Agave maria-patriciae Cházaro & Arzaba, 2018

Agave maria-patriciae Cházaro & Arzaba View in CoL sp. nov. Figures 2 View FIGURE 2 and 3 View FIGURE 3 .

Agave maria-patriciae is most similar to A. pendula by sharing lanceolate to oblong leaves with a central yellow stripe, but it differs in its shorter leaves, stems and floral scape; presence of continuous reddish margins along the leaves, thicker terminal spine and larger denticles, its smaller and succulent flowers with reflexed and not broadly cucullate tepals and subsessile capsules.

Type:— MEXICO. Veracruz: municipality of Alto Lucero, summit of Cerro La Bandera, NE of La Yerbabuena village , 660 m, 07 January 2016 (fl. & fr.), C. Arzaba 451 et al. (holotype XAL!; isotypes CHAPA!, MEXU!) .

Perennial herb with basal rosette, up to 100 cm tall including the floral scape. Stems bifurcated, 10 ‒ 20 cm long, usually 2 ‒ 3 rosettes per plant. Leaves 25 ‒ 29 × 3.5 ‒ 6.8 cm, lanceolate to oblong, 13 ‒ 18 per rosette, light green with pale and blurred yellow central stripe, fleshy, frequently not flexible with red coloration along the margin, denticles 2 ‒ 3 mm long, absent in 4 ‒ 5 cm below the terminal spine, dark brown or reddish brown. Terminal spine 0.5 ‒ 0.9 cm long, dark brown. Inflorescence stem 105 cm long, emerging from the main rosette, apex recurved, flowers inserted on the upper half of shaft. Scape bracts 3.0 ‒ 9.6 × 3.0 ‒ 2.0 cm, subulate, narrowly triangular, pale green, reddish only at the base, lower bracts with thickened terminal spine. Bracteoles 2.0 ‒ 2.6 cm long, linear-triangular, ascending, apex acicular, discolorous, reddish brown at base, dark brown at apex, the upper bracteoles with a ferruginous longitudinal line. Flowers 2.4 ‒ 2.6 cm long, succulent, neck 0.2 ‒ 0.3 × 0.3 ‒ 0.4 cm. Floral tube 0.7 ‒ 0.8 × 0.8 cm. Tepals lanceolate, fleshy, reflexed, dimorphic, the inner tepals 1.1 × 0.5 cm, membranaceous with a conspicuous brownish keel on the abaxial face, apex obtuse, scarcely cucullate; the outer tepals 1.2 × 0.4 cm, abaxial face green brownish, adaxial face pale green; apex obtuse, scarcely cucullate. Stamens exserted, filaments 1.8 cm long, greenish pale yellow with reddish notes at the apex. Anthers 1.0 ‒ 13 × 0.2 cm, brown. Style 2.7 ‒ 3.0 cm long, same color of the filaments. Ovary 1.3 × 0.6 cm, smooth. Capsules 1.5 ‒ 1.8 × 0.5 cm, trigonous, yellow green when unripe, brown when ripe; pedicels ca. 0.1 cm long. Seeds numerous, 3 ‒ 4 × 2 ‒ 3 mm, lunate to auriculate, shiny black ( Figure 3 View FIGURE 3 ).

Habitat and geographic distribution:—Unlike the related taxa ( Table 1 View TABLE 1 ), this species is only known from a small population in oak forest ( Quercus oleoides Schlechtendal & Chamisso (1830: 79) and Q. sapotifolia Liebmann (1854: 185) ( Fagaceae ) with Bejaria aestuans Mutis ex Linnaeus (1771: 242) and Lyonia squamulosa M. Martens & Galeotti (1842: 542) ( Ericaceae ) at the top of Cerro La Bandera (ca. 650 m elev.) at the southern slope of Sierra de Monte de Oro ( Figure 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Agave maria-patriciae grows on volcanic substrate and it is exposed to seasonal north winds and constant humidity of the Gulf of Mexico. This taxon occurs with Dioon edule Lindley (1843: 59) ( Zamiaceae ), Pitcairnia sp L’Her (1788: 5) and Tillandsia aff. juncea (Ruiz & Pavón) Poiret (1817: 309) ( Bromeliaceae ). In spite of all botanic studies in the region, Sierra de Monte de Oro remains mostly unexplored. Other populations of this taxon could probably exist in nearby hills with the same vegetation type, such as La Paila, La Cruz and Cerro Azul in the same municipality of Alto Lucero.

Phenology: — Agave maria-patriciae was found flowering at the beginning of January. Probably, blooming starts at least one month before. Many unripe fruits were collected in the same month.

Etymology: —The species name is dedicated to Mrs. María Patricia Hernández, wife of the second author, who in the 1980s and early 1990s was a great companion in numerous field trips even to remote areas. As a result, several hundreds of botanical specimens are labeled as “M. Cházaro & P. Hernández”, deposited in the main herbaria of Mexico and the USA. She also mounted hundreds of exsiccata at the WIS and IBUG herbaria, as well as coauthored several papers on succulent plants of Mexico.