Euploca pottii J.I.M.Melo & Semir

Miranda de Melo, J.I. & Semir, J. 2009. Two new Brazilian species and new combinations in Euploca (Heliotropiaceae). Kew Bulletin 64: 285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-009-9109-3

Type

Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul, Corumbá, Pott et al. 1397 (holotypus CPAP; isotypiCTES!, UEC!).

Morphology General Habit

Prostrate herb

Morphology Branches

Branches cylindrical or angulose only in the upper middle region, scabrous with whitish hairs, generally adpressed

Morphology Leaves

Leaves alternate, petiolate; petiole 1 – 4 mm, furrowed, strigose; blade 0.7 – 2.3 × 0.2 – 0.6 cm, subchartaceous, apex acute, base cuneate, margin entire, ciliate, strigose on both surfaces; venation hyphodromous, with a prominent vein in the upper surface

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence 6.6 cm long, terminal, lax, many-flowered; peduncle 1 cm long, strigose; bracts 0.7 – 1 × 0.3 – 0.4 cm, leafy, largely elliptic, apex acute, pubescent on both surfaces, subsessile

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers 4 – 7.8 mm long, subsessile; calyx 2.8 – 4.3 × 0.6 – 0.8 mm, lobes with three length classes, the major 4.2 × 0.8 mm, the intermediate 4 × 0.6 mm, the minor 2.7 × 0.6 mm, elliptic, externally strigose, brownish hairs located only at the base, alternate for blackish punctuations; venation hyphodromous; corolla 4 – 7.5 mm long, tubular, white, tube 3 – 5 mm, sericeous externally, with villous ring internally at the constriction, lobes 1 – 2 × 0.5 – 0.8 mm, elliptic. Subsessile stamens, filaments inserted c. 0.5 mm above the base of the tube; anthers c. 1 mm long, ovate, cordate at the base, longly apiculate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary c. 0.5 mm long, subglobose; stigma c. 0.5 mm long, sessile, 4-horned, inferior middle portion blackish, upper middle portion whitish

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit not seen.

Distribution

Brazil: Mato Grosso do Sul State.

Ecology

Euplocapottii is only known from the municipality of Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul State, in Brazil Central. Flowering in September.

Conservation

Provisional IUCN Red List Category: Data Deficient (DD). Euplocapottii probably has been collected only once from the type locality, in 1994.

Note

The specific epithet honours Dr Arnildo Pott, botanist of the Centro de PesquisaAgropecuária do Pantanal (CPAP) in the municipality of Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul State, western Brazil, and the collector of the type. Euplocapottii is morphologically similar to E. polyphylla (geographically isolated), sharing especially the terminal, lax, many-flowered inflorescences with leafy bracts. The species are separated based on the following characters: bract length and shape (c. 1 cm, largely elliptic in E. pottii vs c. 4 mm, ovate in E. polyphylla), corolla length (reaching 7.5 mm in E. pottii vs 6.5 mm in E. polyphylla), length and shape of corolla lacyniae (c. 2 mm, slightly ungulate in E. pottii vs 2.5 – 3 mm, ovate-deltoid in E. polyphylla), anther base (cordate in E. pottii vs truncate in E. polyphylla), but especially for the stigma (sessile in E. pottii vs style conspicuous in E. polyphylla). The two species also show disjunct geographical distributions: E. polyphylla occurs in the east zone, from Pará to Rio de Janeiro states while E. pottii shows a restricted distribution, being known at present only from Mato Grosso do Sul State.