Quararibea alversonii (Malvaceae; Malvoideae), a new species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

We describe Quararibea alversonii, a new species endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, which was found in the course of our review of Quararibea in Brazil. The new taxon is similar to Q. amazonica, mainly in calyx morphology, but it is distinguished by the presence of domatia, pedicel length, petal width, morphology of staminal columns and styles, as well as fruit shape. Here, we present a morphological description, taxonomic comments, photographs, distribution map, assessment of conservation status, and a comparative analysis between the new species and Q. amazonica, the only other member of the genus that also presents a costate calyx.

Untangling the taxonomy and geographic distribution of Quararibea floribunda (Malvaceae: Malvoideae)

“…We used leaf samples taken from the specimen C. D. M. Ferreira et al 533 (RB) to analyze the domatia microscopically, following the method of Ferreira et al (2018) and Ferreira and Bovini (2020). Samples were fixed with carbon adhesive tape on stubs, coated with a thin gold layer of approximately 20 nm, and observed under a scanning electron microscope at a voltage of 15 kV.…”

“…Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https:// doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cnp5hqccg (Ferreira et al 2024).…”

“…Quararibea Aublet is restricted to the Neotropics and occurs from Mexico to tropical South America where it is represented by approximately 60 species (Pittier 1945, Alverson 1986, Fernández‐Alonso 1999, 2001a, b2001b, 2002, 2022, Zamora et al 2017, Cascante‐Marín et al 2018, Ferreira et al 2018, Ferreira and Bovini 2020). These species are small trees, usually approximately 2 m tall, occasionally reaching 35 m, usually with verticillate and plagiotropic branches, and simple and alternate leaves.…”