Vriesea serraourensis E.H.Souza & Leme, 2025

Souza, Everton Hilo De, Fernandez, Eduardo P., Ferreira, Glaucia C., Aona, Lidyanne Y. S., Souza, Fernanda V. D. & Leme, Elton M. C., 2025, Vriesea serraourensis (Bromeliaceae: Tillandsioideae), a new species from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, Phytotaxa 691 (2), pp. 211-220 : 212-218

Vriesea serraourensis E.H.Souza & Leme , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 ).

Diagnosis: ___ Vriesea serraourensis is morphologically similar to V. bahiana , but can be distinguished from it by its larger size (160–220 cm vs. ca. 150 cm tall), fewer leaves per rosette (12–16 vs. ca. 35 in number), longer leaf blades (45–55 cm vs. ca. 35 cm long), inflorescence branches forming an internal angle of 30 o –45 o with the main axis (vs. suberect ascending), floral bracts imbricate and covering the rachis (vs. not imbricate, rachis exposed), sepal yellow (vs. cream to orange), ovate (vs. oblong-elliptic), whitish-yellow toward the base and yellow at the apex (vs. bright yellow), slightly exceeding the sepals (vs. distinctly exceeding the sepals).

Type: ___ BRAZIL. Bahia: Barra da Estiva, Cume do Morro do Ouro, 13˚40’54” S, 41˚17’22” W, 1.270 m elevation,

5 February 2022, E. H.Souza 1321, H. C. P.Moura & D. S. S.Andrade (holotype HURB!, isotype HVASF!).

Plant saxicolous, heliophytic, flowering 160–220 cm high, propagating by short basal shoots. Leaves 12–16 in number, densely rosulate, suberect, chartaceous, forming a broad and dense funnelform rosette; sheaths broadly elliptic-ovate, 15 × 11–12.5 cm, densely and minutely brown-lepidote on both sides, dark castaneous toward the base, strongly coriaceous; blades 45–55 × 7.5–8 cm, sublinear, narrowed at the base, apex rounded and shortly apiculate, yellowish-green with inconspicuous, irregular darker green transversal nerves, lepidote, coriaceous, nerved. Peduncle stout, 120–145 cm long, 12–16 mm in diameter, erect, distinctly longer than the leaves, greenish to castaneus, glabrous, sulcate when dry; peduncle bracts subfoliaceous, broadly ovate to suborbiculate, broadly acute and apiculate, the lower ones 18–25 x 4.5 cm, erect and enfolding the peduncle with exception of the suberect apex, yellowish-green, distinctly exceeding to equaling the internodes, inconspicuously lepidote, the upper ones 6–8 x 3.8 cm. Inflorescence narrowly paniculate, once-branched, 40–65 cm long, 20–30 cm in diameter, erect; primary bracts ovate, acute and apiculate to obtuse, 28–35 x 30–35 mm, yellowish-green, shorter to nearly equaling the sterile base of the branches; branches 5–9 in number (including the terminal one), the lateral ones 13–26 cm long, forming an internal angle of 30 o –45 o with the main axis, densely flowered at anthesis and afterwards, bearing 10–21 flowers, stipes 3.5–5 × 0.5–0.6 cm, subcomplanate, yellowish-green, glabrous, bearing 1–3 sterile bracts similar to the floral bracts; rachis yellowish-green, glabrous, obtusely angulose, internodes 0.8–1.2 × 0.4–0.5 cm; the terminal branch suberect or nearly so, resembling the lateral branches, 12–18 cm long, bearing 10–21 flowers, stipe to 12 cm long, with 2–3 sterile bracts; floral bracts oblong-ovate to broadly ovate, 32–38 × 20–25 mm, obtuse, nerved when dry, yellowish at anthesis and castaneous afterwards, glabrescent, about equaling the sepals length but not completely covering them, divergent to unilaterally secund with the flowers, imbricate at anthesis, ecarinate to obtusely carinate at the base. Flowers nocturnal, with a garlic-like odor, distichous, downwardly secund at anthesis, densely arranged, ca. 45 mm long, pedicels stout, ca. 8 mm long, ca. 8 mm in diameter at the distal end, yellowish, glabrous; sepals ovate, apex narrowly obtuse or subacute due to its enrolling margins, ca. 30 × 14 mm, glabrous, free, ecarinate, yellow, greenish towards the base; petals slightly exceeding the sepals, narrowly obovate, apex emarginate, ca. 33 × 17 mm, connate at base for ca. 3 mm, whitish-yellow toward the base and yellow at the apex, bearing at the base 2 appendages; appendages lanceolate, acuminate, ca. 11 × 2.5 mm; stamens shorter than the petals, positioned at the lower part of the corolla at anthesis; filaments subcomplanate, whitish, adnate to the petals for 3–5 mm; anthers linear, ca. 10 mm long, yellow, base bilobed, apex obtuse, dorsifixed near the base; pistil slightly shorter than the petals; stigma convolute-blade type II, densely papillose, yellow, ca. 2 mm in diameter; ovules long caudate. Capsules narrowly fusiform, acuminate, ca. 35 mm long, ca. 8 mm in diameter near the base, longer than the sepals. Seeds 6–8 mm long, basal umbrella-like, plumose micropylar coma ca. 20 mm long (immature), apical inconspicuous, 2–3 mm long.

Additional specimen examined (paratypes):— BRAZIL. Bahia: Ituaçu, trilha de acesso ao Morro do Ouro, entre a base do maciço do Morro do Ouro até o cume, pela trilha de acesso da face Oeste, 19 January 2022, E.P. Fernandez 300, G. Crispim & E. Amorim (RB 01466701!, HURB 30308!).

Etymology: ___ The specific epithet is a reference to the Morro do Ouro where the species was found, as well as to golden-yellow color of the inflorescence and flowers.

Phenology: ___ This new species was found flowering in from December to February. Flowers are nocturnal and were observed opening at 7 p. m. and closing at 6 a.m.

Distribution and habitat: — Vriesea serraourensis is known only from Serra do Cocal, with collections undertaken at Morro do Ouro, on the border of the municipalities of Barra da Estiva and Ituaçu, Bahia State, where it grows on shallow soil (saxicolous) deposited on quartzitic rocky outcrops of Campo Rupestre ( Fig. 3 ). Morro do Ouro is part of Serra do Cocal and is located near Morro Santa Bárbara, which is known as Morro da Torre.A systematic survey in the neighboring Morro Santa Bárbara aimed at finding this new species was unsuccessful, as no individuals were found. This situation is likely the result of the advanced stage of degradation of the area caused by periodical fires, vehicle circulation promoted by uncontrolled tourist visitation attracted during religious parties.

Vriesea serraourensis is sympatric with V. chapadensis Leme (1999: 157) and can be confused with it when sterile due to its similar leaf rosette conformation.

Conservation status: — Critically Endangered—CR B1ab (i,ii,iii,iv,v) + B2ab (i,ii,iii,iv,v)

Vriesea serraourensis is a microendemic species with an estimated Area of Occupancy (AOO) smaller than 4 km ² ( Fig. 3 ). Since the species is currently known only from two nearby collection points or subpopulations (Morro do Ouro and Morro da Torre), it does not have an associated EOO polygon. The species is found in campo rupestre associated with the grassy vegetation at the top and along the steep slopes of Serra do Cocal, only in Morro do Ouro, where its small subpopulation is depleted and nearly locally extinct. The known subpopulations correspond to one single location due to the exposure to threats that affects both occurrence sites with similarly elevated intensity, frequency and chronology of incidence. The documented threats could wipe out the entire population if a single intense stress event occurs within its narrow and fragile habitat. Recurrent fires documented at least three times in the past 15 years (2013, 2015, 2019), swiped out both massifs—Morro do Ouro and Morro da Torre—at Serra do Cocal. The increase in fire frequency and intensity verified in recent years creates favorable conditions for the establishment of exotic and invasive grasses, which in turn interact synergically with fires, directly impacting the habitat. Although a fifth (20.19%) of Morro do Ouro stills houses native grasslands, land use and land cover data retrieved from Mapbiomas (2022a,b) applied for the overlay analyses ( Jordão et al. 2022) indicates that over 17.09% of Morro do Ouro area and its surrounding were converted to a mosaic of agriculture and pasturelands formations, and that 16% are now designated as areas of coffee plantations and almost 15% are now converted to pastures ( Fig. 3 ).

No indication of the putative number of mature individuals for each known subpopulation is known, as well as no data on generation length and the population trend. In this scenario, the species could not be assessed based on its (a priori small) population size and reduction rate. All known subpopulations are outside protected areas, which might increase the vulnerability of the species. Therefore, based on the minimum values of EOO and AOO, combined with one single location and an estimated continuing decline in its EOO, AOO, extent, and quality of habitat, in the number of locations/subpopulations and, possibly, in the number of mature individuals, the species is here considered as Critically Endangered under the aforementioned IUCN (2012) criteria.

The assessment will undergo a technical review by the IUCN Red List Unit and will then be added to the Species Information System (SIS) of the IUCN for publication on its portal. Consequently, the complete assessment of the conservation status of this new species will be accessible through both the global and national Red Lists.

Observations: — Vriesea serraourensis belongs to the night-blooming chiropterophilous group of Vriesea being morphologically related primarily to V. bahiana ( Fig. 4A – D ) and V. sanctaparecidae Leme (2013:35) ( Fig. 4E – F ). It differs from V. bahiana due to its larger size when in bloom, fewer leaves per rosette, longer leaf blades, inflorescence branches forming an internal angle of 30 o –45 o with the main axis, floral bracts imbricate and covering the rachis, sepal yellow, ovate, petal narrowly obovate, whitish-yellow toward the base and yellow at the apex, slightly exceeding the sepals.

Vriesea bahiana is a microendemic species from Serra da Jiboia, Santa Terezinha, Bahia and is more than 250 km away from the population of V. serraourensis ( Fig. 4A – D ). Another peculiarity of Vriesea serraourensis is that it occurs in Campo Rupestre in the Caatinga domain, while V. bahiana grows on granitic inselbergs in the Atlantic Forest domain. Its flowering occurs from August to October.

On the other hand, Vriesea serraourensis somewhat resembles V. sanctaparecidae but can be distinguished from it by its longer peduncle (120–145 cm vs. 90–120 cm), floral bract yellowish (vs. dark castaneous), sepal yellowish (vs. green toward the base and castaneous-wine toward the apex and margins), petal whitish-yellow toward the base and yellow at the apex (vs. pale wine colored due to dense wine-colored spots). It is also worth noting that V. sanctaparecidae is microendemic to Alvarenga, Minas Gerais ( Fig. 4E – F ), more than 650 km away from the area where V. serraourensis discovered. Despite both species are saxicolous on quartzitic rocky outcrops, they grow in different phytogeographical domains, Vriesea sanctaparecidae occurs in Campo Rupestre of the Atlantic Forest and V. serraourensis in Campo Rupestre of Cerrado.

Another related species is Vriesea dictyographa Leme (2001: 4) , found as an epiphyte in the low-altitude Atlantic Forest and restricted to the municipalities of Camacã and Arataca in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Wrong identifications in herbaria often label this species as V. bahiana . Both species have inflorescences composed of secund flowers but differ primarily in vegetative characteristics. In V. dictyographa , the leaves are adorned with dark green transverse lines, irregularly wavy, resembling a tortuous and indecipherable script, while V. serraourensis displays a much more subdued coloration. Other characteristics distinguishing V. serraourensis from V. dictyographa include a longer peduncle (120–145 cm vs. 60 cm), greater plant height (160–220 cm vs. 120 cm), fewer leaves (12–16 vs. 30), leaves with a rounded and shortly apiculate apex (vs. attenuate apex), ovate sepals (vs. strictly elliptic-lanceolate), and sepals with an emarginate apex (vs. acuminate).

A taxonomic review of five related species characterized by compound inflorescences, secondary flowers, and nocturnal anthesis can be found in Machado (2017). The author conducted the taxonomic treatment of the “ Vriesea itatiaiae Wawra (1880: 221) complex”, which included five species ( V. itatiaiae , V. crassa Mez (1894: 566) , V. hoehneana Smith (1933: 145) , V. schenckiana Wittmack (1891: 1) and V. vidalii Smith (1970: 281)) , all restricted to southeastern Brazil and, therefore, not discussed in this study.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. View of the west face of Morro do Ouro in the municipality of Barra da Estiva, Bahia, Brazil; B. Vriesea serraourensis in vegetative stage. C–D. Vriesea serraourensis in fertile stage. Photo: A–B, D) E.H.Souza, C) D.S.S.Andrade.

FIGURE 2. Vriesea serraourensis. A. Habit. B. Leaves, adaxial and abaxial view. C. Detail of the darker green, irregular transversal nervure of the leaf blades. D. Bracts in adaxial and abaxial views at the base of the peduncle. E. Peduncle. F. Detail of the peduncle. G. Inflorescence. H. Branches. I. Floral bracts. J. Flower in side view. K. Flower in front view. L. Adaxial (left) and abaxial (right) view of the petals. M. Adaxial (left) and abaxial (right) view of the sepals. N. Androecium. O. Pistil. P. Immature fruit. Q. Immature seeds. Photo: E.H. Souza.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Vriesea serraourensis and its threats.

FIGURE 4. A–D. Vriesea bahiana Leme. A. Vegetative stage. B. Inflorescence. C–D. Detail of the flower. E–F. Vriesea sanctaparecidae Leme. E. Fertile stage. F. Detail of the flower. Photos: A–D. E.H.Souza. E–F. E.M.C.Leme.