Drymonia rominieckiae J. L. Clark A 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Clark, John L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lamiales
Gesneriaceae
Drymonia
Drymonia rominieckiae

description: Drymonia rominieckiae J. L. Clark sp. nov.
Figs 5, 6
Diagnosis.
Differs from Drymonia coccinea by having elongate inflorescences (greater than 30 cm long) with numerous persistent bracts (usually many more than 10). In contrast, inflorescences in D. coccinea rarely exceed 10 cm and are typically composed of fewer than 5 bracts.
Type.
Ecuador • Napo: Zamora-Chinchipe, parroquia Zurmi, Comunidad Centro Shaime (along Río Nangaritza), forest 2–4 km NW of Centro Shaime, 1000 m, 4°18'6"S, 78°41'2"W, 13 Dec 2001, J. L. Clark, K. Elmers, A. Lucia, M. Terry & M. Sharupe 6461 (holotype: US! [barcode US 00818121]; isotypes: AAU, COL, F, K, MO, NY [barcode NY 05154023], QCA, QCNE, SEL! [barcode SEL 065815]).
Description.
Elongate scandent subwoody nomadic lianas with leaves in the subcanopy (ca. 10 m above ground) and flowers produced near the forest floor along a leafless portion of the stem. Stems elongate and subwoody, terete in cross section, 4–7 mm in diameter. Leaves opposite, equal in a pair; petiole 2–8 cm long, green, terete in cross-section; blade ovate to broadly ovate, 10–26 × 4–12 cm, coriaceous, adaxially and abaxially light green, apex acute to broadly acuminate, base acute, margin usually entire or rarely finely serrate, 5–8 pairs of secondary veins, sparsely pubescent with single-celled trichomes abaxially, adaxially glabrous. Inflorescences produced along a leafless region of stem near ground or in the subcanopy region with the foliage of pair-flowered cymes that elongate from displaced bracteoles, reaching up to 45 cm in length, each inflorescence branch subtended by a pair of persistent bracts; bracts puberulent, more so along veins, ovate and uniformly red, ca. 3 × 2.5 cm; each inflorescence producing one mature open flower near the apex at a time. Flowers tubular; pediels 6–10 mm long. Calyx uniformly red, puberulous, lobes 5, nearly free, fused at the base for 2–3 mm, lobes folded lengthwise with margins slightly recurved, not overlapping, but clasping corolla tube, lobes broadly ovate, apex rounded, base broadly ovate, margins serrate, ventral and lower lobes ca. 2.5 × 1.1 cm, the dorsal lobe slightly smaller, ca. 1.4 × 0.9 cm. Corolla tube zygomorphic, protandrous, oblique relative to calyx, ca. 3.5 cm long, gibbous at base, constricted laterally throughout, 5–9 mm wide, outside mostly glabrous at base and pilose near apex, inside glabrous with minute glandular trichomes near apex, throat elliptic in cross section and nearly constricted laterally, lobes 5, subequal, margins entire to erose, lobes reflexed, 4–6 × 5–7 mm, upper lobes with red patch, lower lobes uniformly yellow, rarely yellow with horizontal red striations. Androecium of 4 didynamous stamens, included, filaments broad and flat, ca. 3.0 cm long, adnate to the corolla tube for 3 mm, white, glabrous; anthers oblong, sagittate, coherent by the lateral walls, dehiscent initially by basal pores that develop into longitudinal slits, 4.0–6.0 × 0.5–1.9 mm. Gynoecium with a single bilobed dorsal gland; style stout, included, 2.0 cm long. Fruit a bivalved fleshy capsule, valves dark red and reflexed when mature, each valve 1.5 × 1.5 cm. Seeds numerous, 0.8–10.0 × 0.4–0.5 mm, light brown, fusiform, ridged.
Additional specimens examined.
Ecuador. • Morona-Santiago: Sucúa, along road to Los Tanques de Agua, ca. 12 km out of town, 18 Apr 1988, H. Wiehler et al. 8879 (SEL, US). • Napo: road from Puyo to Canelos, km 31, 21 Jul 1982, L. Besse et al. 1681 (SEL, US). • Zamora-Chinchipe: cantón Nangaritza, parroquia Nuevo Paraiso, Laberinto de las mil ilusiones, 1–2 km east of Río Numpatakayma (tributary of Río Nangaritza), 1000 m, 4°22'2"S, 78°39'39.6"W, 5 Mar 2018, J. L. Clark 15583 (ECUAMZ, SEL); • Shaimi, Alto Nangaritza, 1000 m, 11 Jun 2004, F. A. Werner 1311 (SEL, US). Peru • Amazonas: cantón Bagua, distrito Aramango, camino a Nueva Esperanza, Catarata Numparket, primary hiking trail between park guard station and crater, 1345 m, 5°28'34.53"S, 78°21'43.69"W, 6 Jun 2024, J. L. Clark et al. 18958 (HOXA, SEL, US, USM); • Quebrada Huampami, 1 Nov 1972, R. Kayap 11 (MO, SEL, US); • Bagua district, Aramango, trocha nueva Esperanza a la catarata bosque primario, 1650 m, 5°29'54"S, 78°20'00"W, 17 Dec 2001, R. Vásquez, R. Rojas & L. Campos 27427 (MO, SEL, US). • San Martín: cantón Rioja, Bosque Proteción de Alto Mayo (BPAM), near Puente Aguas Verdes, confluence of Ríos Aguas Verdes and Serranoyacu, km 397 on Highway 5 N, Carretera Fernando Belaunde Terry, 1170 m, 5°39'57"S, 77°44'54"W, 5 Jun 2010, J. L. Clark et al. 11883 (COL, F, G, MO, NY, SEL, US, USM); • San Martín, cantón Rioja, Bosque Proteción de Alto Mayo (BPAM), near Puente Aguas Verdes, confluence of Rios Aguas Verdes and Serranoyacu, km 397 on Highway 5 N, Carretera Fernando Belaunde Terry, 1170 m, 5°39'57"S, 77°44'54"W, 7 Jun 2010, J. L. Clark et al. 11917 (USM, SEL, US).
Phenology.
Collected with flowers in March, April, June, July, November, and December. Collected with fruits in June.
Etymology.
The specific epithet honors Jennifer O. Rominiecki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Rominiecki previously held prominent positions in New York City at The Metropolitan Opera, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the New York Botanical Garden. Since assuming leadership of Selby Gardens in 2015, she has guided the institution through a period of remarkable growth, including the implementation of a three-phase Master Plan for rebuilding, which features the recently established Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center. At a time when many herbaria and collections-based research institutions across the USA and abroad have suffered setbacks, Selby Gardens has flourished under Rominiecki’s leadership, highlighted by the recent inauguration of a new herbarium that plays a vital role in advancing its mission.
Distribution.
Drymonia rominieckiae is distributed in premontane wet forests along the eastern Andean slopes of southern Ecuador and northern Peru at elevations between 800 and 1600 meters.
Comments.
Among the four species described here, Drymonia rominieckiae has the longest inflorescences, one of which measured over 45 cm in length (J. L. Clark et al. 11917). This species tends to grow with lots of persistent showy red bracts, with some inflorescences bearing more than 40 persistent bracts (Fig. 5 C). In contrast, the other three species often exhibit elongate inflorescences, but their bracts are not persistent and tend to fall off, exposing the zig-zag appearance of the inflorescence axis (Fig. 1 E).
The corolla of D. rominieckiae is tubular, laterally compressed, and predominantly yellow (Fig. 5). The upper portion of the corolla limb and throat, especially the dorsal lobes, often with large red patches, while the lower portion, including the lateral and ventral lobes, remains yellow (Fig. 5 A). Occasionally, the limb is yellow with thin, red horizontal striations (Fig. 5 C) but is never uniformly yellow as seen in D. clavijoiae (Fig. 1 B) or orange as in D. katzensteiniae (Fig. 2 A, B).
The calyx lobes of D. rominieckiae are distinctive, being obovate with a narrow base and a broad apex (Fig. 5 D). This contrasts with the broadly oblong calyx lobes in D. clavijoiae (Fig. 2 D), D. katzensteiniae (Fig. 3 C), and D. silvaniae (Fig. 7 C).
description: Published as part of Clark, John L., 2025, Four new species of Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) from South America: Tributes to inspirational leaders, pp. 37-59 in PhytoKeys 256 on pages 37-59, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.256.148263