Heteropsis peruviana, K. Krause, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem, 1925

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 : 955-956

10. HETEROPSIS PERUVIANA K. Krause ,

Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 9: 270. 1925.

— TYPE: PERU. Província de Tarma, Departamento Junin, December 1902, Weberbauer 1819 (holotype: B! fl, fr).

Plant a scandent hemi-epiphyte, shoot slender; internodes 2.7–4 cm long, 2.4–4.5 mm diam, slightly striate longitudinally when dried, subcylindric, one side flattened to sulcate, dark brown when dried; axillary buds ca. 2–2.5 mm long, straight to introrse, apex acute. Petiole 4–7 mm long, 1.5 mm diam, strongly canaliculate, margin sinuate towards the apex; geniculum ca. 0.5 mm long; leaf blade 11–17 cm long, 2.5–4.5 cm wide, lanceolate, subcoriaceous, dark brown on both surfaces when dried, 0.13–0.21 mm thick, apex longacuminate, base cuneate, midrib slightly flattened adaxially, prominent and striate abaxially, primary lateral veins and interprimaries oblique, obscured adaxially, prominent abaxially, infra-marginal collective vein prominent, 0.5– 1 mm distant from the margin, external marginal vein 1, close to the margin. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, flowering shoot 4.5–9 cm long, internodes 1.7–2.5 cm long, ca. 1.2 mm diam, pale brown, slender, slightly sulcate; peduncle 0.7– 1.2 mm long, 0.9–1.4 mm diam, cylindric; spathe ca. 3.5– 4.5 cm long, 2 cm wide when expanded, oblong-elliptic, apex acuminate, ca. 1 cm long; spadix 2–2.5 cm long, 0.4–0.7 cm diam, cylindric, stipitate, apex acuminate, stipe 2–2.5 mm + 1.2–1.7 mm. Gynoecium with apex 2.5–3 mm diam, stigma discoid. Infructescence ca. 7.5 cm long, 3 cm diam; berry 7– 10 + 6– 8 mm, orange; seed subovoid, 5 –8 cm + 3 –6 mm. Figures 2A , 20 .

Habitat and Distribution— Heteropsis peruviana is known from Bolivia, Brazil (Acre, Rondônia), and Peru; little is known of its ecology but it is probably a hemi-epiphyte of terra firme Amazonian forest.

Phenology— Flowering specimens have been collected in September and fruiting material from January to March, in July, and from October to November.

Conservation Status— Using guidance from the Geocat (2012) online tool, the preliminary conservation assessment of H. peruviana is least concern (LC), based on six localities and a 50 km cell width (auto value cell size option for area of occupancy).

Etymology— The species epithet refers to Peru, where it was first discovered.

Notes— According to the original citation, Heteropsis peruviana was the first species of the genus known from Peru. It was compared to H. longispathacea Engl. from Brazil, collected on the lower Juruá, but it differs from the latter in the longer petioles, shortly acuminate leaf apex and smaller and broader spathe and spadix. Heteropsis peruviana is also similar to H. tenuispadix , which when sterile can easily be confused with H. peruviana because of the great variation in leaf shape. The best characters to distinguish these two species are as follows: in H. tenuispadix the primary lateral veins and interprimaries are arched towards the apex and the spathe is oblong with a shortly acuminate apex, while in H. peruviana the veins are straight or patent and the spathe apex is ca. 1 cm long, according to the original description.

Additional Specimens Examined— BOLIVIA: La Paz, Madidi, Hondo , Negro , 14 38 ' 51 '' S 67 47 ' 40 '' W, 21 Mar 2002, Fuentes 3922 ( MO fr).

BRAZIL. Acre: 2 Nov 1980, Cid & Moreira 3108 ( INPA fr) ; Sena Madureira, 4 Oct 1968, Prance et al. 7821 ( INPA, K, MG, P, fr). Rondônia: Jaru , 2 Jul 1984, Cid et al. 4986 ( INPA, MO fr) ; Brasiléia , 6 Fev. 1983, Teixeira et al. 1387 ( INPA fr) .

PERU. Madre de Dios: 14 Sep 1985, Nunez 1859 (MO fl) ; 5 Sep 1986, Foster et al. 11285 (MO fl) ; 21 Jan 1989, Smith et al. 1458 (MO fr); Purus, 24 Feb 2000, Graham & Vigo 1103 (MO fr) .

Figures

FIG. 2. Geographical distribution of species of Heteropsis. A. H. oblongifolia and H. peruviana. B. H. rigidifolia, H. robusta, H. salicifolia, and H. spruceana. Drawn by Francisca D. A. Matos.

FIG. 20. Heteropsis peruviana. A. Habit. B. Venation of right abaxial surface of leaf blade. (A and B prepared from Teixeira et al. 1387 (INPA)). Drawn by Felipe França.