Salvia gracilicaulis J.G.González, Uría & E.Rodr., 2024

Salvia gracilicaulis J.G.González, Uría & E.Rodr. , sp. nov.

( Figure 3 View FIGURE 3 )

Type:— PERU: Áncash Department, Antonio Raymondi Province, Chingas District , Ranra Ucro , 9º7’42.1’’S 76 59’ 24.41’’W, 2932 m, 22 July 2022 (cult. in Mar de Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, since Aug, 2023), R. Uría & J. Lozano Pe11-022 (holotype HUT!, GoogleMaps isotypes CIIDIR!, MEXU!, USM!). GoogleMaps

Perennial herb, erect, up to 30 cm tall; young plants with stems densely white to grayish tomentose, progressively glabrescent but frequently retaining longitudinal pubescent lines along opposite faces of the stem, the hairs dendritic. Leaves with petioles 5–12 mm long, sparsely to densely covered by dendritic hairs, with fascicles of undeveloped leaves at the axils; blade lanceolate to narrow elliptic-lanceolate, 1.9–4.6 × 0.5–1.3(–2.5) cm, apex acute, base abruptly attenuate and decurrent along the petiole, even obscuring it, margin entire in most of the leaves but those from the basal nodes tiny and sparsely serrate, both surfaces covered with dendritic hairs and ocher glandular dots, denser beneath and in young leaves, progressively glabrescent. Inflorescence in racemes 15–29 cm long, peduncle 4.4–9.2 mm long, verticillasters 6–9, each one 2–6-flowered, the lower most 2.2–3.7 cm apart from each other; peduncle and floral axis with dendritic hairs as the stems, floral axis additionally with tiny glandular hairs. Floral bract deciduous, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2–2.3 × 0.5–0.8 mm, apex acute, base truncate, margin entire, outer surface with dendritic hairs; bracteoles linear, 1.2–2 mm long, outer surface with dendritic hairs. Flower with pedicel 3.3–6.6 mm long, up to 7 mm in fruit, covered with dendritic and glandular hairs. Calyx 6.6–8 × 4.7–5.9 mm, up to 8.3 × 7.6 mm in fruit, externally covered with scarce dendritic and abundant glandular hairs, as well as golden-translucid glandular dots, glabrescent to hispidulous with antrorse hairs inside, lips slightly rounded, the upper 7 or 9-veined and slightly trimucronate. Corolla magenta in color, short pilose with glandular hairs in the portion exserted from the calyx, the hairs concentrated towards the lips; tube 10–14 × 4.5–6.6 mm, ventricose, invaginated near the base, epapillate inside but with a couple bolds along the invagination; upper lip 5.9–8.1 mm long; lower lip (6.7–)8–12.7 × (6.8–) 8–11 mm. Stamens included; filament 3.1–3.8 mm long; connective (7.3–) 10–12.5 mm long, slightly cleft near midpoint with both extremes bordered by a tiny tooth; theca 2–4 mm long; staminodes above and behind filament insertion, linguiform, 0.8–1 mm long. Gynobasic horn 0.8–1 mm long; style 16–20 mm long, ventral line near the apex short pilose, upper stigmatic branch longer than the lower, the latter acute and arcuate. Mature fruits not evaluated.

Distribution, habitat and ecology:— Salvia gracilicaulis is found on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Blanca, towards the Marañon River canyon, in Áncash department ( Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 ), where it inhabits dry open bushland, often on rocky outcrops at elevations from 2400–2900 m. It grows together with Arnaldoa weberbaueri ( Muschler 1913: 97) Ferreyra (1965: 2) , Baccharis Linnaeus (1753: 860) sp. , Gochnatia patazina Cabrera (1971: 28) , Iresine weberbaueri Suessenguth (1934: 323) “flor blanca”, Lourtella resinosa Graham et al. (1987: 520) , Ruprechtia aperta Pendry (2003: 40) , Schinus molle Linnaeus (1753a: 388) “molle ”, and Stipa ichu ( Ruiz & Pavón 1798: 5) Kunth (1829: 60) .

Phenology:—It flowers from January to May, and bears fruit from March to July.

Etymology:—The specific epithet refers to the thin, delicately appearing stems of this species, which are white to grayish tomentose when young.

Preliminary Conservation status:—The species is scarce in Sihuas and Aczo. It is abundant in the vicinity of Ranra Ucro but very localized. The largest population in Ranra Ucro is 3.5 km straight line distance from the Aczo collection and about 80 km in a straight line from the Sihuas collection, which seems to represent a small subpopulation. With an estimated EOO of 35.323 km 2 and an AOO 12 km 2, and less than 10 known populations, Salvia gracilicaulis partially meets the criteria to be assigned as Critically Endangered CR B1+2a; however, more field explorations and additional information on the size and estimations of future fluctuations are needed for a conclusive assessment, so this must be considered just provisional.

Additional specimen examined:— PERU: Áncash Department, Antonio Raymondi Province, Chingas District , Ranra Ucro , 9°07’29”S 76°59’24.4”W, 2900 m, 29 June 2013, E. Jara 1230 ( USM!), GoogleMaps PERÚ: Áncash Department, Sihuas Province, Parobamba , right turn at the San Pedro bridge (km 120 on the Sihuas-Marañón highway) 8°33’48.01’’S 77°25’51.8’’W, 2515 m 14 March 2021 (fl, fr) González et al. ( USM!) GoogleMaps ; Áncash Department, Antonio Raymondi Province, Aczo , Km 4.5 on the Pushca-Aczo route, on the right side of the Aczo River 9°9’ 29.5’’S 76°58’26.6’’W, 2460 m 19 Mar 2021 (fl) González et al. ( USM!) GoogleMaps

Notes:— Salvia gracilicaulis is morphologically closest to the species of Salvia sect. Flocculosae ( Epling 1935: 77) Epling (1939: 153) due to the dendritic hairs, entire leaves, deciduous floral bracts, 5 or 7 veined upper calyx lip, epapillate corolla tube, lower corolla lip longer than the upper, included stamens, dentate connective but not geniculate, and longer upper stigmatic branch in respect to the lower one ( Epling 1939). It is remarkable within the section by being between those species with the longest corolla tubes (up to 14 mm long), only equaled by S. cognata Urb. & Ekman in Urban (1926: 86), S. greggii Gray (1872: 369) and S. macellaria Epling (1939: 155) , and by the magenta corolla color like that in S. lycioides Gray (1886: 408) and S. macellaria ( Epling 1939, González-Gallegos et al. 2016). Nonetheless, the new species resembles S. hunzikeri Granda (2010: 151) and S. sarmentosa Epling (1935: 79) the most in morphology, especially in general leaf appearance. It shares with the first the dentritic white indument all along the stems, leaves, inflorescence axis and calyx, leaf blade shape (lanceolate to narrow, or elliptic-lanceolate) and size; but S. gracilicaulis can be distinguished by being a delicate herb up to 30 cm tall (vs. shrubs, 40–60 cm tall), the abruptly attenuate blade base (vs. cuneate), even decurrent along the petiole, mostly entire margin (vs. tiny crenate-serrate), the presence of bracteoles (these absent), slightly trimucronate upper calyx lip (vs. entire), corolla color (magenta vs. sky blue), slightly larger corolla tube (10–14 × 4.5–6.6 vs. 10–11 × 3.5–4 mm) and upper lip (5.9–8.1 vs. 4.5–5 mm), and larger connective ((7.3–)10–12.5 vs. up to 6.5 mm long) and style (16–20 vs. up to 13 mm long) ( Granda 2010). Salvia gracilicaulis can be distinguished from S. sarmentosa in having an indumentum of dendritic hairs (vs. simple), longer petioles (5–12 vs. 1–4 mm long), shape of the base and apex of the leaves (abruptly attenuate and decurrent along the petiole, and acute, respectively, vs. obtuse in both), smaller floral bracts (2–2.3 × 0.5–0.8 mm vs. 3.2–8.4 × 2.5–4.3 mm), presence of bracteoles (these absent), upper calyx lip with 7 or 9 veins (vs. 5-veined) and slightly trimucronate (vs. entire), corolla color (magenta vs. bicolor with the upper lip light blue-violet, and the rest hyacinth blue), larger corolla tube (10–14 × 4.5–6.6 vs. 6.6–9.8 × 2.6–3.5 mm), longer upper corolla lip (5.9–8.1 vs. 3.6–5 mm long), and larger lower lip ((6.7–)8–12.7 × (6.8–)8–11 vs. 5–7.5 × 5–6.2 mm) ( Epling 1935, 1939).