Vitex pomerana Fraga, Antar, J.Freitas & Lírio

Antar, G.M., de Lírio, E.J., Freitas, J. et al. Vitex pomerana (Lamiaceae; Viticoideae), a new unifoliolate species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Kew Bull 77, 941–952 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-022-10064-x

Type

Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Luxemburgo, Pedra Preta, 23 Feb. 2022, fl., fr.; Freitas et al. 524 (holotype: MBML, isotypes [to be distributed to]: K, NY, RB, SAMES, SPF).

Habit

Shrubs 1 – 3 m tall, erect; quadrangular branches, greyish, setaceous, with conspicuous leaf scars, the older ones subquadrangular to terete, glabrescent to glabrous

Distribution

The state of Espírito Santo harbours some microendemic species under which this species could currently be classified, particularly those restricted to saxicolous vegetation islands (mats) on granitic and gneissic inselbergs associated with the Atlantic Forest domain; this pattern is not common for the genus Vitex, though, since most Vitex species have wide distributions. This species is restricted to Alto Misterioso, São Roque do Canaã municipality, and to Pedra Preta, Santa Leopoldina municipality.

Conservation

Vitex pomerana is known so far in only two sites based on nine records, resulting in an estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) of 34.08 km2 and a minimal area of occupancy (AOO) of 8 km2. These numbers are within the limits of the Critically Endangered status (CR) under the criteria B1 (EOO less than 100 km2) and B2 (AOO less than 10 km2). Apparently, fragmentation is a natural condition in inselbergs, so that evaluations of plant distribution in inselbergs probably yield overestimated values of AOO and EOO.

Phenology

Vitex pomerana was collected with flowers and fruits in March and August, suggesting that the species is fertile during a long period throughout the year.