Neomarica floscella A. Gil & M. C. E. Amaral 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança
name: Bittrich, Volker
name: Amaral, Maria Do Carmo Estanislau Do
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Iridaceae
Neomarica
Neomarica floscella

description: Neomarica floscella A.Gil & M.C.E.Amaral, sp. nov. (Figs. 3, 4).
Type: — BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, estrada Serra Grande-Itacaré, cerca de 7 km da entrada para Serra Grande, 14º25’46”S, 39º03’12”W, 1 February 2006, A. Gil, J.E. Meireles & L.Y.S. Aona 180 (holotype UEC!).
Medium-sized perennial herbs, 19–51 cm tall. Rhizome vertical, linear, often with the distal part projected ca. 1–5 cm above the soil (in the natural habitat hidden by litterfall). Leaves (15.5–40.8 × 0.9–2.6 cm) and flowering stems (19–46.9 × 0.8–2.1 cm) ensiform, light to dark green, shiny, inserted at the apex of the rhizome, erect, sometimes curved in the same direction, similar in color, but different in height and width (flowering stem often taller than the leaves, rarely of the same height, in most cases with leaves at the same height of the insertion point of first bract; leaf blade slightly wider than the flowering stem peduncle, sometimes twice of width). Leaves and first bract with a narrow, conspicuous and somewhat prominent midrib. Peduncle winged ca. 18–36.2 cm long with a conspicuous central midrib. First bract continuous with the peduncle 7.2–24.5 × 0.9–2.1 cm, similar as the apex of the leaves; second bract much smaller than the first bract, 2.2–4.9 × 0.4–0.7 cm, erect to patent, navicular, with a conspicuous winged projection, and always subtended by a conspicuous rachis internode (1.6–3 × 0.3–0.4 cm). Third bract sometimes inconspicuous, when conspicuous, with about half size of second bract, navicular, with a short winged projection (sometimes absent), and subtended by a second conspicuous rachis internode (ca. 1.5 × 0.5 cm). Fourth bract always inconspicuous. Rhipidia (2)3–4(5) per flowering stem, 2.5–3.6 × 0.3–0.5 cm, on a long stalk 2.2–3.5 cm long (infra-rhipidial raquis internode), giving the inflorescence a lax appearance, and with two external opposed invaginated leathery bract-like spathes enclosing the flower buds and membranous bracteoles. Flowers ca. 3–4 cm in diameter, predominantly white, with basal third of the tepals brown covered by yellowish irregular stripes, mostly transversally orientated; outer tepals 2–2.1 × 0.9–1.1 cm, patent (sometimes recurved), elliptic to subobovate, with apical two-thirds always white; inner tepals 1.2–1.3 × 0.3–0.4 cm, erect, nearly sigmoid, with the basal part radiate, the middle part erect and the apical part strongly revolute, with two intensely yellow, parallel streaks at the base of its apical third; apical third with margins white covered by sparse purplish transversal stripes and with white center (rarely with few purplish stripes); apex always completely purplish colored. Reproductive column ca. 6–7(–8) mm long; stamens whitish ca. 4–5 mm long, half represented by the anthers (ca. 2–2.5 mm long), connective conspicuous; styles and stigmatic crests pale lilac (sometimes crests whitish); stigmatic crests long-triangular to lanceolate, all erect and with the same size (ca. 1 mm); the central crests sometimes slightly longer than the lateral ones; ovary ca. 6–7 mm long, fruit (immature) ca. 4–4.5 × 0.7–0.9 cm long, both subcircular to trigonous in cross-section, 6-sulcate, surface smooth.
Distribution and Habitat: — Known only from the state of Bahia (northeastern Brazil) in the neighboring municipalities of Uruçuca and Itacaré in the coastal southeastern region of the state. N. floscella grows on organic soil covered with litterfall, within closed understory of remnants of southern Bahia Atlantic moist forest, in the Atlantic domain.
Etymology: —The epithet of this new species comes from Latin meaning "small flower", and was chosen as this species has the smallest flowers presently known in the genus Neomarica.
Phenology: — Neomarica floscella probably flowers most of the year, because it was found without flowers only in January, April, June and August (mature fruits were not seen).
Conservation status: — Neomarica floscella is classified as Vulnerable (VU) under D2 criterion (IUCN 2013), existing at only two nearby locations (in two neighboring municipalities - Uruçuca and Itacaré) comprising small populations threatened by development for housing, livestock and agriculture.
Taxonomic relationships: — Neomarica floscella is usually misidentified in herbaria collections as Trimezia bahiensis Ravenna (2003: 30). Analysis of the paratypes and the protologue of T. bahiensis, made clear, however, that it indeed belongs to the genus Trimezia. Ravenna (2003) described the rhizome of T. bahiensis as compact and vertical (corm-like), wrapped by persistent tunic-like leaf bases and the flowering stem cylindrical in cross-section. These characters never occur in Neomarica and are clearly identifiable in all paratypes of T. bahiensis. Furthermore, N. floscella flowers are predominantly white and there are four bracts at the apex of the flowering stem peduncle, contrasting with T. bahiensis wich always has flowers predominantly yellow and a single bract at the middle region of its flowering stem peduncle. The peduncle of T. bahiensis is terete and not winged as in species of Neomarica. Neomarica floscella is also sometimes misidentified as N. humilis, possibly due to their small flowers (slightly larger in N. humilis — ca. 4–5 cm in diameter) and shiny green leaves. It basically differs from N. humilis by apical two-thirds of the outer tepals always white (vs. apical two-thirds of the outer tepals cream to yellowish, never white), style always pale lilac (vs. style cream to yellowish, never lilac) and inner tepals with margins of the apical third always white (vs. inner tepals with margins of the apical third always cream to yellow, never white) (see Figs. 4, 6). Neomarica floscella was also misidentified as N. portosecurensis. However, these two species are extremely different. N. floscella presents about three evident bracts, with second bract always subtended by a conspicuous rachis internode and flowers always predominantly white, and N. portosecurensis presents always only two evident bracts, with second bract always subsessile and flowers always predominantly cream (see Figs. 4, 6).
Other specimens seen (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Bahia: mun. Itacaré, APA de Itacaré/Serra Grande, localidade denominada Assentamento Rural Camboinha, km 12 da Rodovia Itacaré/Serra Grande, cerca de 1 km do ramal a direita, 19 May 2000, S.C. Sant’Ana et al. 870 (CEPEC!); mun. Itacaré, cultivated in the Palm house (P.06) at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, England, 11 March 1978, R.M. Storr 091 (K!); mun. Itacaré, ramal da barragem, 18 October 1968, J. Almeida & T.S. Santos 180 (CEPEC!); ibidem (NY!); mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, 7,3 km na estrada Serra Grande/Itacaré, Fazenda Lagoa, do conjunto Fazenda Santa Cruz, 14º25’S, 39º01’W, 1–12 July 1991, A.M. de Carvalho et al. 3383 (CEPEC!); ibidem (NY!); mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, 7,3 km na estrada Serra Grande/Itacaré, Fazenda Lagoa, do conjunto Fazenda Santa Cruz, 14º25’S, 39º01’W, 11-21 September 1991, A.M. de Carvalho et al. 3554 (CEPEC!); ibidem (MBM!); mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, 7,3 km na estrada Serra Grande/Itacaré, Fazenda Lagoa, do conjunto Fazenda Santa Cruz, 14º25’S, 39º01’W, 6 October 1992, A. M. Amorim et al. 808 (CEPEC!); mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, 7,3 km na estrada Serra Grande/Itacaré, Fazenda Lagoa, do conjunto Fazenda Santa Cruz, 14º25’S, 39º01’W, 19 July 1994, A.M. de Carvalho et al. 4560 (CEPEC!); ibidem (SPF!); ibidem (NY!); mun. Uruçuca, distrito de Serra Grande, Ponto Largo do Lírio, 14º26’04”S, 39º43’14”W, 135 m, 27 May 2000, K.R. Leite et al. 82 (HUEFS!).
description: Published as part of Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança, Bittrich, Volker & Amaral, Maria Do Carmo Estanislau Do, 2014, Two New Species of Neomarica Sprague (Trimezieae-Iridaceae) from Bahia State, Northeastern Brazil, pp. 47-57 in Phytotaxa 164 (1) on pages 51-56, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.164.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/5132555