Oxypetalum marchesii (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae), an Endemic New Species from Uruguay

GONZÁLEZ, ANDRÉS; FERNÁNDEZ, MARTINA; EZCURRA, CECILIA

SYSTEMATIC BOTANY

AMER SOC PLANT TAXONOMISTS

Lugar: Laramie; Año: 2018 vol. 43 p. 812 - 817

0363-6445

A new species, Oxypetalum marchesii from rocky grassland environments of Uruguay, is here described, illustrated and compared to morphologically similar species. Data on its habitat, distribution, ecology, and conservation status are also provided. Based on its cpDNA, O. marchesii clearly corresponds to the recently re-circumscribed and morphologically diverse genus Oxypetalum. This species is mostly characterized by its creeping, non-twining habit, widely ovate shortly petiolate hirsute leaves, relatively large flowers with pale greyish corollas, and short stylar-head appendage that is included within a corona formed of oblong-lanceolate, bifurcate lobes. The conservation status of this species is considered vulnerable because of its small geographic range and population size.