Oxalis animarum Fiaschi, 2025

Fiaschi, Pedro, Cabral, Fernando Santos, Caballero, Leonardo Ronald Gaspar & Lima, Duane Fernandes, 2025, Updating the taxonomy of polymorphic plant taxa: six Atlantic Forest species segregated from the widely circumscribed Oxalis polymorpha Mart. ex Zucc. (Oxalidales, Oxalidaceae), European Journal of Taxonomy 989, pp. 144-188 : 159-162

Oxalis animarum Fiaschi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77360847-1

Figs 5 , 7

Diagnosis

This new species differs from O. decipiens by the leaf blades with 4–7 (vs 7–12) pairs of secondary veins, abaxially with moderate, patent to appressed hairs, mixed with shorter and thicker, darker hairs (vs with abundant, appressed hairs), inflorescences with unbranched (vs usually bifid at base) dichasial branches, flowers with the pedicel 3–4.5 mm long (vs 1.5–2 mm long), bearing patent hairs, mixed with sparse to moderate, longer, glandular hairs (vs with appressed or curved hairs), and fruits shorter (vs longer) than the calyx lobes, with the carpels prolonged for ca 1 mm of their length (vs carpels prolonged for ca 2 mm of their length).

Etymology

The specific epithet ʻ animarum ʼ (latin: from the souls) refers to the city of Cruz das Almas. The word in Portuguese for ʻsoulʼ is ʻalmaʼ.

Type material

BRAZIL – Bahia • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 4 Nov. 2011; fl, fr; G. Costa & S.F. Conceição 580; holotype: HURB; isotype: HUEFS .

Other material examined

BRAZIL – Bahia • Cruz das Almas, Bosque do Instituto Bahiano de Fumo ; 13 Sep. 1956; fl; R.P. Lordelo 56-552; ALCB • Cruz das Almas, Reserva Florestal do Instituto Baiano do Fumo ( IBF); 12 Nov. 1983; H.P. Bautista 1323; ALCB, CEPEC, MBM, RB • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 11 Apr. 2011; fl; J.C. Almeida et al. s.n.; HURB • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 9 May 2011; fr; S.S. Simões et al. 40; HURB ; • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 12°40′01″ S, 39°06′29″ W; 460 m a.s.l.; 27 Jan. 2016; fl; P. Fiaschi & J.L. Costa-Lima 4591; FLOR • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha , próximo a estrada da Praça da Ciência ; 12°40′03″ S, 39°06′19.3″ W; 8 Dec. 2021; fr; M.L.L. Martins & R. Alves 2455; FLOR, HURB • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 12°39′55″ S, 39°06′22.2″ W; 12 Nov. 2022; F.S. Cabral et al. 275; FLOR • Cruz das Almas, Mata da Cazuzinha ; 12°40′03″ S, 39°06′19″ W; 6 Mar. 2023; fl; P. Fiaschi et al. 5620; FLOR .

Description

Unbranched or few-branched, erect subshrubs, 30–100 cm tall; young stem with abundant to very abundant, short, curved hairs, more densely so at the distal end; older stem dark-brown, terete, slightly striate longitudinally. Leaves pinnate-trifoliolate, equally distributed along the stem, the internodes 10– 24 mm long; the petioles 35–65 mm long, 0.5–0.7 mm diam., canaliculate adaxially, with abundant to very abundant, short, patent to curved hairs, curved along the channel, the base pulvinate, enlarged to ca 1.2 mm diam.; the rachis 8–20 mm long, similar to the petiole; petiolules ca 1 mm long, with abundant, appressed hairs; leaflet blades adaxially glabrescent, with short, curved hairs along the midrib and the margin, abaxially with moderate, patent to appressed hairs, mostly along the midrib, mixed with shorter and thicker, darker (yellow to brownish), mostly appressed hairs; membranous to chartaceous, adaxially dark green, abaxially lighter green. Venation: midrib impressed adaxially, prominent abaxially; secondary veins 4–7 pairs, inconspicuous, impressed on both surfaces, sometimes slightly raised abaxially; intercostal tertiary veins sometimes visible, irregular-reticulate, exterior tertiary course looped, quaternary veins fabric irregular-reticulate, areolation moderately developed, inconspicuous, free ending veinlets not seen. Terminal blade 32–80 × 16–27 mm, ovate to lanceolate, the apex acuminate to caudate, the base cuneate to attenuate. Lateral leaflets opposite, the blades 22–54 × 13–28 mm, ovate, the apex acuminate to caudate, the base subsymmetrical to asymmetrical, obtuse or cuneate to attenuate. Dichasial cymes axillary, much shorter than the leaves; the peduncle 11–30 mm long, slightly flattened laterally, with moderate to abundant, short, patent or curved hairs; dichasial branches 2, 1.5–4 mm long, each with the flowers (or scars) densely grouped along the entire length; bracts 0.5–1 mm long, triangular, abaxially with moderate to abundant, appressed hairs; bracteoles ca 0.5 mm long, triangular, with sparse to moderate, appressed hairs. Flower buds 4–4.5 × ca 2 mm, ovoid to ellipsoid, acute to acuminate. Pedicel 3–4.5 mm long, articulated at base, leaving a persistent foot up to ca 1 mm long; with abundant, short, patent hairs, mixed with sparse to moderate, longer, glandular hairs. Sepals greenish, ca 5 × 1.3–1.7 mm, lanceolate, the apex acuminate, the exposed part with moderate to abundant, short, patent hairs intermixed with longer glandular hairs. Corolla yellow, ca 10 mm diam., petals ca 8 mm long, each with two orange maculae above the throat; mid-styled morph: filaments connate for ca 0.7 mm of their length; shorter filaments ca 1.5 mm long, glabrous; longer filaments ca 4.5 mm long, appendiculate at ca 2 mm of their length, distally hispidule; pistil: ovary ca 1.2 mm long; styles ca 2 mm long, erect, hispidule for the entire length; stigmas oblate; gynophore ca 0.7 mm long. Capsules ca 4.5 × 4.5 mm, pyriform, with moderate, glandular and patent intermixed hairs, slightly shorter than the calyx lobes, the apex prolonged for ca 1 mm of their length; locules one-seeded, internally glabrous; seeds ca 2 × 1.5 mm, semi-obloid, with a honeycombed-foveolate surface.

Preliminary conservation status assessment

This species is only known from the Parque Florestal Mata de Cazuzinha, a small patch of semideciduous forest protected in the urban area of the municipality of Cruz das Almas, in the Recôncavo Baiano region, which is heavily fragmented due to large, cultivated areas of tobacco, sugarcane, cassava, tropical fruits, and cattle farming. Despite ʻMata de Cazuzinhaʼ being a protected area, the region where it is situated suffered from both extent and quality loss. The area of occupancy of the species is 4 km ². We therefore recommend that it should be considered as Critically Endangered following the IUCN criteria CR B2ab(iii) ( IUCN 2012).

Remarks

Fiaschi (2014) listed one specimen of O. animarum sp. nov. (H.P Bautista 1323, RB) under his wide circumscription of O. polymorpha . Among the main diagnostic features of this new species are the leaves distributed along the stem, the inflorescences with the peduncle much shorter than the petiole of the corresponding leaf, the flowers with glandular hairs on the pedicel and sepals, the leaf blades abaxially with patent to appressed hairs, mixed with shorter and thicker, darker (yellow to brownish) hairs, and the pyriform fruits shorter than the calyx lobes, with the carpels prolonged for ca 1 mm of their length.

Distribution and ecology

This new species is endemic to seasonally dry forests in the surroundings of Cruz das Almas (Fig. 4). It is only known from the ʻMata de Cazuzinhaʼ, a small urban remnant of the forests that once occurred in the region.

Figures

Fig. 5. Geographic distribution map of Oxalis polymorpha Mart. ex Zucc. (the single record in the Caatinga domain represents the type) and some of the segregated species recognized here, all of which are endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest domain.

Fig. 7. Oxalis animarum Fiaschi sp. nov. A. Habit. B. Detail of young stem with short, curved hairs (note very short young inflorescence). C. Detail of leaflet blades insertion. D. Terminal leaflet abaxial surface. E–F. Lateral leaflets abaxial surface. G. Inflorescence with old flower (left) and young buds (right). H. Inflorescence detail showing flowers with glandular pedicel and sepals. I. Flower, frontal view. J. Fruit, lateral view. K. Seed, lateral view. Photos: A–F: Jhonathan Radavelli; G–J: Pedro Fiaschi; K: Gabriela Rhoden. A–F based on F.S. Cabral et al. 275, FLOR; G–J based on P. Fiaschi et al. 5620, FLOR; K based on M.L.L. Martins & R. Alves 2455, FLOR, HURB.