits in understory of wet forests formations of Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil, between 50‒900 m a.s.l. Although the most part of the collections known for the new species is from the north São Paulo state to central portion of Espírito Santo state, the occurrence of one collection in Minas Gerais state ( Fig. 3 ) extends the distribution of the species further inland, in areas covered with seasonal forests.

The oldest collection here in analysed was made by Auguste de Saint-Hilaire (Saint-Hilaire s.n., P04974027) in the then São Paulo province. Although its label is inaccurate about a specific locality and date of collection, the collector’s number is D-797, which indicates the plant was collected during his second travel in São Paulo in 1822 (see Dwyer 1955), on the way to city of Rio de Janeiro. A more accurate locality where this collection was made, however, can be inferred from the material Saint-Hilaire D-798. This specimen belonging to genus Dorstenia Linnaeus (1753: 121) ( Moraceae Gaudich. ) and was collected near of the Rancho do Pisca, in the bank of Piraí River, from the border of São Paulo and Rio Janeiro states. Thus, it is possible to infer the material of this new species was also collected in this area, given the proximity of these collection’s numbers, besides probably being the only representative of the species in São Paulo state.

Conservation notes:— Neea bradeana has an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 74,109.60 km 2 and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 88 km 2; 23 populations are found and they are distributed in different physiognomies (e.g. ombrophilous forests). These populations are severely fragmented and the habitats have been degraded since 500 years ( Colombo and Joly 2010, Loyola et al. 2014). On the other hand, this new species has been recorded in at least ten conservation units: Estação Biológica de Caratinga, Estação Biológica de São Lourenço, Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Parque Natural Municipal Curió, Parque Natural Municipal Goiapaba-açu, Parque Natural Municipal de São Lourenço, Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Estadual da Serra da Estrela, Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi, Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, and Reserva Biológica União. Thus, according to IUCN (2022) categories and criteria this species is assessed as Least Concern (LC).

Taxonomic notes:— Despite being morphologically recognizable on the basis of in a few characters as fleshy anthocarps and stamens included in the perianth, Neea shows a large morphological variation in both vegetative and reproductive characters among its species if compared to other Pisonieae genera (e.g., Guapira Aublet 1775: 308 and Pisonia Linnaeus 1753: 1026 ). Such variation occurs in disposition of flowers in the inflorescences, where species with cymes arising along spreading inflorescence branches can be found, i.e. N. huachamacarae Steyermark (1987: 628) and N. constricta Spruce ex J.A. Schmidt [1872: 368 ; this name is currently synonymized under N. macrophylla Poeppig & Endlicher (1838: 46) ], instead of distal portions of these structures. Moreover, there is the presence of cauliflory in some species, such as N. alumnorum M. Pignal et al. (2013: 22) and N. floribunda Poeppig & Endlicher (1838: 46) and staminate perianth shape, which vary from campanulate, like in the N. campanulata D.S.Costa & E.F.S.Rossetto (2021: 626) and N. obovata Spruce ex Heimerl (1897: 38) to urceolate or tubular where the former occur in most part of species in the genus. Regarding vegetative characters, specifically phyllotaxis, opposite and subopposite leaves are the most common pattern found in Neea (and all other genera of Pisonieae ), while alternate and spiral leaves are rarer, alternate leaves are present only in N. virens Poeppig ex Heimerl (1897: 38) and N. gustaviifolia Aymard (2021: 405) and whorled leaves in N. verticillata , and now reported in N. bradeana .

Neea bradeana encompasses shrubs with large sessile or short-petiolate leaves in whorls ( Fig. 2A‒B ) and terminalerect inflorescences with congested branches ( Fig. 2C‒D ) or sometimes loose in staminate inflorescence and urceolate staminate flowers ( Fig. 2C ). In the 1940s, the Nyctaginaceae specialist, A. Heimerl noticed specimens collected by Brade with these characters could be a new species, but he never published a formal description (see Etymology section). Unaware of Heimerl’s observation, Furlan & Giulietti (2014), in their Pisonieae revision for Brazil, treated one of these specimens and other similar as N. verticillata , the type species of genus. Thus, N. verticillata would be a disjunct species, occurring in the Amazonia of Peru and Ecuador ( Ruiz & Pavon 1798, Standley 1937, Harling 2010) and wet formations of Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil. Since N. verticillata also carries large leaves disposed in whorls ( Ruiz and Pavon 1798, Choisy 1849, Harling 2010), it is probable that Furlan & Giulietti (2014) took into account primarily these characters when analysed the materials of the new species. On the other hand, both lectotype (Ruiz & Pavon s.n., MA811463; see Harling 2010) and the original illustration of N. verticillata show a plant with petiolate leaves. Leaves in N. bradeana are sessile to short-petiolate (petiole up to 2 cm long), whereas petioles are 3‒4 cm long in N. verticillata ( Harling 2010, see Table 1 ). Regarding differences in reproductive structures, original illustration of N. verticillata also show pendulous inflorescences with loosely-arranged branches, whereas inflorescences in N. bradeana are erect with branches congested or sometimes loose in staminate inflorescence. Finally, the shape of both staminate and pistillate flowers differ between these species, being the staminate and pistillate flowers urceolate and subcylindrical, respectively in N. bradeana , whereas tubular and ellipsoid flowers were described for N. verticillata ( Harling 2010, see Table 1 ). Regarding the geographic distribution, N. bradeana is a species restricted to Southeastern Brazil, while N. verticillata does not reach the Atlantic Forest of this region, being probably restricted to Amazon basin, although further material analyses can confirm its occurrence in Brazil.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Fundão, Goiapaba-Açu , 3 May 2003, fl. ♂, Fontana & Britto 566 ( MBML00071274 ) ; Itaguassú, Alto Limoeiro , 10 May 1946, fl. ♂, Brade 18074 ( RB00267353 ) ; Santa Maria de Jetibá, terreno de Reinaldo Berger, Km 6,5, estrada do Garrafão , 15 April 2003, fl. ♂, Kollmann & Berger 6104 ( MBML00036928 ) ; Santa Maria de Jetibá, Caramuru, Sítio Jetibá , proprietário de Ademival e Gildo Adeodato , 24 June 2003, fr., Kollmann & Berger 6244 ( MBML00036929 ) ; Santa Teresa, Estação Ecológica da Caixa d’Água , 4 February 1986, fl. ♂, Boudet Fernandes 1836 ( MBML00017265 ) ; Santa Teresa, Mata Feia, próxima à estrada para Itabocas , 18 September 1985, fr., Boone 782 ( MBML00017268 ) ; Santa Teresa, Nova Lombardia, Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi , 10 April 2003, fl. ♀, Vervloet et al. 2194 ( MBML00017273 ) ; Santa Teresa, Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi , trilha do tanque do peixe, linha de divisa à partir do marco 38, 2 September 2003, fr., Rossini et al. 508 ( MBML00017275 ) ; Santa Teresa, Santo Henrique, terreno Waldecir Frey , 15 April 2005, fl. bud, Kollmann & Fontana 7657 ( MBML00036930 ) ; Santa Teresa, São Lourenço, Mata Fria , terreno de Clério Loss, valão à direita do asfalto, 2 December 1998, fl. ♂, Kollmann et al. 1178 ( MBML00017267 ) ; Santa Teresa, São Lourenço, Mata do Martinelli , 18 April 2000, fl. ♂, Demuner & Gomes 905 ( MBML00017272 ) ; Santa Teresa, Mata do Espíndula, 17 May 1984, fr., Vimercat 136 ( MBML00017269 ). Minas Gerais: Caratinga , Estação Ecológica de Caratinga , 6 July 1987, fl. ♂, Andrade & Costa 51 ( BHCB042793 ). Rio de Janeiro: Campos dos Goytacazes , Distrito de Rio Preto , Fazenda Aleluia, 17 August 2019, fl. ♂, Costa et al. 1086 ( FUEL056299 ) ; Duque de Caxias, Santa Cruz da Serra, Pau-Grande , Cachoeira do Pau-Grande , 4 April 1993, fl. ♂, Braga & Bovini 312 ( RB00675370 ) ; Duque de Caxias, Xerém, Barragem de Saracuruna , trilha para a Pedra Branca , 1 September 1999, fr., Bovini & Braga 1700 ( RB00675326 ) ; Duque de Caxias, Reserva da Petrobras , trilha ao redor do lago da barragem, 6 May 1997, fr., Silva Neto et al. 1197 ( RB00749377 ) ; Engenheiro Paulo de Frontin, Tinguá, Morro Azul do Tinguá, Instituto Zoobotânico de Morro Azul (IZMA), 11 February 2010, fr., Somner et al. s.n ( RBR00057728 ) ; Itatiaia, Lote 21, 21 May 1935, fl. ♂, Brade 14618 ( RB00334085 , B101107162 [image]) ; Itatiaia , 24 February 1942, fl. ♂, Brade 17187 ( RB00334130 ) ; Itatiaia , km 4, 5 March 1945, fl. ♀, Brade 17524 ( RB00334136 ) ; Itatiaia , s.d., fl. ♀, Brade s.n. ( RB00334095 ) ; Itatiaia, Lote 17, 14 March 1942, st., Barros 667 ( RB00487422 ) ; Paracambi, Parque Natural Municipal do Curió, Trilha dos Escravos , 23 June 2018, fr., Souza et al. 122 ( RBR00056318 ) ; Paraty, Estrada Rio-Santos para Paraty-Mirim em direção ao Patrimônio , Córrego da Limeira , 8 May 1991, fl. bud, Sylvestre et al. 432 (FUEL056788, RB00267476 ) ; Paraty, Morro do Carrapato, atrás do Sítio da D. Nadir , lado direito da estrada em direção à São Paulo, APA Cairuçu , 17 March 1993, fl. ♀, Marques et al. 367 ( RB00348717 ) ; Paraty, a cerca de 18 km do Trevo de Paraty até a entrada de Laranjeiras , mais 9 km em direção a Faz. do Sr. Gibrail , estrada para Praia do Sono , 30 June 1993, fl. ♂, Konno et al. 192 ( RB00267355 ) ; Rio das Ostras, REBIO União , na trilha Lava-pés , após a torre de observação, 6 May 2023, fl. ♀ & fr., Nunes et al. 1549 ( RB01492420 ) ; Silva Jardim, Reserva Biológica de Poço das Antas , 26 May 1982, fr., Lima & Martinelli 1727 ( RB00267407 ). São Paulo: Undetermined Municipality, s.d., fl. bud, Saint-Hilaire D 797 (P04974027 [image]) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Neea bradeana (MBML00017270). Image used with permission of the herbarium MBML.

FIGURE 2. Field images of Neea bradeana. A. Habit with whorled leaves in the nodes. B. Apex of the shrub with whorled leaves. C. Staminate inflorescence. D. Pistillate inflorescence with anthocarps in early stage of development (Photos A–C by Idimá G. Costa, and D by Diego Nunes).

FIGURE 3. Map of distribution of Neea bradeana.