Burmeistera funicula Zuluaga, Ashokan & Muchhala, 2025

Ashokan, Ajith, Muchhala, Nathan & Zuluaga, Alejandro, 2025, An unusual new ropy-stemmed species of Burmeistera from the Western Cordillera of the Colombian Andes, Phytotaxa 697 (2), pp. 177-186 : 178-184

Burmeistera funicula Zuluaga, Ashokan & Muchhala , sp. nov. ( Figure 1 )

Type:— Colombia. Valle del Cauca: municipio Dagua, corregimiento El Queremal, Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali , trail from Las Antenas to Cerro Tokio , 2097 m, 03°28’51.24”N, 76°43’23.52”W, 14 February 2024 (fl., fr.), Alejandro Zuluaga, Ajith Ashokan, Nathan Muchhala & Luis Carlos Mamian 6285 (holotype, CUVC!; isotypes, COL!, MO!) .

Diagnosis:— Burmeistera funicula is characterized by strictly epiphytic growth habit, long ropy stem up to 10 m long, large flowers (up to 42 mm) with widely exserted staminal column (24.5–26.5 mm), and inflated berries. Further, B. funicula is differentiated from B. salicifolia Garzón, Luteyn & F.González (2014:165) by the cupular, puberulent hypanthium (vs. subglobose, glabrous), green with maroon tinge floral coloration (vs. uniformly green), puberulent corolla lobes (vs. glabrous), acute leaf apex (vs. acuminate) and smaller lamina (10–40 mm vs. 55–130 mm); and from B. xerampelina E.Wimm. (1931:59) by type (inflated vs fleshy) and size (35–45 × 40–65 mm vs. 10–28 × 10–14 mm) of berries, cupular hypanthium (vs. obconic), lengths of dorsal (33–36 vs. 10–15 mm), lateral (31–34 vs. 7–14 mm), ventral (31–33.5 vs. 8–14 mm) corolla lobes, floral pedicel (12–18 vs. 60–160 mm) and lamina (10–40 × 8–21 vs. 40–100 × 20–44 mm).

Description

Epiphytic herbs, perennial, reaching c. 10 m altitude on the host; latex white. Stems green tinged with pink, shallowly zigzag, up to 2 mm wide on terminal branches, glabrous, several meters long, internodes 5–10 mm long. Leaves alternate, distichous; petiole green to violet, 2–6 mm, glabrous basally, becoming pubescent towards the lamina, especially abaxially, with white indument, unbranched; lamina elliptic to lanceolate, 10–40 × 8–21 mm, base obtuse to rounded, apex acute and slightly mucronate, margins shallowly callose-serrate, teeth intramarginal; adaxial surface bullate, dark green, glabrous; abaxial surface light to dark shades of maroon, pubescent with white hairs; venation reticulate, primary vein prominent, raised above, secondary veins slightly raised, tertiary veins barely visible or not visible. Pedicels yellow-green tinged with light brown, 12–18 mm long at anthesis, 20–40 mm long in fruit, dotted with short white hairs. Flowers axillary and solitary, bent at the union between the corolla tube and the lobes, rostrate (beaklike) apex appendage on unopened buds, reaching 2–3 mm long; hypanthium light green tinged with light maroon, cupuliform, 5–10 × 6–9 mm, puberulent, white indument; calyx lobes light green tinged with maroon, lingulate, ascending to patent at anthesis, 2–3 × 1–2.5 mm, glabrous, margins shallowly callose-serrate, apex obtuse; corolla pale green suffused with light maroon, glabrous, puberulous before anthesis; corolla tube 10–12 mm long, 5–7 mm wide basally, throat narrowing to 3–4 mm wide; corolla lobes lanceolate, margins smooth, dorsal lobes 33–36 × 4–5 mm, straight (not falcate), arched forward, dorsal sinus c. 21.5 mm from the corolla base, lateral lobes 31–34 × 5.5–8 mm, straight (not falcate), slightly recurved, ventral lobe c. 31–33.5 × 5.5–8 mm, ventral sinus c. 13 mm from the corolla base; androecium c. 30 mm, exserted c. 25.5 mm from the ventral opening, filament tube green white, glabrous, c. 18 mm long, anther tube green with purple lines along the sutures, glabrous, c. 10.5 mm, all (5) anther tips glabrous; style unknown; stigma hairy. Berry maturing creamy white or light green outside, interior white, globose or hemispheroidal, grooved, 35–45 × 40–65 mm, inflated, latex white; seeds brown, broadly elliptic, ca. 1 mm, surface glossy, shallowly fusiform.

Etymology:— The specific epithet, funicula , refers to the long, thread or rope-like stems that hang from the trees.

Phenology:— Like many Burmeistera species, B. funicula flowers and sets fruit throughout the year (A. Zuluaga pers. observ.). Both flowering and fruiting specimens have been collected in January, February, March and July.

Distribution:— The few collections of B. funicula come from the same locality in Valle del Cauca Department, along the Western Cordillera of the Andes, within the Farallones de Cali National Natural Park, around elevations between 2097 and 2150 meters above sea level.

Pollination ecology:— Burmeistera funicula exhibits floral characteristics that strongly suggest selection for bat pollination (chiropterophily). Specifically, flowers are dull green tinged with maroon, and the corolla opening is wide, suggesting a close fit with a bat’s head ( Muchhala 2006, 2007).

Community ecology:— Angiosperms representing the tree habit in the community included species from the following genera— Wettinia Poepp. ex Endl. , Aiphanes Willd. ( Arecaceae ), Clusia Plum. ex L. ( Clusiaceae ), Weinmannia L. ( Cunoniaceae ), Sloanea L. ( Elaeocarpaceae ), and an unidentified genus belonging to Melastomataceae . Also, herbaceous or shrubby species representing families such as Araceae ( Anthurium sp. , Philodendron sp. , Stenospermation sp. ), Ericaceae ( Cavendishia sp. ), Gesneriaceae , Marcgraviaceae , and Piperaceae ( Piper sp. ) were observed in the vicinity.

Conservation status and IUCN preliminary assessment:— Presently, the known population is not under any threat as it occurs within a national natural park. As this species is currently known only from the type locality, we categorize it as data deficient (DD) following the IUCN guidelines (IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee, 2024).

Phylogenomic placement:— Based on our latest phylogenomic analysis (Ashokan et al., in prep.), the new species is placed sister to B. salicifolia Garzón, Luteyn & F.González , which together are sister to B. xerampelina E.Wimm. This clade of three species, in turn, is sister to a clade containing B. serraniaguae Garzón & F.González (2012:319) , B. diazii Garzón & F.González (2014:254) , and B. glauca (E.Wimm.) Gleason (1925:98) .

Notes:— Burmeistera funicula can be distinguished from the rest of the Burmeistera species for its remarkable pliant, ropy stem (i.e., fully flexible rather than stiff) that reaches up to 10 m long. It is also the only known species with a fully epiphytic habit: all others are herbaceous or scandent, always maintaining a connection with the ground ( Mashburn, 2019; González, 2023). Further, B. funicula is characterized by a strictly epiphytic growth habit, relatively large flowers (35–42 mm) with highly exserted staminal columns (c. 25.5 mm), purple lines on the anther tube, and white inflated berries. Burmeistera funicula bears a certain resemblance to B. salicifolia , also native to the Western Cordillera in Colombia, notably in their shared traits of inflated, white, and oblate berries, straight (not falcate) corolla lobes, as well as the reticulate secondary veins and intramarginal veins ( Table 1). However, the two species are distinguished by their hypanthium shape (cupular in B. funicula vs. subglobose in B. salicifolia ), hypanthium texture (puberulent in B. funicula vs. glabrous in B. salicifolia ), corolla color (green with maroon tinge in B. funicula vs. uniformly green in B. salicifolia ), corolla texture (puberulent in B. funicula vs. glabrous in B. salicifolia ), leaf apex (acute in B. funicula vs. acuminate in B. salicifolia ) and lamina size (extending up to c. 130 mm in B. salicifolia vs. c. 40 mm in B. funicula ). Furthermore, B. salicifolia displays shorter measurements in lateral corolla lobe length (around 24.5 mm), ventral corolla lobe length (c. 20 mm), anther tube (c. 5 mm), and staminal column exsertion length (c 15.3 mm) compared to B. funicula ( Table 1). Notably, the flower pedicel is longer in B. salicifolia , measuring c. 70 mm, which is nearly five times the length observed in B. funicula (c. 14.5 mm).

Burmeistera funicula could also be confused with B. xerampelina from Valle del Cauca in the Western Cordillera, for its nearly straight corolla lobes, the lengths of its floral tube, filament and anther ( Table 1), as well as the shape of the leaf base and apex. However, B. xerampelina can be distinguished by its fleshy berries, the size of the berries (10– 28 × 10–14 mm), its obconic hypanthium, its shorter corolla lobes—dorsal (10–15 mm), lateral (7–14 mm), ventral (8–14 mm), and its much longer pedicel (60–160 mm) and lamina (40–100 mm). Finally, B. xerampelina can also be differentiated from B. funicula by their shortly exserted staminal column (10.98 vs. ~ 25.5 mm; Table 1).

by width (mm).

Another species that might be mistaken for B. funicula is B. serraniaguae Garzón & F.González. Burmeistera serraniaguae is native to the sub-Andean and Andean forests of both Western and Central cordilleras, and it shares similarities in staminal column exertion length, hypanthium length, calyx lobe length, and presence of intramarginal veins. However, B. serraniaguae can be distinguished by its fleshy and pyriform berries, obconic hypanthium, shorter corolla lobes (dorsal: 11–15 mm, lateral: 7–9 mm, and ventral: 6–8 mm), pale pinkish to purple flowers, with a greenish suffusion, as well as much longer flower pedicel (65–80 mm) and bigger lamina size (50–80 × 20–40 mm; Table 1).

Paratypes:— COLOMBIA. Valle del Cauca: municipio Dagua, Parque Nacional Farallones de Cali , along the trail that goes uphill from “Tokio” camp, 2124 m, 03°28’44.06” N, 76°43’22.47” W, 11 January 2019, N. Muchhala, A. Zuluaga & M. Llano 573 ( CUVC, COL) ; trail from Las Antenas to Cerro Tokio. 2097 m, 03°28’51.24”N, 76°43’23.52”W, 11 June 2023 (fl., fr.). A. Zuluaga et al. 5935 ( CUVC, COL, HUA, MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Burmeistera funicula Zuluaga, Ashokan & Muchhala, sp. nov. (A) branches revealing abaxial and adaxial surface of leaves with an unopened flower bud and an opened flower (B) abaxial surface of a leaf (C) adaxial surface of a leaf (D) an unopened flower bud (E) lateral view of an opened flower (F) front view of an opened flower (G) unripe berry (H) ripe berry (I) cross-section of mature berry with seeds arranged in an axile placentation. Picture Credit:Alejandro Zuluaga.