Bomarea quitensis Fierro-Minda, Tobar & A. J. Perez, sp nov
Creators: name: Fierro-Minda, Alisson
name: Tobar, Francisco
name: Cevallos, Daniela
name: Burgess, Kevin S.
name: Pérez, Álvaro J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Liliales
Alstroemeriaceae
Bomarea
Bomarea quitensis

description: Bomarea quitensis Fierro-Minda, Tobar & Á.J.Pérez, sp nov. (Figs 1,2)
Type:— ECUADOR. Pichincha: Cantón Quito, vía Pacto-La Delicia-Reserva Mashpi, 00°09’14” N, 78°50’10” W, 1500 m, 10 Oct 2023, Pérez & Fierrro-Minda 12143 (holotype: QCA-249279 (fl, fr), two sheets; isotypes: QCNE (fr)).
Bomarea quitensis resembles Bomarea longipes Baker (1882: 204, Fig 3) in its long pedicels (11–13 cm aprox.) but is differentiated by ciliate (vs. glabrous) stems, lanceolate to ovo-lanceolate (vs. ovate) leaves, leaves 16.5–19.0 cm long (vs. 10.0– 11.5 cm) and bright red to orange sepals (vs. purplish to violaceous sepals).
Terrestrial herbs with rhizomes and multiple underground fusiform to globose root tubers, 2.0–2.8 × 3.0– 3.5 cm, pale yellow to brown, and 2– 3 juvenile stems emerging from root tubers. Stems are twining 6–10 m long, to 0.5–0.7 cm in diameter, terete, glabrous at the base and covered with small apical trichomes, internodes 5–6 cm long. Leaves with the abaxial side uppermost (resupinate), lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate, 16.5–19.0 × 5.0–6.0 cm, base rounded to obtuse, apex acuminate, abaxially glabrous, adaxially pubescent; blades with 7–9 prominent parallel veins, raised below and slightly raised above; petioles resupinate and canaliculate, 1.0– 1.5 cm long. Inflorescence umbelliform with 7–16 flowers, clustered terminally; 5–7 involucral bracts, 5.0–6.0 × 0.8–1.0 cm, lanceolate; pedicels 11.0– 12.5 cm long, terete, subtending bracts lanceolate, 0.7–1.0 × 0.2 cm. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, epigynous, sepals and petals free to base; sepals 3, 3.5 × 0.7 cm, each with 2 parallel veins, oblong, apically acute, bright red to orangered with a 1 mm black thickened apex, inner and outer surfaces glabrous; petals 3, caniculate, spathulate, 3.5–4.0 × 0.9–1.4 cm, subdivided in blade and claw, claw pale yellow or whitish, blade yellow suffused with red towards the apex, inner surface slightly spotted on each side of midvein. Androecium of 6 free stamens, 2.6 cm long; anthers pseudo-basifixed, 0.6 × 0.2 cm, fusiform; pollen grains lilac. Gynoecium with style ca. 2.9 cm long; ovary 0.7 × 0.5 cm, covered with purple trichomes. Fruit a dehiscent capsule, 2.0–2.5 × 3.0 cm, glabrous, round-trigonous, 2.5 cm in diameter, wall coarse and uneven, divided in three valves, brown to purplish when mature. Seeds 50–52, spherical, 0.6 mm in diameter, with a shiny red sarcotesta.
Etymology:— Referring to the type locality, the Distrito Metropolitano de Quito.
Distribution, habitat and ecology:— Known thus far only from the type locality, a forest remnant along a road connecting the Pacto, Mashpi and Amagusa Reserves, 1300–1600 m, in Pichincha Province (Fig. 4). According to the Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador (2013), this area is in the low montane evergreen forest of the Western Cordillera (BsBn04) that harbours high diversity and endemism (Mittermeier et al. 2011; Myers et al. 2000). Field observations indicate that B. quitensis may climb 3–4 m on existing forest vegetation with their flowers hanging towards light patches to be pollinated by hummingbirds. The species grows sympatrically with B. pardina Herber (1837: 120); associated species are tree ferns (Cyatheaceae), Anthurium ovatifolium (Araceae), Tillandsia complanata and Pitcairnia nigra (Bromeliaceae), Ficus brevibracteata (Moraceae) and Cecropia sp. (Urticaceae).
Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.
Conservation status:— Known thus far only from one population at the type locality, a montane forest remnant that connects with the private Mashpi and Amagusa Reserves covering more than 1200 ha (Pérez et al. 2016). In recent decades, this area has been subject to widespread deforestation and conversion of natural forest to agricultural and pasture lands; mining activities, in particular, threaten the conservation of many forest remnants in the region (Ministerio del Ambiente 2017). Based on this information and the available data, we recommend B. quitensis be considered vulnerable (VU) due to its limited area of occupancy (UICN criterion D2 where AOO <20 km 2) (IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee 2024).
Additional specimens examined:— ECUADOR. Pichincha: Cantón Quito, Pacto, Reserva Mashpi-Amagusa, 00°09’28” N, 78°51’18.9” W, 29 May 2019 (fl), Tobar & Gavilanes 3393 (QCA-245125).
Notes:— The use of abaxial and adaxial terms follows Hofreiter’s definition of resupinate leaves (Hofreiter & Lyshede 2006), where abaxial is the upper side of the leaf and adaxial is the lower side of the leaf (Clark et al. 2023). Bomarea quitensis differs from other members of B. subgenus Bomarea (Table 1) based on leaf shape and size, number of flowers, colour of sepals and length of pedicels (11.0– 12.5 cm); the last character state is also found in B. longipes and B. crinita Herbert (1837: 119). Bomarea quitensis has larger leaves (16.5–19.0 × 5.0–6.0 cm) than B. longipes (10.0–11.5 × 4.0– 4.5 cm) and B. crinita (5.0–8.0 × ca. 1 cm). Also, leaves of B. quitensis are lanceolate to ovo-lanceolate, whereas leaves of B. longipes are ovate versus linear to lanceolate in B. crinita. The involucral bracts of B. quitensis are 5.0–6.0 cm long, differentiating them from those of B. longipes and B. crinita, 2.5–4.5 cm and 2.0–5.0 cm long, respectively. In addition, B. quitensis has more flowers (7–16 flowers) per inflorescence than B. longipes (approx. ten flowers) and B. crinita (6–10 flowers). The sepal colour of each species is also different: B. quitensis has bright red to orange sepals, B. longipes has purplish to violaceous sepals and B. crinita has red sepals with a green tip. Finally, B. quitensis has only been found on the north-western Andean slopes of Pichincha Province, whereas B. longipes and B. crinita, originate from the south-eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador (Loja and Zamora Chinchipe Provinces) and north-eastern Peru (Department of Amazonas).
description: Published as part of Fierro-Minda, Alisson, Tobar, Francisco, Cevallos, Daniela, Burgess, Kevin S. & Pérez, Álvaro J., 2024, A new species of Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) from the northwestern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, pp. 223-229 in Phytotaxa 649 (2) on pages 224-226, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.649.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/13216043