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Thursday, November 10th, 2022
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| 6:38a | [Botany • 2022] Vitex pomerana (Lamiaceae: Labiatae) • A New Unifoliolate Species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest
Summary Vitex comprises c. 250 species in a pantropical distribution, with 34 species recognised for Brazil. During fieldwork in remnants of the Atlantic Forest showing vegetation associated with inselbergs in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, a unique, unmatched unifoliolate species of Vitex was found. Based on herbaria consultation and literature review, we propose this as a new species, Vitex pomerana. The new species is unique in the genus due to the presence of unifoliolate leaves, a rare feature in the genus, together with brochidodromous venation of leaflets, dorsifixed anthers, shape and size of leaflets, and petiole and peduncle sizes. We compared the new species with V. gardneriana and V. snethlagiana, the only two other unifoliolate-leaved Vitex species occurring in Brazil. The new species is known from only a few individuals so far and is micro endemic to a biodiversity hotspot that suffers from habitat loss and degradation, and would likely be considered Endangered (EN), based on the criteria of the IUCN red list. This finding increases the number of angiosperm species endemic to the Atlantic Forest and inselbergs in the state of Espírito Santo and highlights the urgency of conserving this highly threatened vegetation. Key Words: Flora, Labiatae, State of Espírito Santo, Taxonomy, Threatened species    Vitex pomerana Fraga, Antar, J.Freitas & Lírio, sp. nov. RECOGNITION. The new species resembles Vitex gardneriana and V. snethlagiana by the unifoliolate leaves, from which it differs by presenting a unique combination of elliptic leaflet with apex obtuse to retuse, venation brochidodromous, petiole 4.9 – 8.5 mm long, peduncle 1.45 – 2.6 cm long, and dorsifixed anthers. ETYMOLOGY. The epithet pomerana (in Portuguese) refers to Pomerania, a historical area in Europe inhabited by a people known as Pomeranians, who spoke the Pomeranian dialect derived from German (not the one derived from a Slavic language, known now as Kashubian, and still spoken in Poland). This region, located in the Southern portion of the Baltic Sea, currently belongs to Germany and Poland. Due to multiple factors, including the WWs and other territorial invasions, the Pomeranians immigrated late in the XIXth century and early in the XXth century mostly to the U.S.A. and Brazil (Clemens 1976; Savedra 2020). Pomeranian descendants are predominant in the mountainous region of Espírito Santo, particularly in the municipalities of Santa Maria de Jetibá and Santa Leopoldina, where there was a significant Pomeranian immigration from 1873 onwards. Nowadays, people from this region still use Pomeranian as their language and maintain part of their cultural traditions (Savedra 2020). Because the new species is restricted to the Espírito Santo mountains, we have decided to honour with the specific epithet the Pomeranian people of Espírito Santo, from which the author EJL is descendent. The use of this epithet is permitted by the Article 23.2 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Turland et al. 2018).  Guilherme Medeiros Antar, Elton John de Lírio, Joelcio Freitas and Claudio Nicoletti de Fraga. 2022. Vitex pomerana (Lamiaceae; Viticoideae), A New Unifoliolate Species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Kew Bulletin. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-022-10064-x espiritosantonoticias.com.br/pesquisado | ||||||
| 6:58a | [Botany • 2022] Senecio namibensis (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) • A New Species from Namibia
Abstract Senecio namibensis is described as a new species known only from the northern part of the Namib Desert in northwestern Namibia. It is a range-restricted species near-endemic to the Kaokoveld Centre of Endemism. These dwarf shrubs grow on rocky outcrops under harsh desert conditions. Diagnostic characters for Senecio namibensis include the annual or perennial habit, succulent leaves, and radiate capitula with 3–6 yellow ray florets. A comparison of some of the more prominent morphological features to differentiate between S. namibensis and its possible nearest relatives, S. englerianus and S. flavus, is provided. All three species have superficially similar looking succulent leaves, but an obvious difference is that the capitula in S. englerianus are discoid and in S. flavus disciform or obscurely radiate. Based on IUCN Red List categories and criteria, a conservation assessment of Least Concern (LC) is recommended for the new species. Keywords: endemism, flora, Kaokoveld Centre of Endemism, Namib Desert, Senecio englerianus, Senecio flavus, succulent, taxonomy
Senecio namibensis Swanepoel & A.E.van Wyk, sp. nov. Diagnosis: — Dwarf shrub up to 0.4 m high, morphologically most similar to Senecio englerianus and S. flavus: from S. englerianus it differs in having the leaf blade cordate to suborbicular or reniform (vs. cordate, suborbicular, reniform, ovate or oblate); blade base cordate to deeply cordate (vs. cordate-reniform or truncate); capitula radiate (vs. discoid); involucre usually shorter and narrower: 5.3–7.4 mm long, 3.5–4.0 mm diam. (vs. 6.3–8.0 mm long, 4.4–5.6 mm diam.); from S. flavus it differs in having the capitula distinctly radiate (vs. disciform or obscurely radiate; ray florets scarcely longer than involucre); involucre usually shorter and wider: 5.3–7.4 mm long, 3.5–4.0 mm diam. (vs. 7.0– 9.5 mm long, 2.7–2.9 mm diam.); pappus bristles free, non-fluked and lacking hooklike apical appendages [vs. ca. 33%—according to Coleman et al. (2003) and Milton et al. (2022) —of pappus bristles connate and fluked—see “Materials and methods” for definition of “fluked” bristles—with grappling hook-like apical appendages]. Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to the Namib Desert, which, in its broadest definition, stretches along the Atlantic Ocean from Saõ Nicolau (Bentiaba) in Angola through Namibia to the Olifants River in South Africa ( Seely 2004, Goudie & Viles 2015). Wessel Swanepoel, Rolf Becker, Vera De Cauwer and Abraham E. van Wyk. 2022. Senecio namibensis (Asteraceae: Senecioneae), A New Species from Namibia. Phytotaxa. 571(2); 103-111. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.571.2.1 | ||||||
| 9:40a | [Arachnida • 2022] Tanzania yellapragadai • First Record of the Spider Genus Tanzania Koçak & Kemal, 2008 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Asia, with the Description of A New Species from India
Abstract The jumping spider genus Tanzania Koçak & Kemal, 2008, which was previously only known from Africa, is recorded from Asia for the first time. The detailed morphology-based description and illustrations of a new species, Tanzania yellapragadai sp. nov. (♂♀) from the Gujarat State of India, are provided. KEYWORDS: taxonomy, jumping spider, Euophryini, Gujarat, India 
TAXONOMY Genus Tanzania Koçak & Kemal, 2008 Type species: Tanzania mkomaziensis (Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000). Tanzania yellapragadai sp. nov. Etymology: This species is dedicated to the Indian biochemist Dr Yellapragada Subba Rao (1895-1948). He discovered the function of ATP and also developed Methotrexate, one of the first chemotherapy agents that is still widely used in cancer treatment and various autoimmune diseases. Dhruv A. Prajapati and Ashutosh V. Dudhatra. 2022. First Record of the Spider Genus Tanzania Koçak & Kemal, 2008 from Asia, with the Description of A New Species (Araneae: Salticidae). Revue suisse de Zoologie. 129(2); 369-374. DOI: 10.35929/RSZ.0082 |
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