Vriesea punctatissima Leme & E.H. Souza, 2025

Leme, Elton M. C., Souza, Everton Hilo De, Till, Walter, Barfuss, Michael H. J., Filho, José Alves Siqueira, Kollmann, Ludovic J. C., Couto, Dayvid R., Fraga, Claudio Nicoletti De, Fontana, André P., Farias-Castro, Antônio S., Fernandes, João B. & Silva, Da, 2025, Twenty Miscellaneous New Species and One New Nothogenus and Nothospecies in Brazilian Bromeliaceae, Phytotaxa 692 (1), pp. 1-60 : 48-50

Vriesea punctatissima Leme & E.H. Souza , sp. nov. ( Fig. 21 A–J )

Diagnosis: ___ This new species is closely related to Vriesea pulchra Leme & L. Kollmann (2011: 29) , differing from it by the leaf blades abaxially green and ornamented with dense and minute dark red spots (vs. greenish to dark purple, without red spots), adaxially without noticeable longitudinal lines and cross-veins (vs. with dark green or dark purple longitudinal lines and irregularly wavy, distinct, dark green cross-veins), and by sepals greenish with large dark purplish-wine spots toward the apex and margins (vs. green toward the base and yellowish toward the apex, except for the dark purple margins and apex, without conspicuous spots).

Type: –– BRAZIL. Bahia Camacã, Fazenda Serra Bonita , L . F . N. Carvalho 2386, fl. cult. July 2009, E . Leme 6144 (holotype RB!) .

Description:— Plants epiphytic, flowering 38–50 cm tall, propagating by short basal shoots. Leaves 15–18 in number, suberect-arcuate, forming a funnelform rosette, chartaceous; sheath ovate, ca. 10 × 8 cm, densely brown-lepidote on both sides, abaxially and toward the base dark castaneous, greenish and ornamented with dense and minute dark red spots, adaxially pale castaneous toward the base; blade linear, not narrowed at the base, 20–23 × 4.3–6 cm, inconspicuously and sparsely white lepidote and inconspicuously covered by a thin layer of epicuticular white wax on both sides, nerved, abaxially green and ornamented with dense and minute dark red spots, adaxially green or sometimes with an apical dark red, small spot, apex rounded and shortly apiculate. Peduncle erect, 25–35 cm long, ca. 0.7 cm in diameter, greenish to purple-castaneous, glabrous; peduncle bracts erect, broadly ovate to suborbicular, broadly acute to obtuse and minutely apiculate, imbricate, equalling to slightly exceeding the internodes, green with dense and large purple-wine spots, glabrous or nearly so. Inflorescence (fertile part) simple, erect, broadly ellipsoidic or nearly so in outline and inconspicuously spirally-twisted at anthesis, 8–12 × 6–8 cm (excluding the petals), laxly flowered toward the base at anthesis, slightly covered by a weak layer of glutinous substance, rachis 4–7 mm in diameter, smooth, flexuous, slightly angled, green to greenish-purple or greenish-castaneous, glabrous; floral bracts not imbricate, equaling ca. 1/3 of the sepals length, bearing decurrent auricles at the base, strongly convex, ecarinate, suborbicular, margins and apex greenish, centrally castaneous, ornamented with large, dark purple-wine spots, 20–28 × 20–27 mm, thinly coriaceous, lustrous, glabrous abaxialy, inconspicuously white-lepidote adaxially, holding inside a translucent mucilagenous substance, subacute and minutely apiculate (basal) to obtuse (apical). Flowers 6–12 in number, 43–55 mm long, nocturnal, distichous, producing a strong garlic smell, laxly arranged at anthesis, subspreading, divergent to slightly secund, pedicels stout, 9–15 mm long, 8–9 mm in diameter at the apex and ca. 7 mm in diameter at the base, pale yellowish-castaneous, glabrous; sepals elliptic, obtuse-emarginate, 21–25 × 13–14 mm, greenish with large dark purplish-wine spots toward the apex and the margins, ecarinate, glabrous abaxially and inconspicuously white-lepidote adaxially, coriaceous near the base and membranaceous toward the margins and the apex, convex; petals obovate to subelliptic, 35–38 × 18–22 mm, apex distinctly emarginate, suberect to subspreading toward the apex at anthesis and forming a campanulate corolla ca. 25 mm in diameter, connate at the base for ca. 3 mm, pale yellow with irregular wine-colored nerves near the apex, bearing at the base 2 appendages; appendages 11× 2.5–4 mm, basally adnate for 3– 4 mm, blades ovate-lanceolate, long acuminate-caudate to long-bifid. Stamens shorter than the petals, positioned side by side in the lower part of the corolla at anthesis; filaments adnate to the petals for ca. 3 mm, slightly dilated toward the apex; anthers ca. 9 mm long, dorsifixed near the base, base bilobed, apex obtuse; pollen ellipsoid, sulcate, exine broadly rediculate; style elongate, yellowish, positioned above the anthers and about equaling them; stigma convolutebladed, ca. 2 mm in diameter, blades papillose, yellow; ovary pale yellow; ovules caudate. Capsules unknown.

Distribution and habitat:–– Vriesea punctatissima is known from the neighboring municipalities of Arataca and Camacã, in the southern region of Bahia state, located in the northeast of Brazil. It inhabits submontane to montane Atlantic Forest, at 350 to 1,000 m elevation (fig. 19 A), as an epiphyte of the canopy (fig. 21 A–B). This new species was documented inside two conservation units: a private one, RPPN Serra Bonita, in Camacã, and in the Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras, situated in Arataca, a public conservation unit.

Etymology:––The name of this new species is based on the Latin word “ punctatus ”, meaning “with spots”, with the ending “ issumus ” to express a superlative condition, as a direct reference to its prominently spotted leaf blades.

Additional specimen examined (paratypes): –– BRAZIL. Bahia: Camacã, RPPN Serra Bonita, Núcleo Serra Bonita, Trilha das Bromélias, 14 April 2009, R . Moura 793 ( R!); ibidem, 9.7 km de Camacã na estrada para Jacareci, 6 km SW na estrada para a RPPN Serra Bonita e torre da Embratel, 900–1,000 m elev., 15º23’30” S, 39º33’55” W, 9 December 2006, R. A . X. Borges et al. 369 ( RB!, CEPEC); Arataca, Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras , 15º12’05” S, 39º22’52” W, July 2011, P . Leitman 253 ( RB!); ibidem, trilha da Serra das Lontras , 15º12’21” – 15º11’21” S, 39º26’07” – 39º26’06” W, 5 May 2011, P . Leitman et al. 218 ( RB!); ibidem, Trilha do Talhão , 348–583 m elev., 15º10’53” S, 39º20’53” – 39º21’05” W, 21 November 2011, P . Leitman et al. 442 ( RB!); ibidem, Pratas , entrada na BR 101 em frente a entrada para Jussari, Fazenda da Dra. Karitas, Serra do Mangue (complexo Serra das Lontras), 361–516 m elev., 15º12’10” – 15º11’10” S, 39º24’31” – 39º23’36” W, 25 November 2011, P . Leitman et al. 508 ( RB!, CEPEC) .

Distinctive characters:— Vriesea punctatissima (fig. 20 C–J) is morphologically closely related to V. pulchra (fig. 20 K–M) because of its similar stature, inflorescence structure, and night flowers. However, it can be visually distinguished from the close relative by its more compact leaf rosette due to the broader leaf blades (4.3–6 cm vs. 3.5–3.7 cm wide), which are abaxially green and ornamented with dense and minute dark red spots (vs. greenish to dark purple, without red spots), which is its most striking characteristic. Additionally, the adaxial surface of leaf blades of V. punctatissima lacks noticeable longitudinal lines and cross-veins, contrasting with the dark green or dark purple longitudinal lines and irregularly wavy, distinct, dark green cross-veins of the adaxial surface of the leaf blades of V. pulchra (fig. 21 K), which also presents sepals without conspicuous spots (fig. 21 M), while the new species has sepals with large dark purplish-wine spots (fig. 21 E, G).

While Vriesea punctatissima is only known from the Bahian counties of Arataca and Camacã, its close morphological relative, V. pulchra , was observed at its type locality only, over a distance of 500 km in a straight line, in the municipality of Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo state, in similar Atlantic forest sector, altitude, and distance from the Atlantic Ocean.

Figures

FIGURE 21. A–J. Vriesea punctatissima (Carvalho 2386): A. General view of the montane Atlantic Forest habitat at the type region. B. Epiphytic community of the upper parts of trees, which is the habitat of V. punctatissima. C. Habit. D. Inflorescence. E. Detail of the flower. F. Floral bract. G. Sepal. H. Petal and stamen. I. Petal appendages. J. Convolute-blade II (vrieseoid) stigma type. K–M. Vriesea pulchra (Leme 7291). K. Leaf rosette, highlighting the irregular, darker crossbands distinctly visible on the adaxial surface of the leaf blades. L. Habit. M. Detail of the inflorescence and flower, showing sepals without conspicuous spots. Bars = 5 mm (F–H). Bars = 2 mm (I–J).