Abstract
Microlicia (Melastomataceae) is a Neotropical genus nearly restricted to southeastern Brazil, and the Guiana Shield in Venezuela, with a few species in some places in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru. A new species of Microlicia endemic to the mountains of eastern Andes of Colombia is described and illustrated. Its affinities with other morphologically similar species from Venezuela are also documented. This novelty is the first record of the genus for Colombia and the northern Andes. It is argued that this disjunct distribution of the genus is attributable to the phenomenon of long-distance seed dispersal by wind.
Highlights
This new species was found in the course of reviewing collections in regional herbaria of Colombia generated by the Boyacá BIO project
Microlicia colombiana is recognized by its strigose nodes with long-stalked glands curled trichomes, and early caducous glands, leaves 3-nerved or 3-plinerved, hypanthium 10-costate, and pale trichomes between the calyx lobes
The anthers of species that are polysporangiate have both of their thecae divided into numerous small locules in a way that resembles the structure of a honeycomb (Almeda and Martins 2001), character that can be observed externally without dissecting the anther
Summary
Don is a genus of approximately 140 species, 135 of which occur in Brazil, two species grow in the Guaiana Shield of Venezuela, and two in the Andean mountains of Peru and Bolivia (Michelangeli and Cotton 2008, Romero 2013, Romero and Woodgyer 2015, Flora do Brasil 2019). The species of Microlicia are generally characterized by solitary flowers with five or occasionally six petals, a superior ovary with three or occasionally five locules, and capsules dehiscing longitudinally from the apex to the base (Almeda and Martins 2001, Romero 2003b). Difficulty in the delimitation of closely related species may explain the high number of names proposed for several species complexes in the genus (Romero and Woodgyer 2014)
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