Matelea tarrazuana (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae), a new critically endangered ocellate species from Central Pacific of Costa Rica

Abstract

Matelea tarrazuana, a new species endemic to Costa Rica, is described and illustrated. It is similar to M. pusilliflora, a vine from Yucatan Peninsula because of its green flowers with a reflective white spot in the apex at the apex of each lobe, but differs from that species by its longer pedicels, larger corolla lobes, staminal corona purple (vs. orange), gynostegium with the style apex purple (vs. green) and inhabiting premontane forests of Costa Rica. Data on its distribution and habitat, phenology, conservation status and taxonomy are included, as well as photographs of the living plant, and a key to identify the five related species in Mesoamerica.

Two new remarkable Dendropanax (Araliaceae) from Costa Rica

“…In the last decades, forests in this region, between 1000-1700 m a.s.l., have been strongly impacted and slowly destroyed by coffee plantations and paddocks for cattle (Cedeño et al, 2020;Jiménez & Jairo-Hidalgo, 2021). Los Santos and surrounding areas (Valle del Candelaria) are a diversity hotspot, with many narrowly endemic species described in the last two decades (e.g., Morales, 1997Morales, , 1999Morales, , 2003Morales, , 2006Morales, , 2007Morales, , 2008Morales, , 2018aMorales, , 2018bBerrie, 2004;Estrada & Cascante, 2004;Gonzales & Morales, 2004;Rodríguez, 2004;Rodríguez & Morales, 2004;Hammel & Zamora, 2005;Hammel, 2006;Estrada & Santamaria, 2010;Kennedy & Hammel, 2011;Jiménez et al, 2016;Morales & Stevens, 2020;Cedeno et al, 2021;Jiménez & Mora-Hidalgo, 2021;Juárez & Morales, 2021). The Candelaria valley is highly deforested, with only a few remnants of disturbed forest remaining, but in some areas, a slow recolonization process has begun, mostly in abandoned pastures.…”

Columnea blancoi (Gesneriaceae), a New Species from the Central Pacific Region of Costa Rica

“…1). Despite this, new endemic plant species have recently been found and described in this region, which is now threatened by the expansion of coffee plantations (Estrada and Santamaría, 2010; Jiménez et al, 2016; Morales, 2018a; 2018b; Cedeño et al, 2020; Jiménez and Hidalgo-Mora, 2021; Juárez and Morales, 2021).…”

A New Species of Matelea (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae) from the Península de Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

“…Nevertheless, though some characters have been useful to delimit clades, more evidence and documentation, including stronger phylogenetic hypotheses, are still necessary (McDonnell et al, 2018). Despite the lack of monophyly of Matelea s.l., several new species have been described following the traditional circumscription of the genus (Cortez et al, 2018; Alvarado-Cárdenas et al, 2020; Jiménez & Hidalgo-Mora, 2021; Juárez-Jaimes et al, 2021).…”