Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A first record of Loricalepis (Melastomataceae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, with the description of a new species from Bahia

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Brittonia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Loricalepis has been known from only three collections from the upper Rio Negro, in Amazonas, Brazil, and the Río Guainía basin, in Colombia, all belonging to a single species, L. duckei. Its capsular fruits and cochleate, tuberculate seeds suggest its relation to pantropical “core Melastomeae”, but it does not have a particularly close morphological connection with any other genus of the tribe. Here we describe and illustrate a second species in the genus, Loricalepis atlantica, recently collected in white sand vegetation near the coast of Bahia. Although we have not been able to sequence DNA from the new species, we place it in Loricalepis due to a long list of characters that it shares with L. duckei. Both are shrubs or small trees with scalariform indumentum on the stems and leaves; thick-cartilaginous, crenulate-serrulate and paleaceous-ciliate leaf margins; persistent acute and seta-tipped sepals; glandulose-ciliate petal margins; glabrous and subisomorphic stamens, these with the connective not at all or only shortly prolonged and ventrally bilobed; and the ovary apex with a crown of scales surrounding the style. lightface differs from L. duckei by 5-merous flowers (vs. 4-merous in L. duckei), the hypanthium covered with minute scalariform trichomes (vs. glabrous), light-pink petals (vs. white), purple anthers (vs. white), and 5-celled ovary (vs. 4-celled). The new species is known from only one locality, in an extremely endangered vegetation type. Its discovery highlights the need for sustained floristic studies of forest remnants in northeastern Brazil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Anderson, A. B. 1981. White-sand vegetation of Brazilian Amazonia. Biotropica 13:199–210. https://doi.org/10.2307/2388125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araujo, D. S. D., O. J. Pereira & A. L. Peixoto. 2008. Campos nativos at the Linhares Forest Reserve, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Pp. 371–394. In: W. W. Thomas (ed.), The Atlantic Coastal Forest of Northeastern Brazil. New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brade, A. C. 1938. Melastomataceae Novae II. Archivos do Instituto de Biologia Vegetal do Rio de Janeiro 4: 71–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capurucho, J. M. G., S. H. Borges, C. Cornelius, A. Vicentini, E. M. B. Prata, F. M. Costa, P. Campos, A. O. Sawakuchi, F. Rodrigues, A. Zular, A. Aleixo, J. M. Bates, & C. Ribas. 2020. Patterns and processes of diversification in Amazonian white sand ecosystems: Insights from birds and plants. Pp. 245–270. In: V. Rull & A. C. Carnaval (eds.), Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes. Springer Nature, Switzerland

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fritsch, P. W., F. Almeda, S. S. Renner, A. B. Martins, & B. C. Cruz. 2004. Phylogeny and circumscription of the near-endemic Brazilian tribe Microlicieae (Melastomataceae). American Journal of Botany 91: 1105–1114. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.91.7.1105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, R. & F.A. Michelangeli. 2019a. Loricalepis. In: Flora do Brasil 2020 under construction. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/floradobrasil/FB79270 (accessed 29 May 2019).

  • Goldenberg, R. & F.A. Michelangeli. 2019b. Votomita. In: Flora do Brasil 2020 under construction. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/floradobrasil/FB85546 (accessed 29 May 2019).

  • Guimarães, P. J. F., F. A. Michelangeli, K. Sosa, & J. R. Santiago. 2019. Systematics of Tibouchina and allies (Melastomataceae: Melastomateae): a new taxonomic classification. Taxon 68: 937–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.

  • Jardim, A. Q. B. S. 2010. Melastomataceae de floresta montana no complexo Serra das Lontras, Bahia, Brasil. MSc thesis, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, Brazil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk, W. J., M. T. F. Piedade, J. Scheongart, M. A. J. Cohn-Haft, & F. K. Wittmann. 2011. A classification of major naturally-occurring Amazonian lowland wetlands. Wetlands 31: 623–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriebel, R. 2016. A monograph of Conostegia (Melastomataceae, Miconieae). Phytokeys 67: 1–326. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.67.6703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, F. S. 2016. Estudos sistemáticos no clado de Chaetogastra DC. e gêneros aliados (Melastomataceae: Melastomeae). PhD thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.

  • Michelangeli, F. A., P. J. F. Guimaraes, D. S. Penneys, F. Almeda & R. Kriebel. 2013. Phylogenetic relationships and distribution of New World Melastomeae (Melastomataceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 171: 38–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01295.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renner, S. S. 1994. Revision of Pterolepis (Melastomataceae, Melastomeae). Nordic Journal of Botany 14: 73–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocha, M. J. R., P. J. F. Guimarães, F. A. Michelangeli & J. A. N. Batista. 2018. Taxonomy of Marcetieae: a new Neotropical tribe of Melastomataceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences 179: 50–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossetti, D. F., F. H. R. Bezerra, & J. M. L. Dominguez. 2013. Late Oligocene-Miocene transgressions along the equatorial and eastern margins of Brazil. Earth-Science Reviews 123: 87–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saporetti-Junior, A. W, Schaefer, C. E. R. J., Souza, A. L, Soares, M. P., Araújo, D. S. D., Meira-Neto, J. A. A. (2012) Influence of soil physical properties on plants of the mussununga ecosystem, Brazil. Folia Geobotanica 47(1): 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-011-9106-9

  • Shorthouse, D. P. 2010. SimpleMappr, an online tool to produce publication-quality point maps. Available at: http://www.simplemappr.net

  • Veranso-Libalah, M. C., R. D. Stone, A. G. N. Fongod, T. L. P. Couvreur & G. Kadereit. 2017. Phylogeny and systematics of African Melastomateae (Melastomataceae). Taxon 66: 584–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wurdack, J. J. 1986. Atlas of hairs for Neotropical Melastomataceae. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 63: 1–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Diana Carneiro for the drawings, Lucas C. Marinho (UEFS) for the graphical support in preparing the figures, and José Lima da Paixão (UESC) for valuable help in the fieldwork. We thank Mike Hopkins for samples, photos and insights on Loricalepis duckei. We are grateful to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for awarding Research Productivity Fellowships to AMA (grant # 312404/2018-2) and RG (grant # 308065/2017-4). We also thank the staff of Microscopy Center of UESC for providing infrastructure and helpful advice during laboratory work. AMA received financial support for fieldwork from CNPq (Edital PPBIO grant # 457483/2012-1, and Edital Universal grant # 486079/2013–9). We thank CAPES and PRINT/UFPR (#88881.311854/2018-01) for a visiting professor grant for FAM. This research was also partially funded by the generous support of Jayne and Leonard Abess of FAM.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Botânica, Centro Politécnico, Universidade Federal do Paraná, 81531-970, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

    Renato Goldenberg

  2. The New York Botanical Garden, Institute of Systematic Botany, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA

    Fabian A. Michelangeli

  3. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna, 45, Ilhéus, Bahia, 662-900, Brazil

    André M. Amorim

  4. Herbário Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau, CEPEC, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna, 45, Ilhéus, Bahia, 650-970, Brazil

    André M. Amorim

Authors
  1. Renato Goldenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fabian A. Michelangeli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. André M. Amorim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renato Goldenberg.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goldenberg, R., Michelangeli, F.A. & Amorim, A.M. A first record of Loricalepis (Melastomataceae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, with the description of a new species from Bahia. Brittonia 72, 308–316 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-020-09629-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-020-09629-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation