Heteropsis boliviana, Rusby, Bull.

Soares, M. Lourdes, Mayo, Simon J. & Gribel, Rogério, 2013, A Preliminary Taxonomic Revision of Heteropsis (Araceae), Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 38 (4), pp. 925-974 : 940

1. HETEROPSIS BOLIVIANA Rusby ,

Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 6: 493. 1910.

— TYPE: BOLIVIA. Isapuri, 5 Oct. 1901, R. S. Williams 721 (holotype: NY; isotype: K! fl) .

Plant hemi-epiphytic, internodes cylindric. Petiole ca. 3 mm long, cuneate; leaf blade 7–15 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide, oblong to oblanceolate, subcoriaceous, dark green, rigid when dried, apex acute, base cuneate, midrib prominent, primary lateral veins numerous and slender on the abaxial surface, infra-marginal collective vein ca. 1 mm distant from the margin. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, axillary bud acutely pointed, straight, internodes of flowering shoot slender; peduncle slender, recurved in fruit; spathe ca. 3.5 cm long, oblanceolate, rigid, apex strongly acuminate and ca. 6 mm long; spadix 1.8–2 cm long, 6 mm diam, oblong, stipitate. Berry (young in material seen), dark when dried, truncate, quadrilateral. Figure 1A .

Habitat and Distribution— Heteropsis boliviana is known only from a single location in Bolivia.

Phenology— The type collection was made in October and the Kew isotype is at a recently post-floral stage with the spathe already shed.

Conservation Status— Based on guidance from the Geocat (2012) online tool, the preliminary conservation assessment of H. boliviana is data deficient (DD), since this species is currently known only from a single locality.

Etymology— The specific epithet refers to the country where the type specimen was collected.

Notes— Heteropsis boliviana is morphologically similar to H. ecuadorensis , but differs in the cylindric stem, straight, acutely pointed axillary buds, slender internodes of the floral shoot and smaller spadix, only 1.8–2.0 cm long. In H. ecuadorensis the stem is subcylindric, the buds are acutely pointed and extrorse, the floral internodes are less slender and the spadix is 4–5 cm long.

The above description is based on examination of the Kew isotype and the original description of the type material.

Figures

FIG. 1. Geographical distribution of species of Heteropsis. A. H. boliviana, H. croatii, H. duckeana, and H. ecuadorensis. B. H. flexuosa, H. linearis, H. longispathacea, and H. macrophylla. Drawn by Francisca D. A. Matos.