Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum 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 : 133-136

Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum Jiménez-Mont. , sp. nov. ( Figs. 4–5 ).

Type: — COLOMBIA. Antioquia. Frontino, Región de Murrí, 6 kms antes de llegar al caserío La Blanquita , 6°46’ N, 76°20’ W, elev. 1320 m, 30 June 2018 (fl., im. fr.), J. Jiménez 2305 (holotype JAUM [accession 97907]; isotypes HUA!, MO!) .

Diagnosis: — Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum differs from S. blepharidophyllum ( Harms 1937: 447) Lowry, Plunkett & Mora in Lowry et al. (2019a: 5), the species it most closely resembles, in having the margin of leaflet blades entire (vs. ciliate at least on young blades), primary axis of the inflorescence 10–15 cm long (vs. 2–8 cm long), glabrescent, pale green bracts subtending the secondary axes of the inflorescence, contrasting with the tomentose, woolly and dark purple peduncle (vs. bracts tomentulose or glabrescent, similar in color and indument to the peduncle), hypanthium woolly or tomentose (vs. tomentulose or glabrescent), calyx margin ciliate (vs. entire), ovary disc hemispheric (vs. flat), and the stylar column 1.5–2 mm long (vs. 0.9–1 mm long).

Sarmentose shrub, 3–6 m high, well branched, terrestrial; branches 0.6–0.8 cm diam. in sicco, lenticels circular or hemispherical, scattered. Plant with tomentulose, tomentose or woolly indument, abundant in young parts, glabrescent; trichomes 0.2–4 (–4.5) mm long, with a tiny stellate base and one long strand, which is curved, clinate, or slightly dendritic toward the base, ferruginous. Leaves palmately compound, loosely arranged toward branchlet apices; stipular ligule (3.6–) 4.6–6.5 cm long, deltate, apex acute, convex or rounded, abaxially non-canaliculate, lenticellate toward the base, persistent, membranaceous, glabrous, lustrous, pale green in vivo; petioles (8–) 11–22 cm long, terete, not thickened at either end, with linear lenticels, tomentulose; leaflets (3–) 4–5, arranged in a single whorl, held horizontally or semi-pendulous; petiolules (0.7–) 0.9–3.9 (–4.3) cm long, dissimilar in size between two and five times, terete, thickened in both ends, non-lenticellate, tomentulose; blades (9–) 10–26 (–28.5) × (3.7–) 4.5–8.1 (–9.3) cm, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, occasionally elliptic-orbicular, symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical, adaxially glabrescent, abaxially with sparce trichomes uniformly distributed; base acute or occasionally obtuse, and convex, cuneate or occasionally rounded, margin entire, apex acute and abruptly acuminate, acumen 1.2–2.7 cm long; venation pinnate, prominulous adaxially, prominent abaxially; secondary veins 15–36, slightly brochidodromous or brochidodromous, prominulous abaxially, irregularly spaced, intersecondary veins less than one per intercostal area; irregular reticulate tertiary fabric. Inflorescence a terminal panicle, axes tomentose or woolly; primary axis 10–15 cm long, dark purple in vivo; 3–4 secondary axes, each 14–25.5 cm long, subtended by a bract (1.8–) 2.6–4.3 cm long, deltate, apex acute, straight, and occasionally bicuspidate, persistent, glabrescent, pale green in vivo; peduncles (28–) 34–60 per branch, each 1.1–1.7 cm long, subtended by a bracteole 7–10 mm long, deltate, cucullate, tomentose toward the margin and apex, with some whitish trichomes; ultimate inflorescence units forming non-globose heads 0.6–0.7 cm diam., with 9–12 flowers, each subtended by a bracteole 0.7–1.5 mm long, reniform or deltate, floccose, margin erose or irregular. Hypanthium 1.5–2 × 2–2.5 mm, obconic, tomentose or woolly, with trichomes 2–3 mm long; calyx forming a truncate rim, 0.3–0.6 mm long, woolly; corolla 2–3 × 2–3 mm, calyptrate, non-mucronate, distally floccose, internally glabrous; stamens 5, filaments 3–4.2 mm long, hyaline, anthers 0.8–1.3 × 0.5–0.9 mm, ovate, insertion sub-basifixed, cream-yellow in vivo; ovary disc convex or hemispheric, bulging up ca. 1 mm above de calyx, slightly crenulate, yellow in vivo; styles connate, 1.4–2 mm long, apex free, slightly fissured, green-yellowish in vivo; ovary 5 carpellate. Fruits unknown.

Distribution and habitat: — Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum is only know from the Murrí region of the municipality of Frontino, Antioquia, in the western slope of the Western Andes ( Fig. 3 ), in pre-montane humid forest around 1300–1500 m in elevation.

Phenology: —The few specimens we analyzed had flowers in February, June and July, and floral buds in June, which does not allow establishing a precise phenology. However, most species of the genus occurring in the same region set flowers and fruits throughout the year.

Etymology: —The epithet “ bracticonspicuum ” derives from latin words bractea and conspicuum, referring to the conspicuous, pale green and persistent bracts that subtend the secondary axes of the inflorescence, in sharp contrast with its ferruginous inflorescence axes.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — COLOMBIA. Antioquia. Frontino, Región de Murrí, 6 km antes de llegar al caserío La Blanquita , 6°46’ N, 76°20’ W, elev. 1320 m, 30 June 2018 (bud), J. Jiménez 2306 ( JAUM!) ; Región of Murrí, road between Nutibara and La Blanquita, 20.2 km from centro of Nutibara , 6°40’ N, 76°26’ W [6°46’00’’ N, 76°20’48’’ W], elev. 1380 m, 10 February 1989 (fl.), J. M. MacDougal et al. 3936 (HUA!, MO!) ; Corregimiento Nutibara, Región Murrí , [6°45’54’’ N, 76°19’32’’ W], elev. 1500 m, 11 July 1986 (fl.), P. Acevedo et al. 1230 ( HUA!) .

Discussion: — Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum is characterized among the other species of the genus, by the glabrescent and pale green stipular ligules and bracts that contrast with the tomentulose and dark axes, the small non-globose heads, and the tomentose or woolly hypanthium.

Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum shares with S. blepharidophyllum , to which it is compared in the diagnosis, the general measurements of the leaves, the tomentose and ferruginous indument, the inflorescence in terminal panicle, with 3–4 secondary branches of similar length, similar number of peduncles per branch and flowers by head, the ultimate inflorescence units in small non-globose heads, with calyx forming a truncate rim, calyptrate corolla, 5 stamens and carpels, and the connate stylar column. While S. blepharidophyllum has a wide distribution in Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador ( Lowry et al. 2019a), S. bracticonspicuum is geographically restricted to the Murrí region in the western slope of the Colombian Cordillera Occidental ( Fig. 3 ), where their distributions overlap, but no records of S. blepharidophyllum are known from this particular locality.

The collection J. M. MacDougal et al. 3936 was carried out along the road that goes from Nutibara to La Blanquita town, the same route where the type collection was made, but the coordinates reported by MacDougal do not match the collection site, so we deduce that they are incorrect and proceed to correct them. Casually, if we exchange the last number of each X and Y coordinate on the label, the result is that the coordinates match perfectly with the registered elevation (1380 m) and the road between both towns.

Figures

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

FIGURE 4. Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum. A. Branch with leaves and inflorescence. B. Stem segment with stipular ligules. C. Bracts of the secondary axes of the inflorescence. D. Flower with removed calyptra (top). E. Ultimate inflorescence unit with immature fruits and the bracteole. F. Adaxial (left) and abaxial (right) surface of the leaflets with abaxial detail. A–F from J. Jiménez 2305. [Drawing by Diego Zapata Z.].

FIGURE 5. Sciodaphyllum bracticonspicuum. A. Branch with one leaf and inflorescence. B. Detail of the abaxial surface of the leaflet blade. C. Adaxial surface of leaflet. D.Abaxial surface of leaflet. E. Stem segment with stipular ligules. F. Bracts of the secondary axes of the inflorescence. G. Ultimate inflorescence unit with flowers. H. Ultimate inflorescence unit with immature fruits. A–H from J. Jiménez 2305 [Photographs by J. Jiménez].