Collected but Undetected for More Than a Century: A New Species ofEryngium(Apiaceae, Saniculoideae) from Cordillera de Amambay, Paraguay

Abstract

Abstract— We report Eryngium absconditum, a new species from Cordillera de Amambay, an area that belongs to the biodiversity hotspot of the Cerrado in Paraguay. The species was collected more than a century ago, but the collections remained unnoticed and misidentified until now. We describe, illustrate, and provide information on the geographical distribution and habitat of the new species. We also analyze and illustrate the morphological characteristics that differentiate it from Eryngium rojasii and E. paraguariense, the most similar species to the new. This study highlights the importance of Amambay as an area rich in endemic plant species and the need for continued taxonomic studies and the establishment of regional conservation policies for this region with its biodiversity under threat.

Species boundaries within the recently diverged South American monocot‐like Eryngium (Apiaceae, Saniculoideae) based on biogeographic, climatic, morphological, and molecular data: E. cerradense, a new species from Paraguay

“…South American monocot‐like Eryngium species often differ in subtle morphological characteristics, among which are indumentum in leaf margins, shape of capitula and fruit ornamentation (Wolff, 1913; Calviño & Martínez, 2007; Martínez & Calviño, 2019; Esquivel Mattos & Calviño, 2022). The populations analyzed from Paraguay differ from E. regnellii in basal leaf consistency, but also showed differences in 7 of the 13 quantitative morphological variables explored, including both reproductive and vegetative characters.…”

“…Establishing species boundaries within the genus is often difficult, and this has been attributed to its recent, rapid, and reticulate evolutionary history (Calviño & al., 2008(Calviño & al., , 2010. The most complex group of species to identify and delimit are unarguably the so-called monocot-like Eryngium (Esquivel Mattos & Calviño, 2022). These plants resemble monocotyledons in leaf morphology and plant architecture, as they possess a rosette of sessile, generally linear or subulate and parallel-veined leaves and a well-developed cauline axis, erect and with several internodes (Calviño & al., 2008).…”