Sciodaphyllum monteblancense Jiménez-Mont., 2025

Jiménez-Montoya, Jaider & Idárraga-Piedrahíta, Álvaro, 2025, Four new species of Sciodaphyllum (Araliaceae) from the Western Cordillera of the Andes in Colombia, Phytotaxa 708 (2), pp. 128-144 : 136-139

Sciodaphyllum monteblancense Jiménez-Mont. , sp. nov. ( Figs. 6–7 ).

Type: — COLOMBIA. Antioquia. Ciudad Bolívar, Corregimiento Farallones, filo del cerro Monteblanco , 5°47’09.6’’ N, 76°04’42.1’’ W, elev. 2922 m, 27 June 2018 (fl., fr., im. fr., bud), J. Jiménez 2122 (holotype JAUM [accession 95122]; isotypes COL!, HUA!, MO!) .

Diagnosis: — Sciodaphyllum monteblancense differs from S. trianae Planch. & Linden ex Marchal (1879: 94) , the species it most closely resembles, in having leaflet blades 1.3–4.2 cm wide [vs. (4–) 5–7.5 (–10) cm], leaflet blades and corolla without scales abaxially (vs. provided with dense whitish scales), primary inflorescence axis (1.3–) 2–6.6 cm long (vs. 8–20 cm long), flowers 15–26 (vs. 32–50) per head, calyx rim 0.3–0.5 mm long (vs. 0.7–1.1 mm long), corolla distally floccose and adaxially tomentulose (vs. distally tomentulose and adaxially glabrous), and ovary disc flat and convex (vs. concave).

Shrub, 2–4 m high, sparsely branched, terrestrial; branches (0.7–) 0.8–1.2 cm diam. in sicco, non-lenticellate. Plant with tomentose, tomentulose or woolly indument, glabrescent, abundant on young parts; trichomes 0.3–5 mm long, with a tiny stellate or amorphous base, and one long strand (or sometimes not developed) loosely entangled with itself, ferruginous. Leaves palmately compound, arranged toward the branchlet apices; stipular ligule (4.5–) 6–10 cm long, triangular, deltate or elliptic, apex acute, convex or rounded, occasionally bicuspidate, abaxially non-lenticellate and slightly canaliculate, caducous or occasionally persistent, papyraceous when young, tomentose or tomentulose toward the center, reddish-purple toward the margin in vivo, drying brittle and brown-black in vivo; petioles (6.7–) 10– 23 cm long, terete, lenticellate, tomentose or woolly, not thickened at either end; leaflets (6–)7–9, arranged in a single whorl, held pendulous; petiolules 0.5–2.1 cm long, not or minutely canaliculate, non-lenticellate, tomentose or woolly, similar in size to each other, not thickened at either end; blades (6.5–)8.5–20.6 × 1.3–4.2 cm, oblong, oblong-obovate or oblong-ovate, symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical, conduplicate, tomentulose adaxially, tomentose or woolly abaxially; base acute and convex, margin entire, apex acute or slightly acuminate, acumen 0.5–1.7 cm long; venation pinnate, prominulous adaxially, prominent abaxially; secondary veins (22–)26–64, brochidodromous, prominulous abaxially, irregularly spaced; intersecondary veins less than one per intercostal area; irregular reticulate tertiary fabric. Inflorescence a terminal panicle, axes tomentose or tomentulose; primary axis (1.3–) 2–6.6 cm long; 2–3(–4) secondary axes, each (7.5–) 9–34.5 cm long, subtended by a bract 0.9–1.8 cm long, ovate to deltate, apex acute, acuminate or straight, caducous; peduncles 20–38 per secondary axis, each 0.4–0.8 cm long, subtended by a bracteole 1.5–2 mm long, apex acute; ultimate inflorescence units forming globose heads, 0.7–1 cm in diam., becoming non-globose and expanding to (1–) 1.4–1.7 cm in fruit, with 15–26 flowers, each subtended by a bracteole 1.2–2.2 mm long, deltate to linear, margin entire, sometimes with trichomes or erose apically. Hypanthium (1.5–)1.8–2.7 × 2.8–3.5 mm, obconic, tomentulose; calyx forming a truncate rim, 0.3–0.5 mm long, margin entire; corolla 2–2.2 × 2–2.2 mm, calyptrate, non-mucronate, non-fissured between the petals, floccose distally, internally tomentulose; stamens 5, filaments 1.8–2.2 mm long, anthers 1–1.2 × 0.8–1 mm, thecae ovate, dorsifixed; ovary disc flat or convex; styles 3–4, free, 0.5–1 mm long, connivent, forming a column; carpels 3–4. Fruits drupaceous, 5–6 × 3–4 mm, obovoid, slightly angulate and inequilateral, tomentulose or with a mealy indument, pale-yellow when immature, garnet-purple when mature in vivo; persistent styles 1.1–1.9 mm long, patent; pyrenes 4–5 × 1.5–2 mm, flattened laterally.

Distribution and habitat: — Sciodaphyllum monteblancense is only known from the Cerro Monteblanco Mountain, located in the Farallones del Citará mountain complex ( Corantioquia 2014) in the municipality of Ciudad Bolívar, in the Western Andean Cordillera in the department of Antioquia ( Fig. 3 ), at 2700–2950 m in elevation.

Phenology: —We observed this species in June with flower buds, post anthesis flowers, immature and mature fruits, and in November with fruits, which suggests that flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year, like many other species of the genus.

Etymology: —The epithet “ monteblancense ” is named for the Cerro Monteblanco Mountain, a place located in the Farallones del Citará mountain complex, where the only known population was recorded.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — COLOMBIA. Antioquia. Ciudad Bolívar, Región de Monteblanco , 5°51’ N, 76°01’ W [5°47’18’’ N, 76°04’37’’ W], elev. 2735 m, 15 November 1996 (fr.), D. Sánchez et al. 3038 ( MEDEL!) ; Corregimiento Farallones, filo del cerro Monteblanco , 5°47’09.6’’ N, 76°04’42.1’’ W, elev. 2922 m, 27 June 2018 (fl., im. fr.), J. Jiménez 2121 (HUA!, JAUM!) .

Discussion: — Sciodaphyllum monteblancense has a characteristic internally tomentulous corolla, which has not been previously recorded in any other species of the genus. This species is most similar to S. trianae in the dense ferruginous indument on the leaves, stipular ligules, and axes of the inflorescence, the leaflet blades oblong, the stipular ligule triangular, the 2–3(–4) (vs. 3–6) secondary axes of the inflorescence, the flowers in dense heads, the calyx forming a truncate rim, the calyptrate corolla, and in the 3–4 carpels and styles. Sciodaphyllum trianae is endemic to Colombia, recorded between 2000–3300 m in the northwestern and central Andes, in the departments of Antioquia, Tolima, and Risaralda, and was observed growing together with this new species.

The collection D. Sánchez et al. 3038 has coordinates that are in Ciudad Bolívar town, which evidently does not match the description on the label. For this reason, we decided to place the estimated coordinates in a locality that corresponds to the label description, i.e., the only path to the site, and the elevation recorded by the collector.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Sciodaphyllum apiciflorum, S. bracticonspicuum, S. monteblancense, and S. punctatum.

FIGURE 6. Sciodaphyllum monteblancense. A. Branch with leaves and inflorescence. B. Stipular ligule. C. Ultimate inflorescence unit with fruits. D. Ultimate inflorescence unit with post anthesis flowers (without calyptra or stamens). E. Adaxial (left) and abaxial (right) surfaces of the leaflets with abaxial detail.A–E from J. Jiménez 2122 [Drawing by Diego Zapata Z.].

FIGURE 7. Sciodaphyllum monteblancense. A. Branch with leaves and inflorescence. B. Stem segment with stipular ligules. C. Adaxial surface of leaflet. D. Abaxial surface of leaflet. E. Primary axis of the inflorescence without bracts of the secondary axes. F. Ultimate inflorescence unit with post anthesis flower. G. Ultimate inflorescence unit with immature fruits. H. Ultimate inflorescence unit with nearly mature fruits. A–H from J. Jiménez 2122 [Photographs by J. Jiménez].