Racinaea minutipetala Gouda, 2025

Racinaea minutipetala Gouda , spec. nov. Figure 1 A–I View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 .

Type:— Colombia, Antioquia, Amalfi, 1200 m. J. Kent s.n., fl. cult. 2023 in collection E. J. Gouda with number EG-1215 (holotype: U).

Diagnosis:—A Racinaea spiculosa like species, plant with a few erect leaves forming a very narrow subbulbous rosette (vs. many leaves forming a more open or funnelform rosette [except variety stenoglossa , but that variety has the spikes secund in one direction]), inflorescence twice-branched, with the primary branches spirally arranged, with 2-3 subdigitate spikes (vs. often distichously once-branched, and if twice branched, then the branches not subdigitate of a few spikes), floral bracts sub-membranaceous, nearly straight, broadly rounded (vs. coriaceous, often strongly incurved, obscurely apiculate), sepals membranaceous, 2.5–3 mm long (vs. coriaceous, 4.5–6 mm long), petals ca 3.2 mm long, barely if at all exceeding the sepals (vs. 5–6 mm long, with divergent blade).

Plant 34cmtall,acaulescent,floweringslightlytaller ifatall,subdense,with ca 10leaves,forminga narrowly subbulbous rosette, green. Leaves spirally arranged, thin coriaceous, 23–27 cm long, slightly shorter than the inflorescence; sheat hs large, distinct, ovate, slightly inflated, 7–9 cm long, 3.5–4 cm wide, with narrow membranaceous margins, densely lepidote of closely appressed transparent trichomes on both sides but adaxial trichomes smaller, adaxially dark purple-red and abaxially green or often with purple red dots or bands to pale brown toward the base; blades the inner erect to slightly arching outward, strongly channeled to involute when dry, very narrowly triangular, 17–20 cm long, 1–1.7 cm wide at the base, margins strongly undulate; apex attenuately acute, on both sides with closely appressed, transparent trichomes not masking the color of the blade, green. Inflorescence terminal, sub-erect, sometimes once-branched or more often twice-branched, of 10-14 polystichously arranged primary branches, ca 30 cm long, fertile part ca 11 cm long, lax, green; peduncle elongate, for most part or wholly covered by bracts, erect, ca 20 cm long, 1.7 mm in diam., sparsely lepidote of star like trichomes; peduncle bracts erect and clasping the peduncle, not foliaceous, imbricate, exceeding the internodes, chartaceous, lanceolate, acute or slightly acuminate, subdensely lepidote; main axis (rachis) exposed, sub-slender, slightly flexuous, slightly excavated near the spikes, glabrescent to sparsely lepidote of star like trichomes, internodes 0.5–1.8 cm long; primary bracts like the peduncle bracts but soon becoming shorter, suberect or spreading with the branches, exceeding the internodes but not imbricate when erect or fully exposing the main axis, chartaceous, the lower ones narrowly ovate to ovate upward, narrowly rounded, exceeding the stipe of the branches, only adaxially distinctly nerved, green; primary branches of (1–)2–3 subdigitate spikes, lax. Spikes erect, densely distichously (3–)10–22-flowered, complanate, narrowly oblong, irregular at the apex, 0.8–1.2 cm long, 0.4 cm wide, with one sterile bract at the base and the apex; stipes elongate to short upward bent, the lower ones for most part covered by 1–3 bracts, erect, slender, 0.3–1.4 cm long; rachis partly exposed, stout, geniculate, excavated near the flowers, densely lepidote of star like trichomes, the internodes 1–2 mm long. Floral bracts divergent with the flowers, not imbricate at anthesis, sub-membranaceous, even, ecarinate, ovate, broadly rounded, nearly straight, 4.5 mm long, 3.7 mm wide, about equaling or exceeded by the sepals, about three times as long as the internodes, with broad hyaline margins, abaxially sparsely lepidote at the base. Flowers 4.8 mm long, contiguous with each other and the rachis; receptacle (flower base) distinct, obconic, 1.5 mm long; sepals membranaceous, surface even (not obviously nerved), slightly asymmetrical, broadly obovate-oblong, emarginate, incurved toward the apex, 2.5 mm long, 3 mm wide, with broad hyaline margins, adaxial and abaxial ones all alike, free, sparsely lepidote; petals somewhat fleshy, 3.2 mm long, 2 mm wide, elliptic, rounded, free from each other, white to cream colored toward the apex, blade sightly divergent, just exceeding the sepals. Stamens deeply included, all equal in length, 2 mm long, exceeding the pistil; filaments lanceolate, fleshy and complanate, straight (not plicate), hyaline, distally attenuate; anthers dorsifixed below the middle, broadly sagittate, 0.7 mm long, bi-lobed at the base, apiculate at the apex, yellow, pollen deep yellow. Pistil 1.7 mm long; ovary globose, 1 mm long, green; style shorter than the ovary; stigma short conduplicate, erect, about as wide as the style.

Distribution and habitat:—This species is only known from the type locality, a warm primary rain forest, between 1000 and 2000 m elevation.

Etymology:—The epithet ‘minutipetala’ refers to the very small (‘minutus’) petals (‘petala’).

Observations:—This species resembles Racinaea spiculosa ( Grisebach 1865: 17) Spencer & Smith (1993: 157) and especially the plant habit of Racinaea spiculosa var. stenoglossa ( Smith 1951: 151) Spencer & Smith(1993:157) , with the narrowly subbulbous or utriculate rosettes and undulate leaf margins, but this new species has a twice-branched inflorescence with the primary branches spirally arranged (vs. once branched with the spikes secund in one direction), it is also much smaller in size (flowering ca 34 cm vs. to over 1 m tall), with a peduncle in between and shorter than the leaves (vs. much exceeding the rosette and leaves). Its floral parts are also smaller and different in texture, see diagnose.