(Bromeliaceae) from Serra do Caraça, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Phytotaxa 71: 36–41
(2012)
www.mapress.com/ phytotaxa /
Copyright © 2012 Magnolia Press
ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition)
PHYTOTAXA
Article
ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition)
A new ornithophilous yellow-flowered Vriesea (Bromeliaceae) from Serra do
Caraça, Minas Gerais, Brazil
LEONARDO M. VERSIEUX1 & TALITA MOTA MACHADO2
1
Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59078-900,
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
2
Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 486, 31270-901,
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Vriesea marceloi is described as a new species and is illustrated. It is compared with V. claudiana, V. clausseniana and V.
stricta, which we assume are the morphologically most similar species. The new species is related to the “V. minarum
complex”, which groups yellow-flowered rupicolous taxa occurring on isolated mountain tops in southeastern Brazil, as
well as to V. clausseniana, which shares the habitat with the new taxon. Pictures of the plants in the habitat, photos of the
holotype, and a morphological comparative table are provided.
Key words: endemism, Espinhaço range, Iron Quadrangle, lithophytes, Poales, Tillandsioideae, Vrieseeae
Introduction
Vriesea Lindley (1843: 29). is the largest genus of Bromeliaceae in Brazil, totaling 207 species of which 197
(ca. 95%) are endemic to this country (Forzza et al. 2012). This richness is demonstrated in several floristic
inventories carried out in Brazilian parks and also along different states where Vriesea usually is the most
representative bromeliad genus (Versieux & Wendt 2007, Costa et al. 2009, Costa & Wendt 2010, Coser et al.
2010, Machado & Menini-Neto 2010, Marques et al. 2012).
One important area for Vriesea species diversification is the Espinhaço mountain range, between the
states of Bahia and Minas Gerais (Versieux 2008, Versieux et al. 2008). Several Vriesea species or groups of
species are mesophytic and characteristic of the eastern Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest (e.g. Gomes-da-Silva &
Costa 2011). However some of them may reach the Espinhaço range, having their westernmost inland
distributional limit along this mountain chain. Possibly, species that grow along the Espinhaço mountain range
are derived from ancestors occurring within the Atlantic Rainforest (Versieux & Wendt 2007, Versieux et al.
2012). Along this mountainous region, the genus Vriesea benefits from its ability to grow either inside
forested areas along valleys as epiphyte or terrestrial, or also on open and exposed habitats as the rocky
outcrops (Versieux 2008).
The Serra do Caraça is situated in the southern portion of the Espinhaço range, in an area known as Iron
Quadrangle, and it is a private reserve (ca. 11,000 hectares) and Catholic Sanctuary (Vasconcelos 2000). The
vegetation of this area is extremely rich and encompasses semidecidual seasonal forests, open areas of
savanna and grasslands on rocky soils, as well as high elevation fields and isolated forest patches occurring
along the higher and more humid areas (Vasconcelos 2000, Spósito & Stehmann 2006). The Bromeliaceae are
well represented along the Serra do Caraça, totaling 14 genera and 36 species including several endemics
(Versieux et al. 2004, present work). In a recent phytogeographical analysis, the bromeliad flora from Serra do
Caraça clustered with a neighboring mountainous area, namely the Serra do Cipó, showing ~26% of similarity
(Versieux et al. 2010).
36 Accepted by Eric Gouda: 30 Oct. 2012; published online in PDF: 13 Nov. 2012
Hummingbirds are usually recorded as the most frequent floral visitors in bromeliads (Machado & Semir
2006, Santana & Machado 2010). Bromeliaceae as a whole, and particularly Vriesea species, have nectar with
concentration and volume adapted for hummingbirds. Bromeliaceae are placed among the most important
families in the hummingbird-pollinated floras of the Atlantic Rainforest in southeastern Brazil (Buzato et al.
2000) or in the Caatinga, the Brazilian tropical dry forest (Machado & Lopes 2004). Vriesea species visited
by hummingbirds usually present tubular corolla with yellow petals, contrasting colors between flowers and
bracts, and diurnal anthesis.
After revising the “Vriesea minarum complex”, a group of yellow-flowered lithophytes that present
insulated distribution across different mountain tops in Minas Gerais (Versieux 2011), we concluded that four
specimens would better be treated as a new species, which is described below.
Taxonomy
Vriesea marceloi Versieux & T. Machado, spec. nov. (Figs. 1–2).
Vriesea marceloi is closely related to V. stricta Smith (1943: 122) but differs by the congested spikes, by the leaf apex
rounded to nearly emarginate, and by the size, color, and texture of the floral bracts. It is also related to V. claudiana
Leme, Trindade-Lima & Ribeiro (2010: 19), but differs by the shorter stature, inflorescence with smaller number of
branches, size of the sepals and petals, and by the color and size of the peduncle.
Type:—BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Catas Altas, Serra do Caraça, Pico do Inficionado, campo rupestre, 2040 m, 11 October
1999, M. F. Vasconcelos s.n., (holotype: BHCB 52562!).
FIGURE 1. Vriesea marceloi at the type locality. A. Living plant that was collected to prepare the holotype. B. Paratype (Vasconcelos
BHCB 52555). (Photos: M. F. Vasconcelos).
NEW VRIESEA FROM BRAZIL
Phytotaxa 71 © 2012 Magnolia Press
• 37
Evergreen herb, flowering 0.4–0.6 m tall, rupicolous, heliophyte. Rosette 30–35 cm high, nearly tubular.
Leaves ca. 15, erect, the old ones persistent and wrapping the younger. Leaf sheath 11–17 × 6–7.5 cm, broadly
elliptic to oblong, pale brown to purplish toward the apex in vivo, castaneous and brown lepidote on both
surfaces in sicco. Leaf blade 12–18.5 × 4.8–5.5 cm, lingulate, apex rounded to nearly emarginate, mucronate,
green becoming purple toward apex in vivo, coriaceous, subdensely to sparsely pale brown lepidote on both
surfaces. Peduncle 13.5–25(39) × 0.3–0.4 cm, erect, slender, reddish to purplish; internodes 3.0–4.2 (proximal
and central ones) to 2.6–4.6(5.2) cm (distal ones). Peduncle bracts 2.2–2.7 × 2–2.5 cm at the middle, broadly
ovate, apex acute and minutely apiculate, yellow to brownish yellow, subdensely lepidote toward the apex
abaxially, shorter than the internodes and enfolding them tightly, erect. Inflorescence (excluding the peduncle)
13.5–17.5 × 7–14 cm, compound, with 2–3 suberect flowering branches that are erect while flowers in bud,
but diverging to be suberect at anthesis, 3–7 flowers on the proximal branches and 8–15 flowers on the distal
branch; internodes of the axis 0.4–0.8 cm. Primary bracts 2.2–2.6 × 2.0–2.9 cm, broadly ovate, apiculate,
brown to purple with yellow edges. Stipes of the branches 1.1–2.1 cm long, 0.2–0.4 cm diam., green to
purplish. Rachis 3.2–6(7.4) cm long, 0.2–0.5 cm diam. Floral bracts 1.7–2.6 × 1.6–2.5 cm, broadly ovate to
nearly orbicular, apex obtuse, inconspicuously apiculate, with purplish brown to yellowish margins in vivo,
pale yellowish-brown along the margins becoming dark castaneous and lustrous toward the slightly convex
center in sicco, sparsely brown lepidote at the apex abaxially, sparsely lepidote adaxially, secund with the
flowers at anthesis, ecarinate, decurrent on the rachis. Flowers distichous becoming secund, 3.1–4 cm in
length; pedicels ca. 4 × 5 mm. Sepals 2.3–2.5 × 1.1–1.2 cm, elliptic to oblong, apex obtuse, symmetric, free,
yellow, sparsely lepidote adaxially, glabrous or nearly so abaxially, ecarinate. Corolla tubular. Petals ca. 3.2 ×
0.9 cm, narrowly ovate to elliptic, apex acute, connate for 2.3 mm, bright yellow; petal appendages 5–6 × 1–2
mm, lanceolate, symmetrical or nearly so, the distal part 3–4 mm free, apex acute to acuminate. Filaments ca.
18 × 0.7–0.9 mm, adnate to petals for 1.2 mm. Anthers ca. 6–7 × 1–2 mm, linear, dorsifixed near the base,
yellow. Style ca. 2.4 cm. Stigma yellow, ca. 1.5 mm in diameter, with convolute blade type. Ovary ovoid, ca. 4
× 2 mm. Ovules caudate.
Distribution and conservation:—So far restricted to the Pico do Inficionado and Pico do Sol, Serra do
Caraça, along the southern portion of Espinhaço Range, between Catas Altas and Santa Bárbara
municipalities. The species appears to be very selective regarding habitat, only growing at the higher
elevations (> 1900 m. a.s.l.) where mist formation is frequent (Fig. 1). More field studies are necessary in
order to clearly establish the conservation status of the species, but it is rare and currently only known from
two populations growing inside a Serra do Caraça private reserve.
Ecology:—The species blooms from October to February. Vriesea marceloi is ornithophilous and is
visited by two different species of hummingbirds: Campylopterus largipennis and Augastes scutatus. Other
plant species associated with V. marceloi include Chusquea sp. (Poaceae) and different lichen species.
Etymology:—The species is named after Prof. Dr. Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, a Zoologist/
Ornithologist from the The Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC-MG). Besides collecting and
photographing the type specimens and observing the floral visitors in the field, Dr. Vasconcelos has made
substantial contributions to the knowledge of the biota of high elevation habitats in southeastern Brazil (e.g.,
Vasconcelos 2000, Vasconcelos & Rodrigues 2010), collected several important specimens of rare bromeliads
(Versieux & Wendt 2006) and is an active conservationist.
Paratypes:—BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Catas Altas, Serra do Caraça, Pico do Inficionado, campo rupestre,
2020 m. elevation, 17 February 2000, M. F. Vasconcelos s.n. (BHCB 52555!). Idem, 24 March 2000, M. F.
Vasconcelos s. n. (BHCB 53707!). Ibidem, Pico do Sol, 1918 m, 25 April 2009, C. T. Oliveira et al. 419
(BHCB 142320!).
Observations:—Vriesea marceloi apparently belongs to an informal group of yellow-flowered
lithophytes that was called “Vriesea minarum complex” by Versieux (2011). These plants are usually short in
stature and have simple or few-branched inflorescences, and grow on isolated mountain tops across the
Espinhaço and Mantiqueira mountain ranges in Minas Gerais. Specimens of Vriesea marceloi have been
identified (according to herbarium BHCB determination tags by Versieux in 2003) as V. cf. clausseniana
38 •
Phytotaxa 71 © 2012 Magnolia Press
VERSIEUX & MACHADO
(Baker 1889: 213) Mez (1894: 545) or as V. stricta (Versieux 2011). However, photographs became available
to the authors allowing the examination of floral and color characters.
FIGURE 2. Holotype of Vriesea marceloi consisting of two herbarium sheets (Vasconcelos BHCB 52562). Scales = 5 cm. (Photos:
L.M. Versieux).
The new species can be separated from V. clausseniana (another species endemic to the Iron Quadrangle)
by the size of the flowering plant, size of the floral bracts, size of the peduncle and branches. Vriesea
clausseniana usually has a larger sized and unbranched inflorescences, while only few-branched
inflorescences are seen in V. marceloi. Also, the corolla is more open in V. clausseniana, suggesting bat
pollination, while in V. marceloi the corolla is tubular and flowers are visited by two different species of
hummingbirds (M. F. Vasconcelos, personal communication). The flowering period appears to be different as
well: V. marceloi blooms during the summer while V. clausseniana blooms from late April to June, i.e., during
part of the the Brazilian autumn and winter (Versieux & Wendt 2006). However the blooming period does not
hold V. marceloi separation from V. stricta and from V. claudiana, because there is overlap in flowering
period.
The most conspicuous differences between V. marceloi and V. stricta are the floral bracts color, texture,
and size, and the density of flowers in the spikes. Inflorescences are more congest in V. marceloi if compared
to the more laxly flowered branches of V. stricta, where the rachis internodes are more exposed. Also, the
number of branches observed varies (3–10 in V. stricta vs. up to 3 in V. marceloi). The peduncle is usually
longer in V. stricta (19–34 vs. 13.5–25(–39) cm in V. marceloi) (Table 1). The texture and width of the floral
bracts are distinct between both species. While the floral bracts have a thinner texture and are nearly smooth
in V. stricta, in V. marceloi they are slightly gibbous, more coriaceous, castaneous along the central portion
and yellowish-brown and thinner along the margins in sicco, resembling more closely the floral bracts of V.
clausseniana. The populations of V. marceloi are geographically isolated in Serra do Caraça from those of V.
stricta that are endemic to Serra do Cipó (Coffani-Nunes et al. 2010).
NEW VRIESEA FROM BRAZIL
Phytotaxa 71 © 2012 Magnolia Press
• 39
TABLE 1. Morphological comparison of Vriesea marceloi and related taxa. All measures in cm. Data collected from
Coser et al. (2010) for V. clausseniana, from Coffani-Nunes et al. (2010) for V. stricta and Leme et al. (2010) for V.
claudiana.
V. clausseniana
V. claudiana
V. stricta
V. marceloi
65–145
125
30–50
40–60
Leaf blade width
5.5–8
6–6.5
5.5–7
4.8–5.5
Leaf sheath width
7.5–12
10
7.5–9.2
6–7.5
Plant height
Peduncle length
49–109
35–50
19–34
13.5–25(–39)
Peduncle bracts
3–5 × 2.5–4.3
3.5–6×2.5–3
(1.5–)2.5–4 × 1.8–2.5
2.2–2.7 × 2–2.5
16.5–37.5
17
14–26
13.5–17.5
–
9–11
6–10(–14)
5.5–8.5
1.2–1.6
0.5
0.8–1.1
0.4–0.8
Number of branches
0(rarely 2)
4–5
(rarely 3)4–9
2–3
Floral bracts
3–4 × 2.2–4
1.9–2×2–2.2
1.6–2.3 × 1–1.5
1.7–2.6 × 1.6–2.5
Inflorescence size (excluding peduncle)
Branch length
Internode lengths of the axis of the
inflorescence
Flower length
4.5–7.2
4.2–4.3
3
3.1–4
Sepals
3–3.6 × 1.4–1.8
2.7–2.8 × 1.3
2.4–2.8(–3.2) × 0.6–1.3
2.3–2.5 × 1.1–1.2
Petals
4.5–5.5 × 1.3–1.6
3.5 × 1.3–1.4
2.9–4.3 × 0.8–1.1
3.2 × 0.9
Vriesea claudiana is restricted to the Mantiqueira mountain range in the Atlantic Rainforest domain
(Leme et al. 2010). Vriesea claudiana can be separated from V. marceloi by the greenish-glaucous blades
covered by a thin layer of white epicuticular wax (vs. green blades becoming purple toward apex without
wax), by the green peduncle bracts exceeding the internodes (vs. yellow to brownish yellow peduncle bracts
shorter than the internodes), by the color and length of peduncle, which are also different. In V. claudiana the
peduncle is almost two times longer (35–50 cm and greenish vs. 13.5–25(39) cm and reddish to purplish in V.
marceloi). The number of branches is larger in V. claudiana (4–5 vs. 2–3 in V. marceloi), the rosette shape
(funnelform vs. nearly tubular) and also the size of the sepals and petals are distinct (Table 1).
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Dr. Walter Till (WU) and to associate editor Dr. Eric Gouda for their much valuable
comments on the manuscript and constructive reviews. We thank Dr. Marcelo F. Vasconcelos for providing
the photos and information about floral visitors of the new species and Dr. Andrea Costa (R) for her comments
about the new species.
References
Baker, J.G. (1889) Handbook of Bromeliaceae. George Bell & Sons, London, 243 pp.
Buzato, S. Sazima, M. & Sazima, I. (2000) Hummingbird-pollinated floras at three Atlantic Forest sites. Biotropica 32:
824–841.
Coffani-Nunes, J.V., Versieux, L.M., Wanderley, M.G.L. & Pirani, J.R. (2010) Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais:
Bromeliaceae—Tillandsioideae. Boletim de Botânica da Universidade de São Paulo 28: 35–54.
Coser, T.S., Paula, C.C. & Wendt, T. (2010) Bromeliaceae Juss. nos campos rupestres do Parque Estadual do Itacolomi,
Minas Gerais, Brasil. Rodriguésia 61: 261–280.
Costa, A.F., Rodrigues, P.J.F.P. & Wanderley, M.G.L. (2009) Morphometric analysis and taxonomic revision of the
Vriesea paraibica complex (Bromeliaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 159: 163–181.
Costa, A.F. & Wendt, T. (2010) Bromeliaceae na região de Macaé de Cima, Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Rodriguésia 58: 905–939.
40 •
Phytotaxa 71 © 2012 Magnolia Press
VERSIEUX & MACHADO
Forzza, R.C., Costa, A., Siqueira Filho, J.A., Martinelli, G., Monteiro, R.F., Santos-Silva, F., Saraiva, D.P., Paixão-Souza,
B. (2012) Bromeliaceae. In: Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. (http://
floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2012/FB006414) (accessed: 6 September 2012)
Gomes-da-Silva, J. & Costa, A.F. (2011) A taxonomic revision of Vriesea corcovadensis group (Bromeliaceae:
Tillandsioideae) with description of two new species. Systematic Botany 36: 291–309.
Leme, E.M.C., Trindade-Lima, T. & Ribeiro, O.B.C. (2010) Revision of the lithophytic Vriesea species from Minas
Gerais state, Brazil—Part IV. Journal of the Bromeliad Society 60: 17–30.
Lindley, J. (1843) Coloured figures of plants and shrubs, cultivated in British gardens, accompanier by their history and
best method of treatment in cultivation, propagation. Edwards's Botanical Register 6: 1-85.
Machado, I.C. & Lopes, A.V. (2004) Floral traits and pollination systems in the Caatinga, a Brazilian tropical dry forest.
Annals of Botany 94: 365–376.
Machado, T.M. & Menini Neto, L. (2010) Bromeliaceae de um campo de altitude do sul de Minas Gerais (Brasil).
Fontqueria 56: 109–124.
Machado, C.G. & Semir, J. (2006) Fenologia da floração e biologia floral de bromeliáceas ornitófilas de uma área da
Mata Atlântica do Sudeste brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 29: 163–174.
Marques, A.R., Filho, J.P.L. & Mota, R.C. (2012) Diversity and conservation status of bromeliads from Serra da Piedade,
Minas Gerais, Brazil. Rodriguésia 63: 243–255.
Mez, C. (1894) Bromeliaceae. In: Martius, C.F.P. von, Eichler, A.G. & Urban, I. (eds.) Flora brasiliensis 3(3). Frid.
Fleischer in comm., Leipzig, pp. 425–634.
Santana, C.S. & Machado, C.G. (2010) Fenologia de floração e polinização de espécies ornitófilas de bromeliáceas em
uma área de campo rupestre da Chapada Diamantina, BA, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 33: 469–477.
Smith, L.B. (1943) Bromeliáceas novas ou interessantes do Brasil–II. Arquivos de Botânica do Estado de São Paulo 1:
102–122.
Spósito, T.C. & Stehmann, J.R. (2006) Heterogeneidade florística e estrutural de remanescentes florestais da Área de
Proteção Ambiental ao Sul da Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte (APA Sul–RMBH), Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Acta Botanica Brasilica 20: 347–362.
Vasconcelos, M.F.d. (2000) Reserva do Caraça: história, vegetação e fauna. Revista Sul Americana de Ornitofilia 1: 3–7.
Vasconcelos, M.F.d. & Rodrigues, M. (2010) Patterns of geographic distribution and conservation of the open-habitat
avifauna of southeastern Brazilian mountaintops (campos rupestres and campos de altitude). Papéis Avulsos de
Zoologia 50: 1–29.
Versieux, L.M. (2008) Checklist and one new species of Bromeliaceae from Pico do Itambé, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 709–715.
Versieux, L.M. (2011) Brazilian plants urgently needing conservation: the case of Vriesea minarum (Bromeliaceae).
Phytotaxa 28: 35–49.
Versieux, L.M., Barbará, T., Wanderley, M.G.L., Calvente, A., Fay, M.F. & Lexer, C. (2012) Molecular phylogenetics of
the Brazilian giant bromeliads (Alcantarea, Bromeliaceae): implications for morphological evolution and
biogeography. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64: 177–189.
Versieux, L.M., Louzada, R.B., Viana, P.L., Mota, N. & Wanderley, M.G.L. (2010) An illustrated checklist of
Bromeliaceae from Parque Estadual do Rio Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with notes on phytogeography and one new
species of Cryptanthus. Phytotaxa 10: 1–16.
Versieux, L.M., Mota, R.C., Barros, A.C. & Stehmann, J.R. (2004) Bromeliaceae no Parque Natural do Caraça. In: Silva,
A.F., Meira-Neto, J.A.A., Azevedo, A.A. & Meira, R.M. S.A. (eds.) Livro de Resumos do 55o. Congresso Nacional
de Botânica (Available as CD-ROM). Sociedade Botânica do Brasil & Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa,
Minas Gerais, p. 1117.
Versieux, L.M. & Wendt, T. (2006) Checklist of Bromeliaceae of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with notes on taxonomy and
endemism. Selbyana 27: 107–146.
Versieux, L.M. & Wendt, T. (2007) Bromeliaceae diversity and conservation in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Biodiversity
and Conservation 16: 2989–3009.
Versieux, L.M., Wendt, T., Louzada, R.B. & Wanderley, M.G.L. (2008) Bromeliaceae da Cadeia do Espinhaço.
Megadiversidade 4: 98–110.
NEW VRIESEA FROM BRAZIL
Phytotaxa 71 © 2012 Magnolia Press
• 41