Pitcairnia mirandae Utley & BurtUtley (Bromeliaceae) is described as new from the state of Chiapas in Mexico. This new species is compared with P breedlovei Lyman B. Smith, which it most closely resembles. The variety of habitats in Chiapas (Miranda, 1952; Breedlove, 1973) is reflected in the ecological diversity and distribution of the 14 species of Pitcairnia known from the state. The ecological preferences of the species range from the dry forests or dry microhabitats within mesic forests where the deciduous taxa, P heterophylla (Lindley) Beer and P karwinskyana Schultes f., are typically encountered to the decidedly mesic formations preferred by P recurvata (Scheidweiler) K. Koch and P. undulata Scheidweiler. Moreover, about one-half of these species are endemic to Chiapas and adjacent portions of Mexico and Guatemala (Utley & Burt-Utley, 1994). Pitcairnia mirandae, which we are proposing as a new species, occurs in the Bosque Tropical Caducifolio of Chiapas and is most similar to the Chiapan endemic, P breedlovei Lyman B. Smith (Smith, 1966; Utley & Burt-Utley, 1994), which is known from Bosques de Coniferas y Quercus. Pitcairnia mirandae Utley & Burt-Utley, sp. nov. TYPE: Mexico. Chiapas: Municipio de Villa Corzo, 39.2 mi. S of MEX 190 E of Tuxtla Gutierrez along road to Revoluci6n Mexicana, steep forested slopes above stream with rock outcrops, 2000 ft., 27 July 1992, Utley & Utley 8800 (holotype, MEXU; isotypes, CAS, MO, US). Figure 1. Planta herbacea caule. Inflorescentia paniculata pauciramosa vel racemosa. Sepala adaxialia pariter carinata. Petala testacea 3.5-4.1 cm longa. Ovarium ?2-2/3 inferum: Terrestrial herbs, acaulescent with a bulbous rosette when young becoming up to 4 dm caulescent with age; the stems typically covered by the densely imbricate leaf sheaths. Leaves entire, dimorphic, sheaths of both types clasping, broadly triangular, entire, 3-4 cm wide and 1.5-3.5 cm long, dark castaneous abaxially, pale to light brown adaxially, adaxially glabrous, abaxially glabrous basally becoming densely pubescent distally. Blades of the outer (lower) leaves soft spinose to linear, acuminate to attenuate, 0.2-0.3 cm wide and 1.5-15 cm long, glabrous adaxially, densely cinerous pubescent abaxially. Blades of the inner (upper) leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long acuminate to attenuate, narrowed and somewhat channeled basally but not petiolate, 1-1.7 cm wide and 45-85 cm long, glabrous adaxially, densely cinerous pubescent abaxially. Scape erect, 39-49(-92) cm long, scatteredto floccose-lanate, becoming locally glabrous with age. Scape bracts strongly clasping and imbricate proximally becoming clasping and lax distally, exposing much of the rachis, blades erect to divergent or occasionally spreading; lowermost bracts resembling the outer leaves, sheaths broadly triangular (ovate), 1.5-2.5 cm wide and 2.5-3.5 cm long, cinerously floccose-pubescent becoming glabrous with age, castaneous to stramineous; blades 1-2 mm wide, 2-11 cm long, linear; middle bracts lacking clear distinction between blade and sheath, 0.8-1.1 cm wide, 10-30 cm long, narrowly ovate basally becoming narrowly triangular and attenuate distally, fugaciously cinerous-pubescent abaxially, glabrous to scattered lepidote adaxially; upper bracts reduced but similar to the middle bracts (occasionally with distinct, narrowly triangular blades), 3-6 cm long, 0.6-1 cm wide. Primary bracts with ovate sheaths and narrowly triangular, attenuate blades, spreading to subreflexed, 2.7-4.2 cm long, 0.6-1.1 cm wide, densely cinerous becoming glabrous with age abaxially, scattered lepidote adaxially. Inflorescence an erect 2-3-branched panicle or simple and racemose, laxly many-flowered, rachis (of compound inflorescences) 20-76 cm long; branches spreading to ascending (or the single, erect raceme in simple inflorescences), (11-)20-50 cm long, sterile basal portion 3-10 cm long, (8-)1530-flowered. Floral bracts triangular, attenuate, scattered to subdensely lepidote, spreading to reNovoN 8: 304-306. 1998. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.114 on Thu, 26 May 2016 06:55:01 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Volume 8, Number 3 Utley & Burt-Utley 305 1998 Pitcairnia mirandae from Chiapas