Büneker et al. 2015 (Conference Paper) Dyckia

Dyckia pontesii (Bromeliaceae, Pitcairnioideae), a new species from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Author(s):—H.M. Büneker, L. Witeck-Neto & K. Pureza Soares in Benko-Iseppon, A.M.; Alves, M. & Louzada, R. (2015) An overview and abstracts of the First World Congress on Bromeliaceae Evolution. Rodriguésia 66(2): A1-A66.

Publication:— (2015).

Abstract:—Dyckia Schult. & Schult.f. is a large genus of Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae), consisting of about 164 species (Gouda et al. 2014) found as saxicolous or terrestrial plants in South America, especially in Brazilian Central, Southeast and South regions, but also in Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay (Smith & Downs 1974). A recent study conducted by Krapp et al. (2014) presented the first comprehensive phylogeny based on molecular analysis to Dyckia characters, confirming the monophyly of the genus previously been reported based on morphological characters (Forzza 2001). In the state of Rio Grande do Sul (southern Brazil), among Bromeliaceae, the Dyckia genus is the one with the highest species diversity, with 29 species cited (Strehl 2008; Büneker et al. 2013; Forzza et al. 2014). It is seen that Rio Grande do Sul is home to a great specific diversity of Dyckia where new species can still be found. From morphological studies Dyckia pontesii sp. nov.is proposed, this morphologically close to Dyckia elisabethae S. Winkler and Dyckia dusenii L. B. Smith. It differs from D. elisabethae, which occurs in the eastern region of Rio Grande do Sul, due to its leaves with laminar margin and slender, generally inconspicuous spines (vs. large, conspicuous spines), white sheath (vs. brown), green stalk (vs. red), oval-triangular floral bracts with acute-attenuated apex (vs. elliptical with acuminate apex), sessile flowers (vs. pedicellate), sepals with acute apex, glabrous or sparse-tomentose at the apex of abaxial (vs. rounded and tomentose on the abaxial surface) and glabrous petals (vs. villous petals). It differs from D. dusenii, which occurs in the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina according to Forzza et al. (2014) due to white sheath (vs. brown), oval-triangular floral bracts with acute-attenuated apex (vs. ovate with acuminate apex), sessile flowers (vs. pedicellate) and free filaments above the ordinary tube with petals (vs. connate above the ordinary tube with petals). The species also differs from the others by having a slightly zygomorphic cup, an unusual characteristic for the genus, this because their adaxial sepals are carenated and closer to each other than with the abaxial, which is non-carenated or slightly non-carenated. D. pontesii grows in outcrops and escarpments of conglomeratic rocks in the Pampa Biome in the city of Pinheiro Machado, in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, a region known as the Serra do Sudeste.

Keywords:—Taxonomy; Austro-brasilica Flora; Pampa Biome.