Lepidaploa restingae G. Soares & Loeuille 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Soares, Gleison
name: Loeuille, Benoît
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asterales
Asteraceae
Lepidaploa
Lepidaploa restingae

description: Lepidaploa restingae G.Soares & Loeuille, sp. nov.
Type:— BRAZIL. Alagoas: Piaçabuçu, próximo à Fazenda Tatu, 17 March 2003, R. Rocha 509 (holotype: MAC002727!) (Fig. 1).
Species Lepidaploae mucronifoliae similis, sed ramis setulosis (non hirsutis), foliis oblongis, raro oblanceolatis (non ovatis), basi longe cuneata (non rotundata vel cordata), apice sine mucrone (non mucronato) et indumento furfuraceo (non tomentoso) differt.
Subshrub or shrub, 30–80 cm tall, erect, moderately branched; stems ± terete, ribbed, setulose, old stems becoming glabrous to glabrescent, 2–2.4 cm in diam. at base. Leaves spirally-alternate, simple, sessile; blade 1.0–2.0 × 0.3–0.5 cm, dark-green, concolorous, subcoriaceous, oblong, rarely oblanceolate, base long cuneate, apex obtuse or acute, margin entire, flat; venation eucamptodromous, midrib prominent abaxially, slightly prominent in the middle of blade, plane or slightly impressed adaxially, abaxial surface densely scurfy, densely covered with dark sessile glands and minute scale-like trichomes, adaxial surface scurfy, ± glabrescent, with scale-like trichomes. Capitulescence laxly seriate-cymose, with 6–13 capitula, flowering branches densely setulose, with yellowish trichomes and few dark sessile glands, inflorescence bracts foliaceous 1.0–1.8 × 0.4–0.6 cm, sessile. Capitula homogamous, discoid, subsessile, peduncle 0.3–0.6 mm long; involucre campanulate, 6.2–9.2 × 4.5–8.5 mm, 4–5-seriate; phyllaries weakly imbricate, apex long acuminate, outer involucral bracts lanceolate to ovate, 2.0–4.0 × 0.8–1.3 mm, stramineous to greenish, externally glabrescent with small yellowish glandular sessile trichomes, internally glabrous, margins ciliate, upper part greenish, rarely vinaceous, inner phyllaries narrow lanceolate to lanceolate, rarely elliptic, 5.2–7.3 × 1.0– 1.8 mm, greenish to golden brown, apex and base sericeous, with simple trichomes and yellowish glandular sessile trichomes, internally glabrous, lustrous, fringed, apex vinaceous; receptacle flat, glabrous or slightly fimbrillate. Florets (13–)15–20, bisexual, fertile; corolla actinomorphic, 5-lobed, purple, corolla tube 5–6 × 0.5–0.7 mm, with small sessile or short-stipitate glandular trichomes mostly near apex; corolla lobes (0.8–) 2–3 × 0.3–0.5 mm, glabrous, apex acute with yellowish glandular sessile trichomes; anthers calcarate 2.8–3.2 mm long, whitish, apical anther appendages acute, purple, anther base shortly sagittate, acute, non-glandular; style shaft 6–6.5 mm long, light brown, glabrous throughout except for pubescent upper 0.5 mm beneath style-arms, style base with basal node, glabrous, style arms 1.2–2.0 mm long, purple, apex acute, sericeous outside, trichomes acute. Cypsela dark brown, obconical, 2.5–3.0 × 0.8–1.1 mm, 10-ribbed, densely sericeous, with sessile hyaline glands near base; carpopodium annular, cream-colored; pappus biseriate, unequal, whitish, serrulate, persistent, outer series paleaceous, 1.5–2.2 mm long, inner series setose, 7.5–8.2 mm long.
Distribution and habitat: — Lepidaploa restingae is found in the municipalities of Coruripe and Piaçabuçu in the state of Alagoas, and in Ilha das Flores and Pacatuba in the state of Sergipe (Brazil) (Fig. 2). It mostly occurs in open restinga and less frequently in areas of secondary forests with heavily drained soil.
Preliminary conservation status: —Based on the AOO (299.085 km ²) and EOO (16 km ²) values and according to the criteria proposed by IUCN (2019), Lepidaploa restingae should be considered Endangered EN B2ab(ii, iii). Other factors grounding this assessment are the low number of known populations, the species habitat specificity and the fact that restinga areas suffer from strong instability and anthropogenic influence caused by tourism and urban expansion (Rocha et al. 2007). Although the municipality where the type locality is included has a protected area (Área de Proteção Ambiental Piaçabuçu), none of the known populations are within its limits. Currently, only five collections are known for this new species.
Etymology: —The epithet refers to the restinga vegetation, where the new species occurs.
Phenology: —Collected with flowers and fruits in February to March, May and August, both during the rainy and dry seasons.
Additional specimen examined (Paratypes): — BRAZIL. Alagoas: Coruripe, Poxim, 18 August 2011, E.C.O. Chagas et al. 0925 (MAC). Piaçabuçu, 15 March 2003, R.P. Lyra-Lemos et al. 7411 (MAC); pia 406 próximo à fazenda Tatu, 14 February 1984, R. Rocha 406 (IPA [digital image], MAC). Sergipe: Ilha das Flores, povoado de Aroeira, entrada da cidade, lado direito, 28 February 2012, D.A. Campos et al. 90 (ASE [digital image]); Pacatuba, 01 May 2012, D.G. Oliveira, et al. 364 (ASE [digital image]).
Notes: —We have classified this new species in Lepidaploa because it possesses the following combination of macro- and microcharacters: inflorescence seriate-cymose with subinvolucral leafy bracts usually present, style with a basal node, non-glandular anther appendages and presence of raphide crystals in the pericarp. Surprisingly, in L. restingae, two different shapes of pericarp crystals occur together: rectangular and prismatic (Fig. 3). Both types were previously observed in other species of the genus by Pruski (2017) and Marques et al. (2018), however, there were no reports of the two types being present in the same individual, thus reinforcing the novelty of this species.
Regarding its morphology, Lepidaploa restingae is easily recognized by the combination of oblong (rarely oblanceolate), subsessile leaves with long cuneate base, abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces densely scurfy, flowering branches with yellowish setulose indumentum and the presence of yellowish glandular trichomes at the apices and bases of inner phyllaries.
According to Marques et al. (2020), among the 58 species of Lepidaploa occurring in Brazil, only L. mucronifolia (Candolle 1836: 55) Robinson (1990: 490) has occurrence recorded in the restingas of northeastern Brazil. That species is morphologically similar to L. restingae, especially due to its spirally-alternate leaves and laxly seriate-cymose capitulescence. However, L. mucronifolia has ovate leaves with rounded or cordate base and mucronate apex (vs. non mucronate) and 3–4-seriate involucre (vs. 4–5-seriate). Lepidaploa mucronifolia occurs in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Sergipe in areas of Caatinga (sensu stricto) and restingas (Marques et al. 2020, Alves et al. in prep). In the states of Alagoas and Sergipe, these two species occur in sympatry in restinga areas.
The new species is also morphologically related to Lepidaploa araujoa Robinson (1995: 391). However, L. araujoa has linear leaves (vs. oblong, rarely oblanceolate) and sericeous abaxial leaf surface (vs. densely scurfy), congested capitulescence (vs. loose), and corolla lobes with T-shaped trichomes (vs. glandular, without tector trichomes). Lepidaploa araujoa is known only from its type collection, in restinga areas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil (Robinson 1995, Marques et al. 2020). However, the type of restinga where L. araujoa occurs, according to the classification by Villwock et al. (2005), is part of the East Coast restingas, which are distinguished from other units due to climatic, geographical characteristics and sea currents. In addition, floristic studies have shown that East Coast restingas are a distinct vegetation type from the restinga communities of the Northeast (Correia et al. 2020).
The main morphological differences observed among the new species and its related taxa are shown in Table 1.
description: Published as part of Soares, Gleison & Loeuille, Benoît, 2021, Lepidaploa restingae (Asteraceae: Vernonieae), a new species from Northeastern Brazil, pp. 195-202 in Phytotaxa 520 (2) on pages 196-199, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.520.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/5508909