Species New to Science

Hippeastrum laklano Campos-Rocha & M.Peixoto, sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Hippeastrum laklano is morphologically related to H. striatum (Lam.) H.E.Moore, from which it is readily distinguished by its paraperigone with conspicuous fimbriae and dark-vinaceous area at the base of the tepals (vs paraperigone absent and tepals greenish at the base in H. striatum).

Etymology: The specific epithet is a noun in apposition and refers to the Laklãnõ people, member of the Southern Jê linguistic family, who inhabited vast areas of southern Brazil, including almost the entire northern plateau of Santa Catarina (Santos 1973). With the arrival of European settlers in the region, particularly between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Laklãnõ were severely decimated through actions supported by government authorities and private colonization companies (Santos 1973; Selau 2006; Wittmann 2007). The only known place of occurrence of the new species is located close to the limits of the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Territory, where the main remaining Laklãnõ community is confined. Established in 1926 with an area of 20,000 hectares that would never be delimited, the indigenous land was expanded to around 37,000 hectares in 1999, and declared permanent indigenous possession by an ordinance of the Ministry of Justice four years later (Santos 1973; FIOCRUZ 2022). However, the indigenous land continued to suffer constant invasions by settlers and loggers, intensified from the 1950s, mainly for the purpose of exploiting its natural resources, which would result in the depletion of the juçara-palm (Euterpe edulis Mart.) and timber reserves (Santos 1973; Namem 1994; Nigro 2004). The Federal Supreme Court of Brazil is judging two lawsuits filed by the state government and environmental agency demanding the annulment of the Laklãnõ land demarcation process (FIOCRUZ 2022). One of the lawsuits was declared of general repercussion and will serve as a guideline for the federal government and all instances of justice with regard to demarcation procedure, placing the Laklãnõ people and their struggle at the heart of this issue in the country today (Silva and Souza Filho 2021; FIOCRUZ 2022). Laklãnõ is a self-denomination that gained momentum among indigenous people from the 1990s onwards, as part of an effort to revitalize their language, as opposed to the name Xokleng, that would have a pejorative meaning and would represent the colonizer’s view of the community (Gakran 2005, 2020). According to the Laklãnõ language, the word “laklãnõ” means “those of the sun clan” or “those who are descendants of the sun” (Gakran 2005).

 Antonio Campos-Rocha, Alan William Meerow, Mauro Peixoto, Ingrid Koch, Patrícia Aparecida Messias and Julie Henriette Antoinette Dutilh. 2023.  To Print in Red Ink: Two New Species of Hippeastrum (Amaryllidaceae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Plant Ecology and Evolution. 156(2): 239-256. DOI: 10.5091/plecevo.95601

In 2015, Brazil faced the worst environmental disaster in its history, when the collapse of an iron ore dam dumped millions of tons of tailings into the Doce River. In this paper, we describe two Hippeastrum species native to localities directly involved in the tragedy. The dam was located in the foothills of Serra do Caraça, a mountain range in the state of Minas Gerais, from where we describe the endemic H. carassense; H. velloziflorum was first found on an inselberg located on the banks of the Doce River, in the neighboring state of Espírito Santo. Comments on their distribution, ecology, and phenology are provided, as well as comparisons with the most similar taxa. The conservation status of the two new species is preliminarily assessed, and both are considered threatened with extinction. We also compared their leaf anatomy and micromorphology with related species of Amaryllidaceae. Based on nrDNA ITS, we infer the phylogenetic position of H. velloziflorum, a taxon with several unique morphological characters for Hippeastrum, as the first branch in subgenus Hippeastrum. The placement of H. velloziflorum in Hippeastrum is also supported by anatomical and cytological data. The somatic chromosome number was 2n = 22, and the karyotype formula was 2n = 8m + 12sm + 2st chromosome pairs. An identification key to the species of Hippeastrum occurring in the Doce and Jequitinhonha River basins is presented.

Keywords: Atlantic forest, Endemism, Inselbergs, Leaf anatomy, Nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer, Systematics

Diagnosis: Hippeastrum velloziflorum has unique leaves and flowers among all Hippeastrum. Its leaves are falcate and somewhat fleshy, resembling the leaves of Worsleya procera (Lem.) Traub (tribe Griffinieae). The flowers of H. velloziflorum are erect, salverform, and nearly actinomorphic and exhibit an unprecedented arrangement of their stamens, which are quite short in length. It may be related to H. brasilianum, another white-flowered species endemic to inselbergs in southeastern Brazil, from which it is distinguishable even vegetatively by its conspicuously falcate, fleshy leaves (vs. lorate and papery in H. brasilianum).