Psittacanthus (Loranthaceae) in Brazil: new occurrences, lectotypifications, new synonyms and an illustrated key

Abstract

We present results related to the taxonomic revision of Psittacanthus (Loranthaceae) for “Flora do Brasil 2020”. Three new records were found: Psittacanthus kempffii to Rondônia, P. lasianthus to Roraima, and P. truncatus to Mato Grosso. Twelve new synonyms are proposed here: P. carnosus, P. crassipes and P. pustullosus (synonyms for P. acinarius), P. duckei (for P. biternatus), P. baguensis (for P. crassifolius, P. salvadorensis (for P. excrenulatus), P. bergii (for P. grandifolius, P. brachypodus, P. leptanthus and P. redactus (for P. lamprophyllus), P. acevedoi and P. rugostylus (for P. plagiophyllus). Three lectotypes are designated: for P. lasianthus, P. rugostylus and P. biternatus, which makes the neotype previously designated for P. biternatus superfluous. The type-specimen of P. formosus (synonym of P. robustus) was recently found. We propose an identification key for the 33 Brazilian species, with illustrations of the main characters used.

The pollination ecology of a rare case of bee‐pollinated Psittacanthus mistletoe

“…In Brazil, it occurs in various states of the midwest, north, northeast and southeast regions of the country, and is most common in the Caatinga (sensu stricto), Cerrado (sensu lato), gallery forests, terra firme and floodplain forests, as well as areas of restinga. It preferentially parasitizes tree species of the famiies Fabaceae and Apocynaceae (Dettke & Caires 2021). Plants bear inflorescences with two or three pairs of triads, with bisexual, slightly zygomorphic and hexamerous flowers, whose isomorphic petals are fused at the base of an inferior ovary, forming a short corolla tube and petals that curve backwards for threequarters of the length of the floral tube, thus allowing scopabearing bees to land (Kuijt 2009;Fadini et al 2018).…”

“…1,000) (Nickrent 2011). The Neotropical genus Psittacanthus (Loranthaceae) has nearly 120 species (Kuijt 2009), of which 33 occur in Brazil (Dettke & Caires 2021). They are all aerial, shrubby hemiparasites that belongs to a large functional group known as mistletoes .…”

Efectos mediados por hospedero en la variación del tamaño de frutos del muérdago hemiparásito Psittacanthus schiedeanus (Loranthaceae)

“…(Santalales, Loranthaceae), distributed from Baja California, Sonora, and Tamaulipas in Mexico to northern Argentina, is the most species-rich genus of the family in the continent (ca. 110 species; Kuijt, 2009;Ornelas, 2019;Dettke and Caires, 2021). Psittacanthus species are distinguished by their large and bulky haustoria, and by the long colorful flowers presumably pollinated by hummingbirds, and few species by bumblebees and bats (Azpeitia and Lara, 2006;Ramírez and Ornelas, 2010;Guerra et al, 2014;Pérez-Crespo et al, 2016b;Fadini et al, 2018;Diniz et al, 2022), as well as by their large, lipid-rich, one-seeded fruits (Kuijt, 1967(Kuijt, , 2018López de Buen and Ornelas, 1999;Ramírez and Ornelas, 2012).…”

Transcriptional Basis for Haustorium Formation and Host Establishment in Hemiparasitic Psittacanthus schiedeanus Mistletoes

“…We used transcriptomics to identify gene expression profiles of experimentally inoculated seeds across time. Psittacanthus is the most species-rich mistletoe genus of the family in the Americas (approximately 110 species; Kuijt, 2009 ; Dettke and Caires, 2021 ). Psittacanthus schiedeanus produces orange-to-yellow, self-compatible bisexual flowers pollinated mainly by hummingbirds ( Supplementary Figure S1A ; Ramírez and Ornelas, 2010 ), and ripe purplish-black, lipid-rich, one-seed fruits dispersed by a variety of birds ( Supplementary Figures S1B–D ; López de Buen and Ornelas, 1999 ; Ramírez and Ornelas, 2012 ).…”