Introduction
Most species descriptions conform with what can be regarded as the morphological or typological species concept (Bickford et a l. 2007). However, the still precarious knowledge about the precise morphological circumscription of countless bromeliad species and their natural pattern of variation due to environmental factors over their area of occurrence constitutes one of the greatest challenges to recognize and describe new species. The situation is even more difficult if we consider that many of the species described in previous centuries are known from fragmentary leaf and/or floral structures, often without the existence of a preserved type specimen.
On the other hand, the existence of "cryptic species", which means two or more very similar but distinct species (usually detected by molecular analysis) that are hidden under one species name and so receive the same classification, because they are at least superficially morphologically indistinguishable (Bickford et al. 2007), represent an additional obstacle to access biodiversity richness based solely on a classical morphological approach, with serious implications in species conservation (Delic et al. 2017). Usually, differences between these species are subtle and require the use of more delicate morphological features that depend on a differentiated and more sophisticated sampling based on the observation of live specimens, such as those related to membranaceous structures not preserved in herborized materials (e.g., petal appendages and callosities, stigma type and ornamentation, ovule and seed appendages, etc), as well as the comparison of specimens in equivalent ideal flowering stage. Other non morphological data, like geographical range, habitat preference, phenology, pollination syndrome, flower odor/fragrance, to name a few, are equally important.
In addition, Lukhtanov (2019) highlights the importance of what he called "taxonomic intuition", identified by him "as the ability to detect potentially new taxa by sight, without verbalizing the list of characters used in their recognition", being the intuition the "result of many years of practical work, during which the taxonomist's brain learns to consider the multitude of minute details and on this basis make taxonomic decisions, the internal logic of which is hard to describe in words". Neverthless, clear, objective, and precise description is fundamental to verbalize the distinctness of any species and to allow comparison and communication without which the practical goals of the taxonomy can not be achieved.
This study presents two recently collected species that are morphologically very similar to their close relatives but present important, despite subtle morphological differences that encourage us to consider them as new.
Taxonomy
Neoregelia altocaririensis Leme & L. Kollmann, sp. nov.
This new species is closely related to N. dayvidiana, but differs from it in all its leaf blades with rounded apex (vs. the outer ones with acuminate apex), sepals acuminate (vs. obtuse) and shorter connate (3-4 mm vs. 15-17 mm), petals shorter connate (ca. 18 mm vs. 28-30 mm) with light blue apex (vs. purple), and pollen with pores without exine elements (vs. bearing sparse exine elements).
Type: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: prox. divisa com Bahia, Santa Maria do Salto, Talisma, P. E. do Alto Cariri, Fazenda...