Abstract
A new species of Spigelia L. (Loganiaceae), Spigelia genuflexa Popovkin & Struwe, sp. n., from the Atlantic forest of northeastern Bahia, Brazil, is described, being the first reported geocarpic species in the family. During fruit maturation, the basal infructescences bend down towards the ground, depositing the fruit on the surface (and burying it in soft kinds of ground cover, e.g., moss), whereas the upper ones do so slightly but noticeably. The species is a short-lived annual apparently restricted to sandy-soil habitat of the Atlantic forest of northeastern Bahia, with variable and heterogeneous microenvironment and is known from only two restricted localities. A short review of amphi- and geocarpic species is provided. A discussion of comparative morphology within Spigelia with regards to dwarfism, indumentum, and annual habit is included. A phylogenetic parsimony and Bayesian analysis of ITS sequences from 15 Spigelia species plus 17 outgroups in Loganiaceae confirms its independent taxonomic status: on the basis of sequence similarity and phylogenetic topology it is phylogenetically distinct from all Spigelia species sequenced so far.
Highlights
Spigelia L. is a genus of approximately 60 species of Neotropical herbs to shrubs (Zappi 2005)
Most species are geographically restricted, several are widespread from North to South America, including S. anthelmia L., S. humboldtiana Cham. & Schltdl., and S. hamellioides Kunth, with Spigelia anthelmia naturalized in Africa and Malaysia
internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences confirm the position of S. genuflexa within the genus Spigelia relative to multiple outgroups in Loganiaceae
Summary
Spigelia L. is a genus of approximately 60 species of Neotropical herbs to shrubs (Zappi 2005). It is distributed from temperate South America (about the latitude of Buenos Aires, Argentina) northward into the tropics of South America, to Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, and into the warm-temperate southern United States. Spigelia species inhabit mid-elevation to lowland areas, with at least 60% of the species found in South America. Forty-three species are distributed in Brazil, including 15 in the state of Bahia, nine of which inhabit the Atlantic forest biome (“Mata Atlântica," Zappi et al 2010) where the new species is found. Most species are geographically restricted, several are widespread from North to South America, including S. anthelmia L., S. humboldtiana Cham. Most species are geographically restricted, several are widespread from North to South America, including S. anthelmia L., S. humboldtiana Cham. & Schltdl., and S. hamellioides Kunth, with Spigelia anthelmia naturalized in Africa and Malaysia
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