Portea santosiana 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 : 39-42

Portea santosiana Leme & E.H. Souza , sp. nov. ( Fig. 17 A–R )

Diagnosis:––This new species differs from its close relative, Portea grandiflora Philcox (1992: 276) , by the upper peduncle bracts involucral and densely aggregated below the inflorescence (vs. not involucral), inflorescence subcorymbose-capitate with the rachis short and not visible (vs. elongate, axis visible at least in part), and sepals with a shorter apical mucro (ca. 2.5 mm vs. 4–5 mm).

Type: –– BRAZIL. Bahia: Guaratinga, BA-686, ca. 7 km from Pedra do Oratório to Cajuíta , locality of “Serra”, 361 m elev., 16º38’45.5” S, 39º47’03.9” W, August 2023, leg. J . E. dos Santos s.n., cult. E. Leme 10300 (holotype RB!) .

Description:–– Plant terrestrial, flowering 70–80 cm tall. Leaves ca. 20 in number, rosulate, suberect-arcuate, coriaceous, forming a broadly funnelform rosette; sheath broadly elliptic-ovate, 17–19 × 12–13 cm, densely and minutely castaneous lepidote on both sides, abaxially castaneous toward the base, adaxially purple near the distal end; blade ligulate, not narrowed toward the base, 40–50 × 5.8–6.7 cm, completely green or bronze colored near the apex, densely white lepidote abaxially, inconspicuously white lepidote adaxially, apex acute to subrounded and apiculate, margins subdensely spinose; spines dark brown to nigrescent, triangular, flat, straight to slightly antrorse, 1–2 mm long, 0.7–1 mm wide at the base, 5–10 mm apart. Peduncle erect, ca. 50 cm long, 1–1.2 cm in diameter, rose to red, white sublanate; peduncle bracts the basal ones subfoliaceous, covering the peduncle, the upper ones involucral and densely aggregated below the inflorescence, elliptic to obovate, subacute and distinctly apiculate, exceeding the outer branches, 5.5–7.5 × 3–4 cm, erect to suberect except for the suspreading distal part, nerved, densely and minutely spinulose near the apex, entire toward the base, subdensely white lepidote, distinctly exceeding the internodes, red, papyraceous. Inflorescence (fertile part) 2 to 3-times branched, densely subcorymbose-capitate, shorter to equaling the leaves, erect, ca. 8 cm long (fertile part, including the petals), ca. 7 cm in diameter (excluding the involucral bracts); rachis ca. 1 cm in diameter, short and covered by the branches, white sublanate, rose; primary bracts resembling the involucral bracts but smaller, narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, acute and apiculate, inconspicuously spinulose at the apex to subentire, nerved, subdensely white lepidote with fimbriate trichomes mainly abaxially and along the apical margins, red, thin in texture, suberect with the branches, abruptly decreasing in the inner branches, 2–5 × 0.7–2.5 cm, to equaling the sepals; primary branches ca. 10 in number, densely polystichously arranged, inconspicuous, erect, the basal ones 3.5–4 × 3.5–4.5 cm (excluding the petals), ca. 10-flowered, the basal ones bearing 1–2 secondary branches densely arranged; stipes very short but stout, ca. 3 × 7 mm, ebracteate, complanate, rose, subdensely white sublanate with fimbriate trichomes; rachis inconspicuous, rose, white sublanate; secondary bracts resembling the floral bracts; secondary branches ca. 3 × 2 cm (excluding the petals), inconspicuous, subsessile, ca. 3-flowered; rachis not visible, white sublanate, rose, ca. 3 mm in diameter, slightly complanate; floral bracts inconspicuous, shorter than to equaling the pedicels, ecarinate, triangular, whitish except for the castaneous spinescent apex, 2–4 × 3–4 mm, thin in texture, white sublanate, apex spinescent, margins entire. Flowers 47–50 mm long, odorless, densely and subdistichously arranged, inconspicuously pedicellate; pedicels stout, indistinct, merging into the ovary, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm; sepals ca. 16 mm long, strongly asymmetrical with the lateral membranaceous rounded wing ca. 9 mm wide, exceeding the apical spine and distinctly projected laterally, lilac toward the apex, sparsely and inconspicuously white lepidote to glabrescent, ecarinate, connate at the base for ca. 8 mm, apical mucro ca. 2.5 mm long, pale castaneous, erect to slightly curved; petals narrowly spathulate, 32–37 × 7 mm, obtuse, slightly cucullate, free, white at the base and lilac toward the apex, erect except for the slightly suberect apex, at the base bearing 2 cuneate, denticulate appendages of 2– 2.5 × 1.5 mm, as well as 2 conspicuous longitudinal callosities slightly shorter than the filaments; filaments ca. 27 mm long, slightly complanate, slightly dilated and lilac toward the distal end, the antesepalous ones free, the antepetalous ones basally adnate to the petals for ca. 20 mm; anthers narrowly oblong ca. 5.5 mm long, dorsifixed slightly above the middle, base and apex obtuse, pale lilac; stigma conduplicate-spiral, subglobose, ca. 2.4 × 2.2 mm, lilac, margins entire, with an inconspicuous but dense fringe of white filamentous trichome-like structure before anthesis, at anthesis the fringe collapses and is melting becoming a translucent substance; ovary clavate, ca. 14 mm long, ca. 5 mm in diameter at the apex, sparsely and inconspicuously white lepidote to glabrescent, whitish; epigynous tube crateriform, ca. 2 mm long; placentation from median to apical; ovules caudate. Fruits unknown.

Distribution and habitat:–– Portea santosiana is known from its type locality only, which is situated about 7 km from Pedra do Oratório, situated nearby the city of Guaratinga, along the road toward Cajuíta, in the locality known as “Serra”, southern Bahia state, northeastern Brazil. It grows as a terrestrial, forming large and dense groups of plants (fig. 17 B–C) in a low-elevated area (about 360 m elevation) covered by disturbed Atlantic Forest. This forest fragment is situated at the foothill (fig. 17 A) of a granitic inselberg alongside the road, which represents an additional threat to the survival of the known population of this apparently endemic species.

Etymology:––The name chosen for this new species honors its collector, the bromeliad collector João Eduardo dos Santos , responsible for the preservation of an important fragment of Atlantic Forest in the county of Itapebi, Bahia state, from where he presented new species of different botanical families to the scientific community.

Distinctive characters:— Portea Brongniart ex K. Koch (1856: 368) is a small bromelioid genus endemic to Brazil that comprises eight recognized species mostly inhabiting Atlantic Forest habitats, but also encountered in Restinga and Campos Rupestres vegetation. Five of them grow in northeastern state of Bahia ‒ its center of diversity ‒, two in Rio de Janeiro state, two in Espírito Santo state, and one in Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil .

The genus is characterized by small to large-sized plants with branched inflorescence, large and colorful peduncle and primary bracts, short to long-pedicellate flowers, distinctly connate and strongly asymmetric sepals with a very large lateral wing, sometimes larger than the main erect part of the sepal itself. The free petals are lilac or purple, with short basal appendages. The large, capitate, conduplicate-spiral stigma presents entire margins bearing an inconspicuous to distinct, dense, white, and very delicate filamentous trichome-like fringe only before anthesis (about two days before anthesis or earlier; see fig. 17 Q; see also fig. 17 O, in Leme et al. 2021), which collapses and melts, becoming a translucent or sometimes milky substance at anthesis (fig. 17 P). The pollen is polyporate (see fig. 19 L, in Leme et al. 2021) and the lilac to purple large fruits (see fig. 21 U, in Leme et al. 2021) hold long caudate seeds (see fig. 25 Q, in Leme et al. 2021). Portea santosiana presents all typical features listed for the genus, except for the unusual, dense subcorymbose, head-like inflorescence ornamented by showy involucral bracts and the stout and indistinct pedicels, merging into the ovary, which distinguishes it from all known species (fig. 17 D).

Portea grandiflora , another species endemic to Bahia state, is its close morphological relative due to the rosette conformation and the color pattern of the inflorescence and flowers. However, P. santosiana differs from it by the upper peduncle bracts involucral and densely aggregated below the inflorescence (vs. not involucral), inflorescence subcorymbose-capitate with the rachis short and not visible before and after anthesis (vs. elongate, axis visible at least in part), sepals with a shorter apical mucro (ca. 2.5 mm vs. 4–5 mm), petals shorter and broader (32–37 × 7 mm vs. 35– 45 × 5 mm), and ovary sparsely and inconspicuously white lepidote (vs. densely white floccose), whitish (vs. rose).

Figures

FIGURE 17. Portea santosiana (Santos s.n.): A. General view of the narrow strip ofAtlantic Forest fragment at a foohill.B–C. Population at the type locality.D. The head-like inflorescence with colorful involucral bracts. E. Top view of the inflorecence. F. Basal primary branch. G. Basal (left) and apical (right) primary bracts. H. Basal primary branch highlighting the inconspicuous secondary branch. I. Flower. J. Expanded petal and antesepalous stamen. K. Petal appendages. L. Basal portion of the flower with the inconspicuous, spinescent floral bract about equaling the pedicel. M. Apex of the petal. N. Expanded sepals. O. Longitudinal section of the ovary. P. Stigma at anthesis. Q. Stigma two days before anthesis. R. Anthers with an adaxial view on the left and an abaxial-lateral view on the right. A–D. Photos João E. dos Santos. Bars = 10 mm (G–I). Bars = 5 mm (J, N). Bars = 2 mm (K–M, O–R).