Obtegomeria (Lamiaceae), a New Genus from South America

Abstract

Obtegomeria Doroszenko & P. D. Cantino, a new genus based on Satureja sect. Obtectae Epling & Jitiva, is distinguished from the rest of the Satureja complex by the combination of stiffly ascending, replicate leaves, lower lip of the corolla nearly to fully as long as the tube, and reticulate pollen. Obtegomeria is monotypic and endemic to Colombia. The new combination Obtegomeria caerulescens (Bentham) Doroszenko & P. D. Cantino is provided. The Satureja complex (Satureja L. s.1.) occurs in both the Old and New Worlds and has been variably treated as a single genus (Briquet, 1895-1897; Epling & Jitiva, 1964, 1966) or as many as 17 (Doroszenko, 1985). The authors of this paper have differing views on the classification of Satureja s.1. Using a phenetic approach, one of us recognizes seven genera in the New World (Doroszenko, 1985), while the other has made a phylogenetic argument for recognizing only three (Cantino & Wagstaff, 1998). However, we agree that Obtegomeria warrants segregation. It is separated from the rest of the complex by a substantial phenetic gap and has four probable synapomorphies. There is no evidence that its segregation would render any other genus paraphyletic. Obtegomeria is monotypic and endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northeastern Colombia. A numerical cluster analysis (Doroszenko, 1985) found Obtegomeria caerulescens to be among the most phenetically distinct species in the complex. It pairs most closely with Piloblephis Rafinesque, a monotypic North American genus that has been excluded from Satureja (Cantino & Wagstaff, 1998) based on a chloroplast DNA restriction site analysis (Wagstaff et al., 1995) that did not include Obtegomeria. The similarity between Obtegomeria and Piloblephis is limited to vegetative features (both are ericoid shrubs with tightly revolute leaves); they differ greatly in inflorescence and floral morpholo-