Taxonomy: Hohenbergia erecta B.P. Cavalcante, Versieux & A.P. Martinelli, sp. nov. Type: Brasil. Bahia: Mucugê, distrito de Brejo de Cima, Estrada Mucugê para Rio de Contas, 13°18'18.6"S, 41°33'06.2"W, 1153 m.s.m., 20 May 2019, B.P. Cavalcante, K.R. Silva & E.H. Souza 39. (holotype HURB 25311) (Figs. 1–3, Table 1).
Table 1
Morphological comparison between Hohenbergia erecta and H. catingae. Measurements are based on the original description of each species and were complemented by observations of living plants.
Characteristics/species
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Hohenbergia erecta
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Hohenbergia catingae
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Plant height (in blooming)
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140 cm
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Up to 180 cm
|
Rosette shape
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Tubular
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Crateriform
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Rosette diameter
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35 cm
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100 cm
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Leaf position
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Erect
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Curved to sub-erect
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Leaf sheath
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Elliptic, dilated and wider than leaf blade
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Ovoid, not dilated, similar to the leaf blade width
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Leaf blade
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Linear-lanceolate
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Linear
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Inflorescence indumentum
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Brown-lanate
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White-lanate
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Inflorescence peduncle length
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80 cm long
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60 cm long
|
Inflorescence fertile part
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Once-branched, 25 cm long, spikes sessile and congested at apical portion of the peduncle
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2–3-branched, 70 cm long, spikes long pedunculate and laxly arranged
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Inflorescence shape
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Cylindrical
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Pyramidal
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Inflorescence branch length (including the lateral peduncle)
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Up to 6 cm long
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Up to 30 cm long
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Flower length
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1.6–1.8 cm long
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1.8–2.0 cm long
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Petal
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Spatulate with an erect apex, light purple
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Spatulate with a reflexed apex, deep purple
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Stigma
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Shorter than stamens
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Longer than the stamens
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Hohenbergia erecta is closely related to H. catingae, but they differ on vegetative propagation (stolon vs short basal shoots), tubular rosette (vs crateriform rosette), linear-lanceolate leaves with erect and caudate apices (vs linear leaves with acuminate apices), sheaths wider than the leaf blades (vs sheaths and blades of the same width), once-branched inflorescence (vs 2–3-branched inflorescence) covered by a brownish indument (vs whitish indument), petals with rounded apices (vs petals with acuminate apices), and included stigma (vs exserted stigma).
Plants ca. 90 cm tall when sterile and 140 cm tall when flowering, with an elongate stem, giving a caulescent and erect aspect to the plant, reproducing by robust stolons, heliophyte, growing on sandy soils or on naked rocks in Caatinga vegetation; rosette tubular with a high capacity to impound water, tank ca. 35 cm diam. × 50 cm height; leaves 80–90 cm long, coriaceous, erect, greenish, more than 15 in number, marcescent; sheaths 20–24 × 13–16 cm, greenish, elliptic, dilated, margins smooth; leaf blades 60–70 × 3–6 cm, linear-lanceolate with an acuminate apex, spines black and conspicuous, 0.2 cm long; apical mucro 0.5–1 cm long, blackish, conspicuous. Peduncle 70–80 × 0.6–0.9 cm, reddish, covered by a brownish lanate indument; peduncle bracts 7–9 cm long, lanceolate, papyraceous, smooth margins, covered by a brown-lanate indument, shorter than the internode in length, apex acuminate but inconspicuous in color; inflorescence 20–25 cm long (fertile portion), cylindrical, congested at the apical portion of the peduncle, once-branched, with short and strobilate spikes, lateral spikes sessile (basal spike rarely sub-sessile); primary bracts ca. 6 cm long, similar to the bracts of the peduncle in shape and color, covered by a brown-lanate indument, longer than the branches; basal spike 4–5 cm long, sessile or rarely sub-sessile, strobilate, sometimes hidden by the primary bract, covered by a brown-lanate indumentum, with less than 13 flowers per spike; distal spikes 3–4 cm long, sessile, grouped in the apical portion of the inflorescence and covered by a brow-lanate indument, presenting up to 8 flowers per spike. Floral bracts ca. 0.8–1.0 × 1.2 cm, green and coriaceous at the base and brownish, strongly nerved and papyraceous at the apex, triangular, with an acuminate apex, longer than the sepals; flowers 1.6–1.9 cm long, tubular, sessile, diurnal anthesis (ca. 4 am–3 pm) with a slightly sweet odor; sepals 0.5–0.7 × 0.8 cm, green, triangular with an acute apex and lacking a visible wing; petals 0.8–1.0 cm long, spatulate, purple; petal appendages ca. 2–3 mm long, fringed, on the basal portion of the petals; stamens 0.8–0.9 cm long, white, included; anthers 0.2–0.3 cm long, cylindrical, yellowish, exceeding the style; style 0.5–0.6 cm long, white, erect, shorter than the stamens; stigma conduplicate-spiral, lobes congested, exserted; ovary 0.2–0.3 × 0.4 cm, ovoidal, ventrally flattened and covered by floral bracts, with interlocular nectaries; ovule numerous, anatropous, with a developed chalazal appendage; fruit berry 1.5–1.7 cm long, green or blue when ripe; seeds 0.9–2 mm long, lightly ellipsoidal and brownish.
Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the erect and elongated aspect of the rosette and inflorescence.
Phenology: The beginning of flowering was not observed, but blooming individuals were found in May and kept blooming until July.
Distribution and habitat: Hohenbergia erecta was found growing in sandy soils in Caatinga vegetation of Chapada Diamantina (Bahia), near rocks fields, in an unnamed road that connects the municipality of Mucugê to Brejo de Cima, sympatric with other bromeliads, such as species of Ortophytum sp., Encholirium sp., and Neogloziovia variegata. No other Hohenbergia species was observed at this location. The region has a Caatinga-type vegetation, with a few trees, large to medium sized shrubs, herbs and a great number of rocks. The climate in this area is dry, with a short rainy season (March to May), slightly cold in the morning and at night, and hot in the afternoon.
Conservation status: The type locality is an extensive Caatinga forest close to a small community (Brejo de Cima) in the municipality of Mucugê and signs of illegal collections were observed in the area. In addition, it grows in a region that is being affected by deforestation events for road construction. When we plot the known occurrences of this species in Geocat software (geocat.kew.org), the estimated extent of occurrence was 0.385 km2, while the area of occupancy is estimated as 8.000 km2. Given these areas, the conservation status suggested was Critically Endangered (CR), however the area of occurrence of the species is a vast area of Caatinga, making it difficult to accurately estimate the total area of its distribution. Nonetheless, considering the impacts observed and projected for the area, we place this new species as Endangered (EN), according to the IUCN definition (IUCN, 2021).