Wedelia monantha (Vell.) Remor, Bringel & J.F.B.Pastore, 2022

Remor, Danielle, Bringel Jr, João Bernardo De A. & Pastore, José Floriano B., 2022, A new combination in Wedelia (Asteraceae-Heliantheae-Ecliptinae) from Brazil, Phytotaxa 545 (1), pp. 103-109 : 104-107

Wedelia monantha (Vell.) Remor, Bringel & J.F.B.Pastore , comb. nov.

Aster monanthus Vellozo. Flora Fluminensis (1831 [1827]: 121).

Lectotype designated here: [Icon ined.] “Syng. Polyg. Superf. ASTER monanthus 121” Manuscript Sect. Of Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, PT-TT-MSLIV-2778_m0249. Icon ined. Copy in Manuscript Sect., Bibliot. Nac., Rio de Janeiro No. I-17, 04, 002; mss1198657_124 ( Fig. 1 ) . Epitype designated here:— BRAZIL. São Paulo: Cunha, Estrada Real Cunha-Paraty, 23°05’05.8”S, 44°55’29.8”W, elev. 884 m, 19 October 2021, D. Remor 301 ( CTBS 6423 !, Fig. 2 ; isoepitype UPCB!).

= Wedelia subvelutina Candolle (1836: 540) . Lectotype designated here:— BRAZIL. “In palustribus Prov St Paul”, 1835, Lund 865 (G00455250!). Remaining syntypes:— BRAZIL. São Paulo: H. Imp. Bras. n° 408 [probably Sellow] (barcode G0045240!).

= Wedelia scandens Gardner (1845: 125) , non W. scandens Clarke (1876: 136) . Lectotype designated here:— BRAZIL. [Rio de Janeiro] “ Organ Mountains , in bushy places by the sides of streams”, January 1837 [cited as February in Gardner 1845], Gardner 506 (K000895455!; isolectotypes E00433333!, GH00014080!, K000895454!, NY00278026!, NY00278027!, P00710039!, P02515241!, US00385722!, W0065048!).

Herbs or vines; twigs erect, cylindrical, indument sericeous to villous, internodes 27.5–98.5 mm long. Leaves opposite, green, petiole 1–1.4 mm long, blades oblong-lanceolate to narrow-ovate, 6.5–83× 12–15.5mm, apex acuminate or mucronate, margins serrate or serrulate, base cuneate or oblique, adaxial surface scabrous, abaxial glabrous, 3- veined from the base. Heads solitary, radiate, peduncle 5–6.5 mm long, sericeous or strigose; involucre 3.5–5× 6 mm, campanulate, bisseriate; phyllaries greenish, apex dull-green, foliaceous, ovate or elliptic, strigose; receptacle slightly convex, paleaceous, paleae 4.5–5 mm long, conduplicate to concave, oblanceolate, apex acute or acuminate, stramineous, 1-nerved, pubescent to sparsely pubescent. Ray florets 8–9, corolla liguliform, pistillate, yellow, tube 1–1.5 mm, limb 9.5-10 mm, oblong, apex bilobate, abaxial surface sparsely pilose. Disc florets 22–25, monocline, corolla tubulose, yellow, tube ca. 1.3 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes ca. 0.6 mm long, sparsely glandular-punctate, sparsely pilose at vascular bundles, anthers black 1–1.5 mm long, appendage deltate, black, glandular-punctate externally, style branch yellow, 1–1.2 mm long, linear, apex hispidulous. Ray cypsela obovate, 3.6–3.7 × 3.1–3.3 mm, triquetrous, compressed, apex sparsely setose, surface rugose, margin thickly winged, wings not differing in color and surface; disc cypsela not seem. Pappus coroniform, apex laciniate, pale yellow, 0.2–0.4 mm long, hispidulous. Fig. 3 .

Comments:—Although a description of Wedelia monantha was absent from the first edition of FF of 1829, published only in 1881, its plate was published in 1831. That plate includes elements that may be clearly recognized as analysis, according the ICN Art. 38.7, 38.8 and 38.9 ( Turland et al. 2018). The pistillate ray flowers, coroniform pappus, isolated heads with a long peduncle, together with the lanceolate, with distinct petiole are diagnostic for the species illustrated in the Aster monanthus plate. This species is currently treated as W. subvelutina by Alves & Bringel Jr. (2020). However, the older name, Aster monanthus , validly published in a plate from 1831, has priority over it.

Another remarkable feature of W. monantha , and also of the majority of the other species of this genus, is the trinervate leaves. Although it is not possible to clearly recognize the trinervate leaves in the plate from Vellozo (1831), the pattern of venation drawn is similar to the pattern found in some specimens from Rio de Janeiro (Glaziou 5615, Warming 663) and Minas Gerais (Nunes 186), in which the perimarginal veins are not as thick as the primary one, rather a slight perimarginal vein can be recognized, resembling a brochidodromous pattern. We believe that the age of the leaf and habitat conditions are responsible for this variation.

Vellozo (1881) described the original habitat of A. monanthus as “ habitat campis apricis mediterraneis transalpinis ”, interpreted by Pastore et al. (2021) as originated in the municipality of Cunha (São Paulo state). Since the original specimens are considered lost ( Carauta 1973; Bediaga & Lima 2015; Pastore et al. 2021), the only set of original material is the plates preserved in the National Archive of Torre do Tombo (Lisbon) and the National Library of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) Biblioteca Nacional (Rio de Janeiro). Therefore, an epitype has been accordingly designated on the basis of a modern specimen collected along the Estrada Real in Cunha.

Although the illustration of Aster monanthus is sufficient for identification of the species by specialists, the illustrations in the Flora Fluminensis cannot be considered complete in all of the species representative features. Therefore an epitype was assigned based on a modern specimen collected along the Estrada Real in Cunha in order to provide a full detailed specimen, and so, accurately supporting application of the name according to Art. 9.9 ( Turland et al. 2018).

Habitat, distribution and phenology: — Wedelia monantha occurs for the most part in the Atlantic Forest domain, but also in the ecotone regions with patches of the savanna vegetation (cerrado sensu lato). It is usually found on the margin of forests, more rarely in open marshy fields. The species occurs in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Paraná ( Fig. 4 ) flowering from October to April. Curiously, in the Checklist of the Spermatophyta of the State of São Paulo no species of the genus Wedelia is mentioned ( Wanderley et al. 2011).

Material examined: — BRAZIL: Minas Gerais: Ouro Preto, Sujo, Saramenha , [20°17’15”S, 43°30’29”W], 13 January 1942, Magalhães 1025 (ESA, IAN) ; Passa Quatro, Distrito de Pinheirinhos , Estrada da fazenda São Bento , [22°23’25”S, 44°58’0”W], 28 December 1979, Nunes 186 (ALCB, CEN, RB) ; São Roque de Minas, Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra , Cachoeira Casca D’Anta , Trilha para guarita de baixo, [20°14’43”S 46°21’57”W], 10 June 1996, Nakajima et al. 1982 (HUFU, US) ; Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Cerca de 4 km de Santa Rita do Sapucaí em direção a São Sebastião da Bela Vista , [22°12’27.26”S, 45°44’15.29”W], 29 January 2016, Souza et al. 40124 (CEN) ; Santos Dumont, Serra da Mantiqueira , Beira do córrego, [21°27’24”S, 43°33’9”W], 14 October 1979, Krieger 16737 (HUFU) ; Paraná: Cerro Azul , Serra da Canha , [24°49’25”S, 49°15’40”W], 03 October 1973, Hatschbach 31607 (MBM) ; Ibid., Rio Piedade , [24°49’25”S, 49°15’40”W], 24 April 1997, Silva et al. 1942 (MBM, US) ; Bocaiúva do Sul, [25°12’22”S 49°6’54”W], 27 January 2005, Barboza. et al. 1016 (MBM) ; Rio de Janeiro: Itatiaia , km 8., [22°29’46”S, 44 ° 33’48”W], 08 January 1947, Duarte & Edmundo 814 (ALCB, RB) ; Petrópolis, Ranche : Mauro Large , [22°30’18”S, 43°10’43”W] Warming 663 (P) ; S. Antonio , 23 March 1872, Glaziou 5615 (P). São Paulo : Cunha , [23°4’12”S, 44°57’36”W], 12 December 1996, Souza et al. 786 (ESA) ; Ibid., Estrada real após o bairro do Monjolo , saindo de Cunha, [23°7’26”S, 44°52’04”W], 07 November 2019, Pastore & Menezes 5792 (CTBS) ; Mogi das Cruzes, Vila São Geraldo , [23°31’22”S, 46°11’18”W], 09 November 1937, Hashimoto 65 (CEN) ; São José dos Campos, Ca. 8.0 km SW em linha reta da praça principal de São José dos Campos , [23°10’13”S, 45°52’48”W], s.d., Mimura 226 (NY, US) ; São Paulo, Parque Estadual de São Paulo , [23°32’24”S, 46°37’48”W], 04 May 1994, W. Hoehne 1377 (UEC) ; Idem, Campo de Congonhas , [23°32’24”S, 46°37’48”W], 13 November 1941, Hoehne 810 (UEC) ; Santo Antônio do Pinhal, [22°49’12”S, 45°39’36”W], 11 June 1992, Sartori et al. 26591 (UEC) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Aster monanthus Vell. [= Wedelia monantha (Vell.) Remor, Bringel & J.F.B.Pastore], from Vellozo’s Fl. Flumin. (Icones) 8: t. 121 (1831).

FIGURE 2. Epitype of Wedelia monantha (Vell.) Remor, Bringel & J.F.B.Pastore [=Aster monanthus Vell.].

FIGURE 3. Wedelia monantha (Vell.) Remor, Bringel & J.F.B.Pastore in the field in Cunha (São Paulo state). (Photos: D. Remor).

FIGURE 4. Map of the geographical distribution of Wedelia monantha. (Map: D. Remor).