Justicia baguensis J. R. I. Wood & R. Villanueva, 2025

Villanueva-Espinoza, Rosa, Deng, Yunfei, Scotland, Robert & Wood, John R. I., 2025, Preliminary notes on Justicia (Acanthaceae) in Peru, PhytoKeys 258, pp. 1-123 : 1-123

25. Justicia baguensis J. R. I. Wood & R. Villanueva sp. nov.

Type.

Peru • Amazonas, Prov. Bagua, Bagua Grande – Pedro Ruiz Road , 500–1000 m, 10 March 1998, H. van der Werff 14604 (holotype MO-5763982 , isotypes F-2236803 , MOL, USM) .

Diagnosis.

Resembling Justicia reginaldii in the short, stout, glabrous, usually 2 - seeded capsule, white flowers in a spicate inflorescence and small, somewhat glaucous leaves but differing in the well-developed axillary spikes up to 7 cm long, (not spikes essentially terminal), much smaller corolla c. 10 mm long (not 22–25 mm), the bracts all c. 7 mm long, distinct from leaves (not foliose below) and very small, near glabrous calyx <2.5 mm long (not 4–5 mm long).

Description.

Erect subshrub 30–50 cm; stems somewhat woody, branched, quadrangular, nearly glabrous, obscurely bifariously scurfy. Leaves shortly petiolate, lamina (1 –) 2–5.5 (– 7.5) × (0.2 –) 0.4–1 cm, diminishing in size upwards oblong, tapered to an obtuse apex, base cuneate, glabrous except for a few hairs towards the base, glaucous, cystoliths prominent adaxially; pet i oles 2–4 mm. Inflorescence of shortly pedunculate, terminal and axillary spikes, 2–7 cm long, glabrous, flowers in opposite pairs with distinct internodes; peduncles 0–10 mm; bracts 6–7 × 1.25 mm, oblanceolate, attenuate basally; bracteoles 4–5 × 0.75 mm, linear, acute; calyx subequally 5 - lobed, lobes 2–2.5 × 0.5 mm, linear-lanceolate, apiculate, glabrous but puberulent apically; corolla 9–11 mm long, white with violet “ herring bone ” patterning, glabrous except a few hairs on lips, tube 4 mm long, upper lip 4–5 mm long, notched, lower lip 5–6 mm long, 3 - lobed, the lobes ovate, rounded, c. 2 × 2 mm; anther thecae oblong, c. 1 × 0.5 mm, oblong, glabrous, weakly superposed, maroon; pollen sub, 42 × 25 μm, 3 - aperturate, colporate, 1 row of c. 6–8 distinct insulae on either side of aperture (Fig. 50 D ); style 7.5 mm, glabrous; ovary glabrous. Capsule 7 × 3 mm, obovoid-clavate, apiculate, glabrous; 2 (– 4) - seeded; seeds c. 2.5 mm diam., smooth.

Illustration.

Fig. 23 .

Etymology.

This species is named Justicia baguensis as it grows mostly in Bagua Province in Amazonas region in Peru.

Phenology.

Flowering mainly from January to May and sporadically later.

Habitat.

Xerophytic, deciduous scrub / woodland with cacti at 350–600 m approximately.

Distribution.

Endemic to the Río Marañón valley system and restricted to Amazonas and neighbouring parts of northern Cajamarca in the north of Peru. Fig. 61 .

Material examined.

Peru • Amazonas: Prov. Bagua, Bagua Chica to Limonyacu [5°33'S, 78°29'W], 400–450 m, 27 June 1959, R. Ferreyra 13646 ( USM) ; • ibid., 10 km from Bagua Grande, 24 May 1990, F. Borchsenius 2617 ( USM) ; • ibid., Bagua Chica a Bagua Grande, 700 m, 7 Aug. 1978, J. Sánchez Vega et al. 2288 ( CPUN) ; • ibid., Bagua Grande – Pedro Ruiz road, 500–1000 m, 10 March 1998, H. van der Werff 14633 ( MO, US, USM) ; • ibid., the type, H. van der Werff 14604 (F, MO, MOL, USM) ; • ibid. H. van der Werff 14611 (F, MO, MOL, USM, US) ; • ibid., 2 km W of Bagua Chica [5°38'S, 78°31'W], 550 m, 19 Jan. 1964, P. C. Hutchison & J. K. Wright 3631 (F, K, MO, US). Prov. Utcubamba Dist. El Milagro, El Valor, 5°38'S, 78°40'W, 350 m, 3 Feb. 1999, R. Vásquez 25904 ( HUT, MO, US) . • Cajamarca: Prov. San Ignacio, Dist. Huarango, Puerto Ciruelo – camino a Huarango , 5°17'S, 78°46'W, 550–650 m, 26 April 1996, J. Campos & P. Diaz 2675 (F, HUT, MO, US, USM) ; • ibid., Dist. Tabaconas, Tamborapa, Las Juntas , 5°22'34"S, 78°46'51"W, 600 m., 9 Dec. 2001, R. Vásquez et al. 27235 ( HUT, MO, USM). Prov. Jaén, cerca de Jaén [5°42'S, 78°48'W], 650–700 m, April 1950, H. Augusto 11 ( USM) .

Note.

The capsules usually contain only two seeds, but this is not constant; some specimens develop 3 or 4 apparently viable seeds.

Figures

Figure 23. Justicia baguensis A habit B leaf C detail showing cystoliths on adaxial surface of leaf D bract E bracteole F calyx G corolla opened out to show stamens H anther thecae J exterior of capsule valve K interior of capsule valve L seed. A, H drawn from Van der Werff 14633, J, L from Van der Werff 1460 by Margaret Tebbs.

Figure 50. Pollen images A Justicia radicans (Azevedo 147) B J. angustituba (Campos & Diaz 2380) C J. reginaldii (Ferreyra 7070) D J. baguensis (Van der Werff 14633) E J. cajamarcensis (Woytkowski 5671) F J. tenuiflora (Azevedo 281). Scale bars: 10 μm.

Figure 61. Distribution of Justicia reginaldii (light blue circle), J. baguensis (green squares), J. cajamarcensis (yellow triangles) and J. sagasteguii (red polygons) in Peru.