Drosera magnifica Rivadavia & Gonella

Gonella, Paulo Minatel, Sano, Paulo Takeo, Rivadavia, Fernando & Fleischmann, Andreas, 2022, A synopsis of the genus Drosera (Droseraceae) in Brazil, Phytotaxa 553 (1), pp. 1-76 : 51

20. Drosera magnifica Rivadavia & Gonella in Gonella et al. (2015: 258). Figures 6d, 16g –i

Type: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Conselheiro Pena, Pico do Padre Ângelo , 1530 m, 28 November 2013, Gonella & Rivadavia 645 (holotype SPF!, isotypes BHCB-110777!, MO!, P!, RB-752024!, SPF!) .

Perennial, rosetted, caulescent, stems well-developed, prostrate or ascending, up to 123.5 cm long, often clonalcespitose. Leaves semi-erect, with circinate-involute vernation, sessile, lamina linear-lanceolate, 100–240 × 3–8 mm, exclusively eglandular-pilose, with a raised midrib on the adaxial surface, the adaxial surface with a short, triangular to narrowly triangular tentacle-free zone at the base, and the mature leaves with revolute margins; stipules triangular, golden colored. Scape erect at the base, a single scape produced per year, highly branched inflorescences (branched scorpioid cymes), covered with stalked glandular trichomes 0.1–0.4(–0.5) mm long and eglandular trichomes; petals pink; gynoecium 3-carpelate, styles bifurcated at the base. Seeds fusiform, 1.0– 1.2 mm long, dark brown to black, testa reticulate (based on Gonella et al. 2015).

Illustrations: — Gonella et al. (2015: 261, fig. 2—habit and details).

Distribution: — Brazil (Southeast: MG), endemic to the Pico do Padre Ângelo, part of the Serra do Padre Ângelo, in eastern Minas Gerais (Fig. 6d).

Habitat: — Campos rupestres in sandy soil with organic matter over quartzite rock, at elevations around 1500– 1530 m.

Phenology:— Drosera magnifica flowers between September and December.

Conservation status: —Critically Endangered (CR) B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii). Drosera magnifica is a microendemic species, only known to occur in a fragile environment on a single mountain summit (AOO= 4 km 2). Its population is estimated at fewer than 1000 individuals (estimated by adult rosettes, as plants reproduce clonally from stem and roots, hindering a more precise estimation) and suffered a reduction of around 25% of mature individuals in a fire of great proportions that consumed the Serra do Padre Ângelo in late September 2020 (P.M. Gonella, pers. obs.). The species faces further risk of extinction in the near future due to habitat degradation from anthropic interference, such as fires in the surrounding farmlands for pasture renovation, invasion of exotic grasses ( Gonella et al. 2015), uncontrolled tourism, and use of the area for religious celebrations, resulting in trampling of the plants as well as their fragile soil, and poaching. Finally, as a mountaintop endemic, it is threatened by climate change (see Cross et al. 2020). Drosera magnifica is currently not protected by any sort of Protected Area.

Notes:— The largest representative of the genus on the American continent, D. magnifica belongs to the D. graminifolia alliance ( Gonella et al. 2015), but is easily distinguished from both D. graminifolia and D. spiralis by its long and conspicuous stem densely covered with marcescent leaves (Fig. 18g), sessile leaves with circinate-involute vernation (Fig. 18h), absence of glandular trichomes on leaves, multiple-branched inflorescence (Fig. 18g), and larger fusiform seeds.

Additional specimen examined: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Conselheiro Pena, Pico do Padre Ângelo , 08 July 2014, Gonella et al. 675 ( SPF, M) .