Wittmackia guedesiae E. H. Souza & Leme 2023, sp. nov.

Wittmackia guedesiae E.H.Souza & Leme, sp. nov. (Figs. 1 C–D, 3)

Diagnosis:—This new species can be distinguished from its morphologically closest relative, W. carvalhoi by: its higher number of leaves (ca. 15 vs. ca. 8 in number), petals acute and apiculate (vs. obtuse), spreading toward the apex at anthesis (vs. strongly recurved), without callosities (vs. bearing 2 lateral callosities equaling the stamens), ovary longer (ca. 14 mm vs. ca. 8 mm long), which is sparsely white lanate at anthesis (vs. glabrous).

Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia: Igrapiúna, BA-001, Mata da Vila 5, Reserva Ecológica Michelin, 13 ̊49’20.3” S, 39 ̊12’13.4” W, 35 m. elev., 28 December 2019, E. H. Souza 1108 (holotype HURB!, isotypes ALCB!, RB!).

Description:— Plant epiphytic, stoloniferous; stolons slender, 8–13 × 0.6 cm. Leaves ca. 15 in number, suberect, forming a narrowly funnelform rosette and a narrowly elliptic water reservoir at the base; sheath oblong-elliptic to obovate, 6.8–7.1 × 4.2–4.5 cm, purplish adaxially, green abaxially, subdensely and minutely white lepidote on both sides; blade linear-ligulate, 26–39 × 2–2.5 cm, green, entire, strongly canaliculate toward the base, subdensely white lepidote mainly abaxially, apex acuminate to broadly attenuate and apiculate-caudate, apiculus 6–7 mm long. Peduncle erect, ca. 10 × 0.3 cm, pale green or whitish, sparsely white lanate to glabrescent, completely hidden by the leaf sheaths; peduncle bracts ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, erect, membranaceous, whitish, 3–4.5 × 1–1.3 cm, lepidote on both sides, entire, longer than the internodes, the upper ones congested beneath the inflorescence. Inflorescence simple, subcapitate or ellipsoid, 3.5–4 × 2.8–3.1 cm, densely flowered, partially exceeding the leaf sheaths; floral bracts erect, narrowly obovate to ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate to broadly attenuate and then apiculate, whitish to greenish, white lepidote, 18–22 × 8–12 mm, membranaceous, entire, slightly to distinctly exceeding the sepals. Flowers ca. 13 in number, ca. 38 mm long, sessile, erect; sepals asymmetrical, bearing a one sided large rounded marginal wing, membranaceous, 10 × 4–5 mm, apex distinctly apiculate, apiculus 1.6–2 mm long, connate at the base for 3–4 mm, entire, ecarinate, pale green; petals subspathulate, ca. 30 × 4 mm, apex broadly attenuate and apiculate, free, unappendaged, spreading toward the apex at anthesis, whitish, without callosities; stamens distinctly shorter than the petals; filaments the antepetalous ones adnate to the petals for ca. 21 mm, the antesepalous ones free; anthers sublinear, ca. 5 mm long, dorsifixed about 1/3 of their length above the base, base obtuse, apex apiculate; stigma ca. 3 × 1 mm, conduplicate-spiral, white, margins crenulate; ovary subcylindrical, ca. 14 × 3 mm, sparsely white lanate at anthesis, pale green; epigynous tube narrowly funnelform, ca. 5 mm long; placentation apical; ovules ca. 40 in number, obtuse. Fruits and seeds unknown.

Distribution, habitat:— Wittmackia guedesiae grows on the shaded forest floor in an Atlantic Forest fragment known as Mata da Vila 5, inside the Ecological Reserve of Michelin, in the municipalities of Igrapiúa and Ituberá, state of Bahia, Brazil. The municipalities are located in the southern macroregion of Bahia that has a humid tropical climate and significant fragments of lowland evergreen Atlantic Forest, as well as mangroves along the Serinhaém river.

Conservation status:—Its population is composed of few individuals distributed in small populations (ca. 8–12 plants) scattered in the area, totalizing about 120 individuals observed. This new species is only known from its type locality which is situated inside a private protected area (Reserva Ecológica Michelin) owned and maintained by the Michelin company. The GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011) estimated the extent of the occurrence of Wittmackia guedesiae as about 0.993 km 2, while its area of occupancy is 0.310 Km² (AOO), classifying the species as critically endangered (CR). Therefor we advise to treat this species as a Critically endangered species (CR C2a (i, ii), following the IUCN criteria guidelines (IUCN, 2022).

This new species is sympatric to other very recently described species such as Cryptanthus flesherii Souza & Leme (2021: 523), Lymania involucrata Souza & Leme (Souza et al. 2021: 210), and Hohenbergia ituberaensis Cavalcante, Souza & Versieux (Cavalcante et al. 2020: 439). Wittmackia guedesiae also lives in sympatry with Aechmea farinosa (Regel 1869: 79) Smith (1966: 148), Guzmania lingulata (Linnaeus 1753: 164) Mez (1896: 899), Lymania corallina (Beer, 1856: 272) Read (1984: 213), L. globosa Leme (1987: 395), Pseudaraeococcus sessiliflorus (Siqueira & Leme 2006: 396) Pontes & Versieux (Pontes et al. 2020: 47), Vriesea duvaliana Morren (1884: 105), Wittmackia ituberaensis, and W. pendulispica.

Etymology:—The specific epithet honors Maria Lenise Silva Guedes, Professor and Curator of the Alexandre Leal Costa Herbarium (ALCB) at the Universidade Federal da Bahia. The professor is one of the most prolific collectors and connoisseurs of the flora of Bahia with more than 44,000 specimens.

Phenology: — The blooming season starts in April and extends to June.

Observations:— Wittmackia guedesiae belongs to the complex of species of the “Brazilian clade” with nidular inflorescence, not distinctly positioned above the leaf sheaths, formerly considered members of Ronnbergia, which are represented by W. carvalhoi, W. neoregelioides (Leme 1999: 102) Aguirre-Santoro (2017: 22), and W. silvana (Leme 2003: 62) Aguirre-Santoro (2017: 24). Its morphologically closest relative is W. carvalhoi due to its small stature and subcapitate inflorescence partially exceeding leaf sheaths, but this new species can be distinguished by its leaf rosette with a higher number of leaves (ca. 15 vs. ca. 8 in number), petals with attenuate then apiculate apex (vs. obtuse), which are spreading toward the apex at anthesis (vs. strongly recurved), without callosities (vs. bearing 2 lateral callosities equaling the stamens), and by the longer ovary (ca. 14 mm vs. ca. 8 mm long) being sparsely white lanate at anthesis (vs. glabrous).

Wittmackia guedesiae can also be confused with W. silvana, but easily separated from it by the shorter inflorescence (3.5–4 cm vs. ca. 6 cm long), shorter peduncle (ca. 10 cm vs. 13–17 cm long), floral bracts slightly to distinctly exceeding the sepals (vs. distinctly shorter than to equaling the sepals), petals whitish (vs. rose-lilac toward the apex), which are longer (ca. 30 mm vs. 22–25 mm long), without callosities (vs. bearing 2 longitudinal callosities), and by the white stigma (vs. rose-lilac).

In relation to W. neoregelioides, this new species clearly differs from it by larger leaf blades (26–39 × 2–2.5 cm vs. 7–19 × 1.3–2 cm), inflorescence with more flowers (ca. 13 vs. ca. 6 in number), larger floral bracts (18–22 × 8–12 mm vs. 10–15 × 3–4 mm), which are slightly to distinctly exceeding the sepals (vs. about equaling to slightly exceeding the ovary), longer petals (ca. 30 mm vs. ca. 21 mm long), which are whitish (vs. lilac toward the apex), without callosities (vs. bearing conspicuous longitudinal callosities with irregular fingerlike ornamentations).