Menonvillea zuloagaensis Al-Shehbaz (2010: 59)

Salariato, Diego L., Zuloaga, Fernando O. & Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A., 2014, A revision of the genus Menonvillea (Cremolobeae, Brassicaceae), Phytotaxa 162 (5), pp. 241-298 : 289

24. Menonvillea zuloagaensis Al-Shehbaz (2010: 59) . Type:— ARGENTINA. [Prov. San Juan]. Depto. Iglesia, Reserva de San Guillermo , Los Caserones, vega con paredes rocosas, 3,410 m, 22 February 1981, E. G . Nicora , E. R . Guaglianone , & A. M . Ragonese 8262 (holotype BAA!) .

Perennials, scapose, with compactly branched woody caudex. Stems 6−18 cm, erect to ascending, few from caudex, unbranched, moderately to densely pilose throughout with spreading, straight, simple trichomes 0.1−0.4(− 0.6) mm long. Leaves all basal, long petiolate; petiole 3−12 cm long; blade suborbicular to reniform in outline, palmately or less frequently pinnately 5-lobed, sometimes with additional pair of smaller lobes, 1−3 × 1−2.5 cm, cordate to subtruncate at base; lobes broadly ovate, entire, obtuse to subacute at apex; cauline leaves absent or 1, petiolate, much smaller than basal leaves. Racemes terminal, 30−50-flowered, ebracteate, corymbose, elongated considerably in fruit, slightly longer than leaves, 7−12 cm long; rachis pilose, straight; fruiting pedicels divaricate to descending, 6−12 mm long, curved, slender, pilose. Sepals ovate, 2−2.5 × 1.4−1.8 mm, pilose, spreading, not saccate, persistent after fruit maturity, margins membranous; petals white, obovate, 3−3.5 × 1−1.8 mm, persistent, clawed, dilated and papillate at base; stamens slightly tetradynamous, persistent; filaments free, erect, dilated and papillate at base, 1.5−2 mm long; anthers oblong, 0.5−0.6 mm long; nectar glands confluent, not petaloid. Fruits didymous, widely ellipsoid to orbicular, glabrous; valves wingless, 2.5−3 × 1.5−2 mm; gynophore 0.2−0.5 mm long; replum expanded apically, with a septal perforation; style 0.4−0.6 mm long; stigma capitate, somewhat 2- lobed. Seeds oblong ca. 1.5 × 0.8 mm, wingless; cotyledons incumbent.

Phenology:— Flowers in February.

Distribution and habitat:— Known only from the type collection from the National Park “San Guillermo” in the Argentinean Province of San Juan, where it grows in rock crevices at elevations ca. 3410 m ( Fig. 14D ).

Taxonomic notes:— Menonvillea zuloagaensis , together with the Chilean species M. minima , are the only members in Menonvillea with wingless fruits. They belong to different sections (see key above) and differ also by characters listed under the latter species. Other morphological characters, such as the scapose habit, long-petiolate basal leaves, and coarsely papillate petals and stamens bases support the relationship of M. zuloagensis to M. scapigera and M. famatinensis . Although this species was not sequenced for the molecular analysis of Salariato et al. (2013), morphological characters analyzed herein support its placement in Sect. Scapigera.

Figures

FIGURE 14. Distribution of species of Menonvillea sect. Scapigera. A, M. famatinensis. B, M. scapigera subsp. scapigera. C, M. scapigera subsp. longipes. D, M. zuloagaensis.