Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Muchhala, Nathan
name: Mashburn, Brock
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asterales
Campanulaceae
Burmeistera
Burmeistera velutina

description: 3. Burmeistera velutina Muchhala & Mashburn, sp. nov.
TYPE: Ecuador. Pichincha: Mashpi Lodge, on ‘Palma Caminante’ path, 1047 m, 00°09’47.59”N 78°52’26.823”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl), N. Muchhala & J. Gruhn 556 (holotype, MO-6773326!; isotypes, QCA!, HUTI!). Figures 1 G-I, 5.
Diagnosis. This new species from Ecuador is similar to Burmeistera smaragdi Lammers (2002: 213), especially in the presence of long, narrow calyx lobes (15–23 × 0.5–1.5 mm), but is primarily differentiated by the yellow to creamcolored hairs that cover all of the vegetative and reproductive parts of the plant except for the adaxial leaf surface.
Herbaceous shrubs to scandent herbs, reaching ca. 6 m. Latex unknown. Stems up to 4 mm wide on terminal branches, yellow-green, villose with yellow to cream-colored hairs. Leaves alternate, distichous, the internodes 15–25 mm long; petioles 5–10 mm long, green, villose; lamina 80–145 × 25–40 mm, narrowly elliptic, the base attenuate, the apex attenuate to acuminate, the margins shallow callose-dentate, nearly entire, the teeth intramarginal; adaxial surface dark green, glabrous; abaxial surface lighter green, villose, especially along the main veins; venation camptodromous, the primary vein prominent, raised, the secondary veins only slightly raised, the tertiary veins faintly visible. Pedicels ebracteolate, 65–95 mm long at anthesis and in fruit, green, villose, especially distally. Flowers 32–37 mm long, solitary in the upper leaf axils; hypanthium 7–11 × 4–6 mm, turbinate, the base barely distinguishable from the pedicel, green, villose, the ridges slightly raised; calyx lobes 15–23 × 0.5–1.5 mm, linear, reflexed at anthesis, green, the exterior villose, the interior glabrous, the margins shallow callose-serrate, the apex acute; corolla green to green tinged with maroon-violet, villose; corolla tube 5–6 mm wide basally, the throat narrowing to 3–4 mm wide; corolla lobes lanceolate, the two dorsal lobes 12–15 × 3–4 mm, falcate, arched forwards, the dorsal sinus 14–15 mm from the corolla base, the two lateral lobes 8–9 × 3– 4 mm, falcate, slightly recurved, the ventral lobe 7–8 × 3–4 mm, the ventral sinus 11–12 mm from the corolla base; androecium 25–29 mm long, exserted 15–17 mm from the ventral opening, the filament tube green, sparsely puberulous with white hairs, the anther tube ca. 5 × 4 mm, green, violet along the sutures, sparsely puberulous between the sutures, all five anther tips glabrous to sparsely puberulous; the style and stigma cream-colored, the stigma lobes fringed with white hairs along the margins. Fruits ca. 11 × 8 mm, obovoid, not inflated, maturing white; seeds unknown.
Etymology. The specific epithet, velutina, comes from Latin, in reference the dense covering of soft hairs exhibited by this species.
Phenology. Collections of this species have been made with flowers and fruits in July.
Distribution & Conservation Status. As of yet, collections of Burmeistera velutina come only from the type locality in Mashpi Reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador (Fig. 3). It occurs in cloud forests at 970–1050 m in elevation. It occurs in cloud forests at 970–1050 m in elevation. The narrow extent of occurrence (0.045 km 2) and area of occupancy (4 km 2) suggest a conservation status of ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR). In addition to being known from only one location, the region surrounding Mashpi Reserve is increasingly deforested due to clearing for pasture and other agriculture activities. Thus, following the IUCN (2019) guidelines, we assess this species as ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR B1ab[iii]).
Discussion. Burmeistera velutina is likely to be closely related to B. smaragdi, which occurs in the provinces of Carchi, Esmeraldas, and Manabí, in eastern Ecuador. The flowers of each species are similar in shape, size, and color, and both species exhibit narrow calyx lobes that are quite long for the genus (reaching 28 mm long in B. smaragdi). However, B. velutina is differentiated from B. smaragdi by the presence of yellow to cream-colored villose hairs that cover the reproductive parts of the plant, whereas these parts are glabrous in Burmeistera smaragdi. In addition, the calyx lobes of B. velutina are strongly reflexed at anthesis, while those of B. smaragdi are ascending at anthesis. If the proposed relationship between B. velutina and B. smaragdi is true, this would place B. velutina in a clade with B. tenuiflora Donn. Sm. (1898: 147) from Panama and Costa Rica (Bagley et al. 2020).
Paratypes. ECUADOR. Pichincha: Mashpi Lodge, on ‘Palma Caminante’ path, 1034 m, 00°09’53.81”N 78°52’25.743”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl), Muchhala & Gruhn 552 (MO); Mashpi Lodge, on ‘Palma Caminante’ path, 1031 m, 00°09’47.89”N 78°52’27.553”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl, fr), Muchhala & Gruhn 554 (MO); Mashpi Lodge, on ‘Palma Caminante’ path, 1035 m, 00°09’47.05”N 78°52’27.273”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl), Muchhala & Gruhn 555 (MO); Mashpi Lodge, on road to lodge, at start of ‘Copal’ trail, 978 m, 00°09’59.69”N 78°52’37.653”W, 06 Jul. 2018 (fl), Muchhala & Gruhn 549 (MO).
description: Published as part of Muchhala, Nathan & Mashburn, Brock, 2021, Three New Species of Burmeistera (Campanulaceae) Endemic to Ecuador, pp. 253-262 in Phytotaxa 490 (3) on pages 260-261, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.490.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5756437