Systematic Botany (2006), 31(2): pp. 298–301 䉷 Copyright 2006 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists
A New Species of Clara (Herreriaceae) from Brazil ROSANA CONRADO LOPES1,3 and REGINA HELENA POTSCH ANDREATA2 1 Departamento de Botaˆnica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; ´ rsula, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Instituto de Cieˆncias Biolo´gicas e Ambientais, Universidade Santa U 3 Author for correspondence (
[email protected])
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Communicating Editor: Wendy B. Zomlefer ABSTRACT. A new species, Clara gracilis (Herreriaceae), endemic to the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, is described and compared to the closely related C. ophiopogonoides. A key for separating the three species of the genus is presented, with a map of their geographic distribution, as well as detailed illustrations of the new species. KEYWORDS: Asparagales, Agavaceae, Clara, Herreriaceae, taxonomy.
The family Herreriaceae comprises three genera, although its position has been altered in some classification systems. The genus Herreria Ruiz and Pavon (1794) contains eight species distributed throughout South America (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Brazil) where it is encountered in nearshore (restinga), dryland (caatinga), and forest formations. The genus Clara Kunth (1848) comprises three species, and is distributed within South America (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil). In Brazil, this genus only occurs in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in grasslands. The genus Herreriopsis (H. Perrier) Bathie (Bathie 1934) is only known from Madagascar. Herreriaceae was considered by the APG (1998) and Chase et al. (2000) to be an independent family in the order Asparagales. Recently, however, according to the APG II (2003), members of this family (two genera) were transferred to Agavaceae. The authors justified this inclusion as a means of simplifying the classification of the higher Asparagales, grouping the family Alliaceae with other small families having umbel-like inflorescences and, in the Asparagaceae, with those that have racemose inflorescences. This reduced the higher Asparagales to only two families. Considering this interpretation as too simplistic, as it is based on only a single characteristic for such a complex group of poorly studied families, the present work has maintained Herreriaceae, at least until future evidence indicates a more precise taxonomic position. In developing a revision of the Neotropical genera of the Herreriaceae, Lopes (2003) encountered many taxonomic and nomenclatural problems, including the lack of precise circunscription at the genus level. One of the important results of this work was the re-establishment of Clara. Clara has been treated by various authors as either a valid taxon (Kunth 1850, Lecomte 1909; Hauman and Van der Veken 1917; Melchior 1964) or as a synonym of Herreria (Bentham and Hooker 1880; Niederlein 1890; Dalla Torre and Harms 1907; Smith 1958; Dahlgren and Clifford 1982; Dahlgren et al. 1985; Cronquist 1988). After analysis of the avail-
able collections combined with field observations, it was determined that they are, in fact, two distinct genera that differ in their habit, the size of the wing, and the seed chambers, as well as in their geographic distribution (Lopes and Andreata 2003). This interpretation of Clara generated nomenclatural changes (Lopes and Andreata 2005) as well as the new species Clara gracilis, as described here. TAXONOMIC TREATMENT Clara gracilis R. C. Lopes & Andreata, sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 2)—TYPE: BRAZIL, Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, 17 Nov 1948, Rambo 38639 (holotype: LIL!, photograph: RFA!). Species nova foliis filiformibus, racemis brevibus et gracilibus 27–35 cm longis, capsula obovata, aliarum margine crassa C. ophiopogonoidi affinis, sed foliis linearibus, racemis longis et robustis 50–120 cm longis et capsula sphaeroidea alis absque margine crassa differt. Herb 27–35 cm tall. Leaves with membranaceous blade, filiform, 9–12 ⫻ 0.1–0.15 cm, base truncated, margin entire, flat, apex acute; veins 7, conspicuous above and below, midvein thicker, more conspicuous below, similar to the other veins above. Inflorescence of 1 simple raceme, 27–35 cm long, flowers in triads; peduncle 17–25 cm long; main axis glabrous, cylindric; proximal bract absent; first order bract lanceolate 1.0– 1.5 ⫻ 0.3–0.4 cm; prophyll 1, ovate, ca. 0.25 ⫻ 0.1 cm, margin entire, apex acute. Flower buds greenish-white, ellipsoid, ca. 0.8 cm long. Flowers ca. 1.5 cm long; pedicel ca. 0.8 cm long, glabrous. Tepals white, spreading, elliptic, ca. 0.5 ⫻ 0.15 cm, margin entire, apex cucullate, papillae on adaxial surface of tepal forming a dense tuft at center of apex. Stamens ca. 0.35 cm long; filaments aplanate-subulate, ca. 0.3 cm long; anthers ellipsoid ca. 0.1 cm long, thecae joined at base and at apex. Gynoecium ca. 0.5 cm long; ovary trigonous-ellipsoid; style ca. 0.25 cm long; stigma trilobate. Capsule obovoid, ca. 1.0 ⫻ 0.8 cm, drying brown, base acute, wing with a thick margin, apex truncate-acuminate; seeds ca. 0.5 ⫻ 0.25 cm.
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FIG. 1. Clara gracilis R. C. Lopes & Andreata (A-K. Rambo 38639—LIL); A. habit; B. leaf; C. floral bud; D. flower; E. outer tepal; F. detail of the tepal apex papillae; G. stamen; H. gynoecium; I. Cross-section of ovary; J. fruit; K. seed.
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FIG. 2. Geographic distribution of Clara gracilis (white circles), Clara ophiopogonoides (black triangles), and Clara stricta (gray squares).
Additional Specimens Examined. BRAZIL. Rio Grande do Sul: Arroio Grande, near Arroio Grande, irregular field cut by highway, 18 Mar 1984, Pedersen 13845 (C!); Porto Alegre, 8 Oct 1892, Malme 172B (S!); Viama˜o, Parque Saint-Hilaire, 13 Feb 1956, Mattos 3564 (HAS!), 3578 (HAS!); Viama˜o, Parque Saint-Hilaire, 16 Dec 2002, Lopes & Paula 151 (RFA!)
Etymology. The name gracilis refers to the vegetative structure of this species, which is generally more delicate than that of other species.
Geographical Distribution and Ecology. These plants grow sparsely scattered in their natural habitat with only one inflorescence per plant. The species has been collected in flower from October to December, February, and March; and in fruit in November, and December, February to March. This species has only been recorded in the grasslands of the ‘‘campanha gau´cha,’’ in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Analytic key to Clara species. 1. Racemes simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Leaf-blades linear, with 23 veins; racemes 50–120 cm long; capsule spheroid, wing-margin not thick 2. Leaf-blades filiform, with 7 veins; racemes 27–35 cm long; capsule obovoid, wing-margin thick . . . 1. Racemes heterothetic compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 2. C. ophiopogonoides . . . . . 1. C. gracilis . . . . . . 3 C. stricta
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank Dr. Jorge Fontella Pereira (Museu Nacional/UFRJ) for the Latin diagnosis, Roy Funch for the translation of the text into English, and to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı´fico e Tecnolo´gico (CNPq) for the rearch grant for Dra. Regina H. P. Andreata.
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