Commelina leiocarpa Benth.

Commelina leiocarpa Benth. View in CoL

Figs 6 View Fig , 9 View Fig ; Table 1 View Table 1

Commelina leiocarpa Benth. ( Bentham 1846: 176) View in CoL . – Phaeosphaerion leiocarpum (Benth.) Hassk. ( Hasskarl 1866: 212) View in CoL . – Phaeosphaerion leiocarpum (Benth.) Hassk. var. leiocarpum ( Hasskarl 1866: 212) View in CoL . – Athyrocarpus leiocarpus (Benth.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Hemsl. ( Hemsley 1885: 386) View in CoL .

Phaeosphaerion efoveolatum var. repens C.B.Clarke ( Clarke 1881: 136) View in CoL . – Type: COUNTRY UNKNOWN • s.loc.; s.dat.; fl., fr.; s.coll. s.n.; holotype: G [ G00301518 ]!.

Etymology

The epithet is a combination of the Ancient Greek terms ʻ λεῖΟς ʼ ( leîos, meaning ʻsmoothʼ) + ʻ Καρπός ʼ ( karpós, meaning ʻfruitʼ), in reference to its smooth and indehiscent capsules.

Type material

HONDURAS – Tiger Island • Gulf of Fonseca; s. dat.; fl., fr.; A. Sinclair s.n.; lectotype: K [ K000363260 ]!, designated by Hassemer (2018b); isolectotype: K [ K000363261 ] !.

Selected material examined

North America

MEXICO – Colima • s.loc.; 9 Jan.–6 Feb. 1891; fl., fr.; E. Palmer 1147; K, US 3ex.

Central America

BELIZE – Toledo • in acahual, on hill slope near San Antonio ; 5 Nov. 1951; fl., fr.; P.H. Gentle 7509; K, MEXU, MO, US .

EL SALVADOR – Ahuachapán • vicinity of Ahuachapán ; 9 Jan. 1922; fl., fr.; P.C. Standley 19805; F, MO, US .

GUATEMALA – Retalhuleu • Retalhuleu ; 14 Jan. 1907; fl., fr.; W.A. Kellerman 6052; US 2ex.

HONDURAS – Intibucá • alrededores de Yamaranguila , llanos El Obispo ; Jul. 1973; fr.; J.R. Martínez & C. Bejarano 127; MO, TEFH .

Description

Herbs 50–200 cm tall, scrambling-fruticose to erect-fruticose, perennial, robust, terrestrial. Roots tuberous, cylindric. Rhizome short. Stems dimorphic, fibrous, branched in the upper half or upper third, primary branches erect, secondary branches longer than the primary branches, scrambling or twining, apex patent; internodes 1.4–11.5 cm long, distally shorter, green suffused with red to completely red, scabrid with a mixture of prickle- and hook-hairs, hairs hyaline. Leaves distichously-alternate, pseudopetiolate; sheaths 0.9–2.5 cm long, light green suffused with red to completely red, scabrid with a mixture of prickle- and hook-hairs, hairs hyaline, margin upright, setose, hairs acicular, hyaline; pseudopetiole 2.6–7.4 mm long; blades 2.5–15 × 1–3.4 cm, lanceolate to ovate, straight, membranous to thinly chartaceous, adaxially green to dark green, abaxially light green to green, adaxially sparsely scabrid with prickle-hairs, sometimes also sparsely pilose along the midvein, hairs hyaline, abaxially scabrid with prickle-hairs and pilose along the midvein, hairs hyaline, base asymmetric, obtuse to round, margin flat, papillose, apex acuminate to long-acuminate; midvein conspicuous, adaxially impressed, abaxially prominently obtuse, secondary veins 3–4 pairs, adaxially conspicuous, abaxially inconspicuous, becoming conspicuous on both sides when dry. Synflorescence composed of a solitary main florescence, restricted to the apex of the stems and forming a dense second-degree synflorescence. Inflorescences leaf-opposed, peduncle 0.9–4.1 cm long, ca the same length as or longer than ½ length of the spathe, pendulous, scabrid with a mixture of prickle- and hook-hairs, hairs hyaline; spathe 2.1–5.5 × 1.4–3.6 cm, cordate, continuous to the peduncle and pointing downwards, internally inconspicuously mucilaginous, base free, cordate, externally glabrous to sparsely scabrid with a mixture of prickle- and hook-hairs, apex acuminate, slightly falcate, veins 4–5 pairs, inconspicuous, becoming conspicuous when dry; upper cincinnus vestigial, flowerless, peduncle inconspicuous or up to 2.5 mm long, included, gently recurved at pre-anthesis and anthesis, recurved and exserted at post-anthesis and fruit, glabrous with some odd hook-hairs towards the apex, hairs hyaline; lower cincinnus 2–5-flowered, flowers mainly bisexual, rarely staminate, peduncle 1–1.8cm long, thickened in fruit, sparsely puberulous with minute hook-hairs towards the apex. Flowers chasmogamous, zygomorphic, enantiostylous (style dislocated to the opposite side to the medial stamen); floral buds 4.4–6.8 × 2.1–3.4 mm, obovoid, light green or white to light blue, glabrous; pedicel 3.7–7.3 mm long, deflexed in bud and at anthesis, reflexed and elongating in fruit, light green, sparsely puberulous with minute hook-hairs, hairs hyaline; sepals light green, opaque, early deciduous in fruit, dorsal sepal 3.5– 6.2 × 1.8–2.5 mm, elliptic to narrowly triangular, concave, glabrous, apex acute, lower sepals 3.6–6.6 × 2.4–3.2 mm, sessile, free, ovate to widely ovate, concave, glabrous, apex acute; paired petals 0.8–1.7 × 0.5–1.5 cm, clawed, claw 2.4–4.6 mm long, light blue, limb 5.3–12.4 × 5.4–15.1 mm, widely reniform to widely rhombic-reniform, blue to sky blue, base asymmetric, hastate, apex obtuse, medial petal 4.6–8.5 × 4.1–7.9 mm, shortly-clawed, claw 0.6–1 mm long, light blue, limb 4.6–8.3 × 4.1–7.9 mm, widely sagittate, entire, concave to strongly concave, concolourous with the paired petals, opaque, glabrous on both sides, apex cuspidate; staminodes 2, medial staminode completely absent, filaments 4.1–5.8 mm long, straight to slightly sinuate, apex straight to decurved, sky blue, base sometimes light blue, antherodes 1.2–1.5 × 0.6–1.2 mm, V-shaped, white, minute pollen sacs between the upper and lower lobes absent, apiculate between the upper lobes, upper lobes absent, smaller than the lower, lower lobes filiform; lateral filaments 5.4–7.9 mm long, gently sigmoid, geniculate distal to the middle, apex gently recurved, light blue, apex sky blue, anthers 1.2–1.8 × 0.7–1 mm, near the medial anther, sagittate, yellow, connective white to cream-coloured, pollen pale yellow, drying yellow; medial filament 4.3–5.9 mm long, straight to arcuate-decurved, light blue, apex sky blue, anther 1.9–3.3 × 0.8–1.2 mm, held near the lateral anthers, sagittate, strongly curved, yellow, connective sagittate, white to cream-coloured, anther sacs appressed to each other, pollen pale yellow, drying yellow; ovary 1.5–2.7 × 1–1.9 mm, 3-carpellate, 5-ovulate, ellipsoid to widely ellipsoid, green, smooth, glabrous, style 0.8–1.1 cm long, twice as long as the stamens, gently sigmoid, base tapering into the ovary, apex straight to gently recurved, light blue, base light green, apex sky blue, persistent in fruit, stigma truncate, sky blue. Capsules 2–5 per spathe, 5.1–8.9 × 4.8–8.4 mm, widely ellipsoid to subglobose to globose, sessile, fruit wall thick, apex round to apiculate due to the persistent style base, not constricted between the seeds when mature, dark blue to bluish-black to black when mature, glaucous, smooth, 3-locular, indehiscent, dorsal locule 1-seeded, indehiscent, ventral locules 2-seeded, indehiscent. Seeds monomorphic, 2.7–4.5 × 2.5–4.1 mm, free from the capsule wall, triangular to triangular-ellipsoid, dorsally flattened, ventrally pyramidal, not cleft towards the embryotega, light brown to greyish-brown, testa foveolate, densely farinose, farinae cream-coloured, embryotega semilateral to lateral, inconspicuous, without a prominent apicule, hilum linear, ca the same length as the seed.

Distribution

Commelina leiocarpa ranges from Mexico to western Honduras ( Fig. 6 View Fig ).

Ecology

It grows in the understory of dry forests and at the edges of rainforests in open environments.

Phenology

It was found in bloom and fruits from October to December.

Conservation

Commelina leiocarpa is widely distributed, with wide EOO (1 529 386 km 2) and AOO (ca 1704 km 2), and does not meet the thresholds for criterium B. There is no information on its populational trends or its current threats. Thus, following the IUCN (2012) criteria and the IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2024) recommendations, we suggest C. leiocarpa should be considered as Least Concern (LC, criterium B).

Vernacular names

Chipil de piedra chicsé ( Mexico), matalín ( Mexico), hierba de pollo ( El Salvador).

Remarks

Commelina leiocarpa has been, up until now, circumscribed in a much broader sense to include C. efoveolata . Despite their gross morphology similarities, especially regarding their vining habit and gem-like fruits, both species differ in distribution, stem, leaf-blade, spathe and sepal pubescence, petal colouration, antherodes morphology and colouration, and seed morphology ( Table 2 View Table 2 ). Furthermore, C. leiocarpa is superficially similar to C. almandina sp. nov., C. pallida and C. texcocana due to inflorescence architecture and floral morphology. Nonetheless, C. leiocarpa can be differentiated from all three species by its peduncle pendulous (vs straight), spathe slightly falcate with base cordate (vs straight, subcordate to round), pedicel with hook-hairs (vs acicular hairs), style twice as long as the stamens (vs slightly longer than the stamens), stigma sky-blue (vs white), fruits indehiscent, glaucous, not constricted between the seeds, apex round (vs dehiscent, 3-valved, opaque, constricted between the seeds when mature, rostrate), style persistent (vs deciduous), and seeds monomorphic, triangular and ventrally pyramidal (vs dimorphic, ellipsoid and ventrally flattened) ( Table 2 View Table 2 ).

Despite being described as a variety of C. efoveolata , Phaeosphaerion efoveolatum var. repens can be unambiguously confirmed to be conspecific with C. leiocarpa . The holotype shows the typical vegetative and reproductive morphology for the species, with membranous and wide leaf-blades, sky blue flowers with the medial petal cuspidate at apex, antherodes V-shaped and white, lateral and medial anthers pale yellow, fruits dark blue, and seeds distinctively foveolate. Thus, it is kept by us as a synonym of C. leiocarpa .