Deuterocohnia meziana Kuntze ex Mez (1896: 465) subsp. meziana, emend. L. B. Sm., Contr. Gray Herb.

Deuterocohnia meziana Kuntze ex Mez (1896: 465) subsp. meziana, emend. L. B. Sm., Contr. Gray Herb. View in CoL View at ENA 102: 146 (1933).

Type:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso do Sul: Corumbá, August 1892, Kuntze s.n. (holotype: NY! (2 sheets), isotype: B!) .

= Deuterocohnia paraguariensis Hassler (1919: 298) . (synonymized by Mez (1934: 283). Type:— PARAGUAY. Cerro Margarita, Sierra de Amambay, Rojas in herb. Hassler 11098 (holotype: G!, isotype: BAF).

= Deuterocohnia divaricata Mez (1919: 9) . (synonymized by Harms (1930: 109). Type :— PARAGUAY. Upper section of Río Apa , Rojas in herb. Hassler 11098 (holotype B, probably destroyed).

−“ Deuterocohnia chrysantha ” sensu Mez (1896: 466) . p.p. Kuntze s.n.

Leaf blade length 60–90 (–100) cm. Inflorescence lax, many-flowered. Floral bracts inconspicuous. Flowers 25– 35 mm long, sessile to shortly pedicellate, pedicels shorter than 5 mm. Sepals 11–14 mm long, orange. Petals (20–) 25–35 (–38) mm long, yellowish to orange, with greenish apex.

Distribution: — BOLIVIA. Depts. Santa Cruz, Tarija. BRAZIL. Est. Mato Grosso do Sul. PARAGUAY. Depts. Amambay, Concepción. 14°30′– 22°45' S; 56°00′– 64°20' W.

Habitat and ecology: —Ecoregions: Chaco savannas and its border to Andean Yungas, Chiquitania dry forests, Humid Chaco. At elevations of 150–1400 m. Terrestrial or saxicolous, on limestone, on laterite and granitic outcrops, on sandstone. In open dry forest or shrubland, also close to rivers, in seasonally flooded riverside forests. On granitic outcrops in the Chiquitania dry forests. Main flowering period from July to December, flowers also reported from the rest of the year. Pollinated by hummingbirds and occasionally by insects.

Etymology: —The species is dedicated to the German botanist Carl Christian Mez (1866–1944) whose research focused on plant taxonomy and physiology. He established the genus Deuterocohnia in 1894.

Affinities: — Deuterocohnia meziana subsp. meziana is morphologically closely related to the other subspecies of D. meziana , but differs in having orange sepals and yellow to orange petal colour shades (with a greenish apex as in the remaining subspecies). The rosettes are large, with broad, robust leaves. Together with D. brevispicata , D. meziana subsp. meziana provides the largest plants among species of Deuterocohnia . The subspecies is mainly distributed in SO Bolivia, across the Brazilian border and in NO Paraguay. Some plants that occur in the border region of Santa Cruz and Chuquisaca or Cochabamba may actually represent intermediate forms between D. meziana subsp. pedicellata and D. meziana subsp. carmineo-viridiflora .

Notes and comments: —(a) In 1919 Mez described D. divaricata from Paraguay, based on the collection of Rojas in herb. Hassler 11098, which probably was located in the herbarium of Berlin. A specimen of the same collection located in the herbarium of Geneve was used to describe the species D. paraguariensis by Hassler (1919) six months earlier (and therefore preceded the name D. divaricata , which was synonymized with D. paraguariensis by Harms in 1930). Thus the two species belong to the same collection, with type vouchers in different herbaria. Concerning the type of D. divaricata , there is neither a voucher of Hassler 11098 found in B, nor a photograph of it among the Berlin negatives in F.

(b) The protologue of D. meziana notes only yellow as flower colour, the same for D. divaricata . Probably the authors referred only to the petals.

(c) Classified as rare by IUCN red list of threatened plants (Walter & Gillett 1998), (endangered in Bolivia, Brazil, vulnerable in Paraguay).

Specimens examined: — BOLIVIA. Dept. Santa Cruz: Sierra de Santa Cruz, 2000 m, May 1892, Kuntze s.n. (NY). Prov. Velasco: Santa Rosa de la Roca, diversion to Moira / Piso Firme, km 65, 14°37' S, 61°30' W, 300 m, 25 August 1983, Ibisch et al. 93.0636 (LPB). Prov. Nuflo de Chavez: Est. Sebastian, 40 km S of Concepcion on road to Lomerio, 16°25' S, 62°00' W, 450 m, 17 September 1985, Killeen 1220 (F, GH (2 sheets), LPB, NY, US); Lomerio, 12 km N of the community Las Trancas, permanent tracts of the project "BOLFOR", Las Trancas-95, 16°31'13'' S, 61°50'47'' W, 450 m, 20 February 1995, Mamina 463 (USZ); Estancia San   GoogleMaps Miguelito, 200 km NE of Santa Cruz, 4 km NO of San Pablo, 17°0'9'' S, 400 m, 14 December 1995, Fuentes 1449 (USZ). Prov. Chiquitos: 57 km W of San José, road to Santa Cruz   GoogleMaps , 17°42'36'' S, 61°14'24'' W, 270 m, 29 January 2004, Solís Neffa et al. 1313 (LPB); Cerro Mutún, 7 km NE of the landing runway of the miners’ camp, 25 km S of Puerto Suárez, 18°11'18'' S, 57°52'42'' W, 400–500 m, 17–20 October 1994, Vargas 3377 (NY, USZ); Robore, 18°16'31'' S, 59°49'58'' W, 320 m, 03 December 2002, Forzza et al. 2253 (LPB, RB (4 sheets)); 4 km SW of Santiago de Chiquitos, 18°20' S, 59°36' W, 400 m, 22 November 1989, Saldias et al. 959 (NY, USZ (3 sheets)); Serrania Santiago   GoogleMaps , 15 km NW of Limoncito, 18°13' S, 60°00' W, 350 m, 28 July 1982, Till 137 (WU (2 sheets)); stream going down to the mining camp of Cerro Mutum, Germán Busch, 19°12'52'' S, 57°55'54'' W, 180 mm 19 August 2004, Zárate et al. 1766 (USZ). Prov. Florida: On road from Comarapa   GoogleMaps to Mariana, 1 km S of Los Negros, 18°04' S, 64°07' W, 1350 m, 08 August 1987, Nee et al. 35601 (LPB, NY, US (2 sheets), USZ); Refugio Los   GoogleMaps Volcánes; 3 km NE of Bermejo, 18°06' S, 63°36' W, 1150 m, 04 October 1997, Kessler et al. 12307 (LPB); between Santa Cruz   GoogleMaps and Bermejo   GoogleMaps , road to Samaipata, 18°08′40′′ S, 63°37′31′′ W, 1000 m, 26 September 2009, Schütz et al. 09-002 (FR, LPB); road from Santa Cruz   GoogleMaps to Samaipata, 36 km before Samaipata, 18°10' S, 63°45' W, 28 March 2006, Cubr 43830 (U (2 sheets)). Prov. Andrés Ibáñez: Samaipata to Santa Cruz   GoogleMaps , 40 km W of Santa Cruz, 18°02' S, 63°25' W, 800 m, 25 August 1976, Rauh 40673 (HEID (6 sheets)); between Santa Cruz   GoogleMaps and Bermejo   GoogleMaps on the road to Samaipata, 18°10′02′′ S, 63°31′08′′ W, ca. 1000 m, 26 September 2009, Schütz et al. 09-001 (FR, LPB). Prov. Vallegrande: Road from Vallegrande to Villa Serrano, between Pucara and the bridge Santa   GoogleMaps Rosa over Río Grande   GoogleMaps , 18°42′20′′ S, 64°16′40′′ W, 1470 m, 29 September 2009, Schütz et al. 09-004 (FR, LPB); ibid.: Schütz et al. 09-005 (LPB); Schütz et al. 09-006 (LPB); Schütz et al. 09-007 (LPB); road from Vallegrande to Villa Serrano, between Pucara and the bridge Santa   GoogleMaps Rosa over Río Grande   GoogleMaps , 18°42′22′′ S, 64°17′09′′ W, 1371 m, 29 September 2009, Schütz et al. 09-008 (FR, LPB); near Río Grande   GoogleMaps , 19°03'29'' S, 63°40'09'' W, 557 m, 02 October 2006, Schütz et al. 06-017 (LPB); ibid.: Schütz et al. 06-018 (FR (2 sheets)). Prov. Cordillera: Curuyuqui, 18°46' S, 62°18' W, 350 m, 26 October 1991, Gentry and Pena 75390 (USZ); Aguarati Izozog, near road to Cerro Colorado, 27 km from the airfield of Rancho Nuevo, 19°09'19'' S, 62°16'58'' W, 24 September 1998, Bourdy 2141 (LPB); Cerro Colorado, 19°25' S, 62°20' W, 400–540 m, 27 October 1991, Gentry and Foster 75351 (USZ (2 sheets)); Río Charagua   GoogleMaps , 7 km air line NO of Charagua, 19°45′30′′ S, 63°14' W, 1000 m, 14 April 1990, Quevedo 111 (USZ). Dept. Tarija: Prov. Gran Chaco: Palo Marcado, Pilcomayo, 21°26' S, 63°07' W, 450 m, 02 November 1927, Troll 190 (B, M).

BRAZIL: Dept. Mato Grosso do Sul: 12 March 1979, Burle Marx 69275 (HB); 20 September 1940, Foster 1064 (GH); FAN, 24 May 1978, Martinelli 4551 (RB). Prov. Caracol: Caracol, 30–40 km W, 22°12' S, 57°12' W, 17 March 1985, Hatschbach and Silva 49207 (C, HBG); Prov. Corumbá: Bandalta, 25 October 1953, Pereira et al. 497 (RB (3 sheets)); Leque, 10 Nov. 1977, Rodrigues et al. 376 (RB); Prov. Corumbá / Sapezal: Corumbá   GoogleMaps , area of pantanal, 19°00' S, 57°40' W, 02 June 1984, Elias de Paula   GoogleMaps 1769 (HB, NY); ibid.: 12 September 1985, Elias de Paula   GoogleMaps 1853 (NY); ibid.: July 1911, Hoehne 3542 (R); ibid.: July 1911, Hoehne 3543 (R, photo in G); ibid.: July 1911, Hoehne 3544 (R); ibid.: July 1911, Hoehne 4614 (R); ibid.: August 1892, Kuntze s.n. (B, GH, NY (2 sheets), R); near Corumbá   GoogleMaps , Morro do Urucum   GoogleMaps , 19°13' S, 57°33' W, 550 m, 18 September 1940, Foster 1045, (GH, US); Corumbá, Rod. Br 262, Serra do Urucum, 19°13' S, 57°33' W, 14 April 1972, Hatschbach 29493 (C, NY, UC); 35 km SE of Corumbá, Fazenda Vale do Paraiso   GoogleMaps , 19°5' S, 57°30' W, 10 December 1976, Krapovickas 29820 (C).

PARAGUAY: Jardín Botánico, 05 October 1944, Rojas s.n. in Herb.Hassler (LIL); Dept. Amambay: Distr. Pedro Juan Caballero: Sierra   GoogleMaps de Amambay, Cerro Margarita   GoogleMaps , 22°30' S, 56°00' W, April 1907 –08, Rojas   GoogleMaps 11098 (F, G, GH, NY); Dept. Concepción: Distr. Concepción: Puerto Fonciere   GoogleMaps , alto Paraguay, 22°29' S, 57°48' W, December 1916, Rojas   GoogleMaps 2270 (BA, GH (2 sheets)); Itapucú-mi   GoogleMaps , 22°45' S, 57°52' W, 19 September 1893, Lindman   GoogleMaps A-2097 (GH, S (5 sheets)); Distr. San Lázaro: Vallemi   GoogleMaps , Cerro Pucú   GoogleMaps ; 22°08'29'' S 57°57'12'' W, 300 m, 04 November 2001, Zardini and Vera 57359 (WU (5 sheets)); Colonia Risso, 22°22' S, 57°49' W, 28 November 1896, Anisits 2419 (GH, S (3 sheets)).