Tephrosia macbrideana R.T.Queiroz, G.P.Lewis & A.M.G.Azevedo

de Queiroz, R.T., Lewis, G.P. & de Azevedo Tozzi, A.M.G. 2015. Tephrosia macbrideana (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae), a new species from Peru. Kew Bulletin 70: 37. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-015-9587-4

Type

Type: Peru, Amazonas, Balsas, T. D. Pennington, R. T. Pennington & A. Daza 17579 (holotype K; isotype MOL).

Morphology General Habit

Erect subshrub to 60 cm, indumentum strigillose, cinereous

Morphology Leaves Stipules

Stipules 8 – 9 × 1 mm, with 1 vein, linear-triangular, sericeous

Morphology Leaves

Rachis 2.2 – 4.4 cm long, sulcate, sericeous Leaf 5 – 11-foliolate, imparipinnate; petiole 0.5 – 2 cm long, sulcate, sericeous

Morphology Leaves Leaflets

Leaflets 3.2 – 5.8 × 0.5 – 1.4 cm, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, base cuneate, apex acute (sometimes rounded), mucronate, lower surface glabrous, upper surface sericeous, secondary veins more than 10 pairs; petiolule 1 – 2 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence an axillary or terminal pseudoraceme, 20 – 58 cm long, peduncle 6 – 13 cm long, costate, strigose, cinereous; bracts 3 – 4 × 1 mm, linear-triangular, pedicels 0.3 – 0.5 mm long; flowers purple, 1 – 1.2 cm long; calyces 4 – 5 mm long, campanulate, bilabiate, secretory structures absent, indumentum sericeous, teeth 2 – 3 × 1 mm, narrowly-triangular; standard petal 1.1 – 1.3 × 1.2 – 1.4 cm, widely depressed ovate, apex retuse, dorsal surface sericeous, petal claw 2 × 1 mm; wings 1.1 – 1.2 × 0.5 – 0.6 cm, obovate, apex rounded, petal claw 2 – 2.5 × 0.9 mm; keel petals 0.9 – 1 × 0.5 – 0.6 cm, cucullate, apex acute, connate, petal claw 2 – 2.5 × 0.3 mm; staminal tube 1 – 1.2 × 0.3 cm, free portion of filaments 2 – 3 mm long; annular disk present at base of sessile ovary, ovary 8 – 9 × 0.5 – 1 mm, indumentum sericeous, ovules 12; style 6 mm long, laterally compressed, glabrous; stigma penicellate with translucent trichomes

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit, 5.5 – 6 × 0.3 – 0.4 cm, coriaceous, plane, linear, apex and base asymmetric, brown with a sericeous, greyish indumentum, and a persistent calyx

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds 10, brown when immature

Ecology

Tephrosia macbrideana occurs in dry tropical forest at 950 m altitude in the Amazon region of Peru.

Conservation

In accordance with the Red List criteria of the IUCN (IUCN 2001), a conservation assessment of Data Deficient (DD) is appropriate because the species is currently known from only one collection, the type.

Note

The single known collection in flower and fruit was collected in November.

Tephrosia macbrideana is morphologically similar to T. cinerea and shares the same grey-coloured indumentum and similar linear fruits. The new species can be distinguished from T. cinerea mainly by the strigillose indumentum, the narrowly elliptic to elliptic leaflets, the length of the inflorescences (20 – 58 cm), the absence of axillary flowers, and by the robust pedicels capable of holding the fruit at right angles to the inflorescence rachis (vs a pilose indumentum, narrowly oblanceolate to obovate leaflets, the 3 – 15 cm long inflorescences, the presence of axillary flowers, and the deflexed fruits in T. cinerea).

The species is named in honour of Dr James Francis Macbride who collected widely in Peru and published a legume flora for the country in 1943.

During studies of Tephrosia in South America, this new species of Tephrosia was discovered. It is related to T. cinerea, with both species sharing similarities in colour of indumentum as well as in fruit morphology. Nevertheless T. macbrideana and T. cinerea can be distinguished from each other by the type of indumentum on the branches and by the leaflet and by the length of the inflorescence. T. macbrideana is an erect subshrub, with strong, straight (sometimes angular), strigillose branches, and narrowly-elliptic or elliptic leaflets. T. cinerea is a decumbent subshrub; its branches are thin, arched and pilose, its leaflets obovate or oblanceolate. In flowering specimens there are a number of morphological characters that differ in size between the two species, with the flowers of T. macbrideana being larger. In T. macbrideana the pseudoracemes are between 20 and 58 cm long, the pedicels robust and capable of holding the fruit at right angles to the inflorescence rachis (or the fruits very slightly deflexed), the standard petal is 1.1 – 1.3 cm long, the wings 5 – 6 mm wide, the keel petals 0.5 – 0.6 mm wide, and the staminal tube 1 – 1.2 cm long. In contrast, in T. cinerea the pseudoracemes are 1 – 15 cm long; the pedicels are thin, and the mature fruits are usually deflexed, the standard petal is 0.6 – 1 cm long, the wings 2 – 4 mm wide, the keel petals 3 – 4 mm wide, and the staminal tube 6 – 9 mm long. Based on all these differences we consider the Peruvian plant to be a new species (Table 1).