Salvia guaneorum Fern. Alonso, 2014

Salvia guaneorum Fern. Alonso View in CoL , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 )

Affinis Salvia erythrostomae Epling (Sectio Longipedi) a qua imprimis differt inflorescentia ramosa, difussa, racemis breviores, bracteis maiores, oval-lanceolatis, 6–8 mm longis; verticillastris 2–3 floris; pedicellis breviores (2–5(7) mm longis; calyce breviore, 7–8.5(9.5) mm et labio infero corollae manifeste longior (8–9 mm longis) quam galea (3–4 mm longis).

Type:— COLOMBIA. Santander: Vía Curos – Málaga, desvío San Andrés – Molagavita , taludes húmedos junto al camino, 06°46’N, 72°50’W, 1680 m, 28 June 2009. Hierba erecta, fl, J. L. Fernández-Alonso & C.N. Díaz-Perez 28169A (holotype COL! GoogleMaps ; isotypes BM! GoogleMaps , COL! GoogleMaps , G! GoogleMaps , HUA! GoogleMaps , MA858787 GoogleMaps , 858788 ! GoogleMaps , MO! GoogleMaps , MEXU!, GoogleMaps NY! GoogleMaps , UIS! GoogleMaps , US! GoogleMaps ).

Biannual or annual herbs up to 2.4 m tall, scarcely aromatic, very bitter. Stem erect, delicate and very branched at the top, green or purple tinged, quadrangular with thickened angles and long internodes, pilose with very short retrorse hairs. Leaves with petioles greenish or more often bluish or purple, thin, (20)25–60(80) mm long, thin and densely pubescent, olive-green leaves and bright upperside beam, pale gray-green or whitish on the underside, membranaceous, thin, cordate or broadly triangular-cordate, 7–11(15) x 5–8(10) cm, cordate at the base, with basal sinus of 20–30 mm from the petiole, acuminate or caudate-acuminate at the apex; appendix 2.5–4.0 cm long, finely serrate margin; surface thick and slightly reticulate, venation brochidodromous, noticeable on both sides, excavated on upperside and prominent on the underside, secondary veins ascending or erect-patent with respect to the midrib, tertiary venation polygonal on the margins of the blade, fourth-order venation reticulate, manifested only on the underside; this with short trichomes, with strigose aspect on nerves and with hairs and sessile glands on the lamina. Leaves of young plants (without inflorescences) with petioles 7–12 cm long and blades 15–22 x 11–15 cm. Inflorescences large terminal or lateral panicles, erect, 15–40 cm long, formed by many terminal or axillar racemes, each with 6–10(12) verticillaster; each verticillaster with 2–3 flowers ( Fig. 1a View FIGURE 1 ); axis with dense pubescence of short hairs, retrorse, acute; bracts green or purple, promptly deciduous, oval to broadly ovate to lanceolate, 6–8 mm long, apex acuminate or caudate with short trichomes, gland-tipped and ciliate margin. Floral pedicels 2–5 mm long (up to 7 mm in fruit), erect-patent, with short pubescence and with scattered longer glandtipped hairs. Flower 13–16 mm long. Calyx usually pale green, with purple tinge in the teeth, 7–8.5(9.5) mm long, externally with fine pubescence lying and some longer gland-tipped hairs, similar to the pedicel; bilabiatae, subequal lips, the lobes ovate-deltate and acuminate at the apex, lower lip slightly longer and acute, the upper widened, of 3–4 mm long (somewhat larger, more laterally compressed in fruiting), with teeth of 0.5–1 mm, slightly incurved; the upper lip 3-veined. Corolla purple-violet, with two white bands (nectar lines), at the junction of the lower lip with the mouth of the tube, 13–15 mm long (slightly shorter dry), glabrescent externally, with fine pubescence on the galea; tube 7–8 mm long, straight or slightly upward, widened sharply and ventricoseinvaginated toward the middle, tapering in the distal third, epapillate inside; upper lip galeate, straight with respect to the tube, 3–4 mm long and shorter than the lower lip, with very fine, inconspicuous pubescence; lower lip, semipatent or patent-reflexed, 8–9 mm long, 3-lobed, with the lateral lobes of 2–3 mm long, shorter and narrower than the very wide, rounded and bilobed middle lobe ( Figs. 1e–g View FIGURE 1 ). Stamens included in the galea or very slightly exserted (more noticeable in the dried flower); filaments inserted into the middle of the corolla tube ( Fig. 1f View FIGURE 1 ), invaginated area, about 3 mm from the mouth of the tube, 3–4 mm long, glabrous; connective of 9–10 mm long, arched convex, glabrous; the posterior connective arm 4 mm in length, connate with the connective of adjacent stamen only in the distal area ( Fig. 1h View FIGURE 1 ), with cylindrical tooth, obtuse arched located 3 mm from the end, near the binding site to the filament; anthers slightly arched, convex, narrow, 1.5 mm long and ca. 0.3 mm thick. Ginobase with nectariferous projection bilobed, erect, much longer than the nutlets primordia at anthesis ( Fig. 1j View FIGURE 1 ). Style whitish 12–13 mm long, hairy in the distal third, with septate hairs, in comb-like anteroposterior arrangement with longer upper branch, of ca. 3 mm, acute, arched-ascending and attached on the surface of the galea; lower branch, straight, down, of ca. 1 mm ( Figs. 1e–i View FIGURE 1 ). Nutlets smooth or minutely granular, ellipsoid-fusiform, trigonous in section, acute-apiculate at both ends, with circular hilum scar at the lower end, from 2–2.2 x 1.3–1.5 mm. In contact with water present mucilaginous whitish halo, cottony-looking, 0.5–1 mm in thickness ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ).

Distribution and habitat:— The only known records suggest it is a species endemic to a small sector of the Chicamocha Basin (department of Santander), an Andean valley located on the western flank of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. It is located in the sub-Andean oak forest belt ( Quercus humboldtii Bonpl. ) at between 1600–2100 m, where it grows on grassy slopes and the edges of streams and creeks, along with some Asteraceae such as: Austroeupatorium inulifolium (Kunth) R.M. King & H. Rob. , Baccharis trinervis (Lam.) Pers. , Chromolaena tacotana (Klatt.) R.M. King & H. Rob. , Conocliniopsis prasiifolia (DC.) R.M. King & H. Rob. , Bignoniaceae as: Saritea magnifica (W. Bull) Dugand , and the Labiatae : Hyptis mutabilis (L. Rich.) Briq. , Minthostachys mollis (Kunth) Griseb. , Salvia aratocensis (J.R.I. Wood & Harley) Fern. Alonso , Salvia chicamochae Wood & Harley , Salvia occidentalis Sw. and Salvia tilifolia Vahl.

Conservation status:—Given the limited range of known distribution of this plant and the current categorization criteria ( IUCN 2003, Fernández-Alonso & Rivera-Díaz 2006), now this species could be tentatively classified as vulnerable (VU). This categorization is justified due to the limited extent of similar habitats throughout the Chicamocha region, where the species may be present.

Etymology:—The species name refers to Guane people, who lived in some sectors of the middle and lower Chicamocha Canyon, in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia.

Discussion and affinities

On account of its herbaceous graceful habit, with long-stalked leaves, with cordate blades, membranous, sessile glands dotted on the underside and its flowers with 3-nerved upper lip, corolla with basal invagination into the tube and lower lip patent, clearly longer than the bottom, S. guaneorum has obvious affinities with the South American species of Section Longipes . The only exception would be S. madrensis Epling, Mexican species which has chartaceous leaves and yellow flowers with long tube withouth basal invagination, which probably warrants relocation to a different section. Moreover, the presence in S. guaneorum of pauciflorous verticillasters (2–3 flowers) and shortly pedicellate flowers, clearly distinguishes the plant described here, from the rest of the species of the section Longipes , and questions its allocation to it. Within this section, S. erythrostoma , would be the most similar species in terms of stem morphology and the presence of subtruncate upper calyx lip. S. gracilipes Epling , of Merida, Venezuela and S. codazziana Fern. Alonso from N Colombia differ by having long-lipped calyx subequal ( Fernández-Alonso 1995). Moreover, the cordate leaves of S. guaneorum and morphology of the calyx and corolla (color and lips) resemble two species of Angulatae section: S. tiliifolia Vahl widely distributed and S. chicamochae Wood & Harley , also endemic to this same Chicamocha Canyon ( Fernández-Alonso 2003a). However, the differences in habit, indumentum, some leaf traits and in the inflorescence are well marked and allow to clearly separate S. guaneorum of the species of Angulatae section.

The mucilage of the nutlet of S. guaneorum , cottony type ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ), consists of radial cords flexuous and corresponds to the type IIA, those set in Fernández-Alonso et al. (2009). This type of mucilage is also present in some species of the subgenus Calosphace previously studied as S. coccinea Etling. (Sect. Subrotundae) and S. splendens (sect. Secundae). The moistened nutlet of S. guaneorum , also shows a series of irregular folds on the dorsal surface of the nutlet, which is not present in the dry nutlet ( Fig. 4a–c View FIGURE 4 ). This ornamentation had not been observed in other species of Salvia , may be similar to the conical structures embedded in mucilage, described in the nutlet of Ocimum gratissimum L. (subfam. Nepetoideae).

Additional specimens examined (Paratypes):— COLOMBIA. Santander: Vía Curos – Málaga, antes de la Hacienda La Tahona , flancos herbosos de la carretera, 06°56’N, 72°56’W, 2050 m, 26 June 2009. Hierba erecta, aspecto bianual, sin flores, J. L. Fernández-Alonso & C.N. Díaz-Pérez 28102 ( COL!, G!, MEDEL!, MA 858793 , 858794 , 858795 !, MO!, P!) GoogleMaps ; Ibídem, vía Curos–Málaga, desvío San Andrés–Molagavita , taludes húmedos junto al camino, 06°46’N, 72°50’W, 1680 m, 28 June 2009. fl, J. L. Fernández-Alonso & C.N. Díaz-Pérez 28170 ( B!, COL!, HUA!, MA 858791,858792 !, MO!, W!) GoogleMaps .