A new species of Cordia ( Cordiaceae ) for the state of Minas Gerais , Brazil

Guimarães, E.F., Ranga, N.T. & Melo, J.I.M. 2016. A new species of Cordia (Cordiaceae) for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 73(1): e034. A new species of the genus Cordia (Cordiaceae), C. kuhlmannii E.F. Guim., N.T. Ranga & J.I.M. Melo, for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil is described and illustrated. The species, belonging to the section Gerascanthus is characterized mainly by irregular calyx lobes, corolla with narrow tube, stamens with glabrate bases and long branches of the style.


INTRODUCTION
The generic limits of Cordia L. were recently reviewed by Gottschling & Miller (2006), who subordinated the species of Auxemma Miers and Patagonula L. to this genus, and by Miller & Gottschling (2007), who revalidated Varronia P. Browne.
Despite the segregation of species of Varronia, Cordia is still the most representative genus of Cordiaceae, including approximately 250 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, being particularly well represented in the American continent (Miller & Gottschling, 2007).
The genus Cordia sensu lato encompasses 350 species (Taroda & al., 2012) and, in the new world, its main center of taxonomic diversification is Brazil, with 52 species, of which 28 are endemic to the flora of the country (Melo & al., 2014).
Regarding species of Cordia most are trees or shrubs, with branches showing simple or stellate trichomes; alternate, simple leaves; flowers grouped in a paniculate or thyrsoid inflorescence, axillary or terminal, lax or congested, generally with tubular to campanulate calyx, externally smooth or costate, 3-10-dentate, corolla funnel-shaped or hypocrateriform, white, yellow or orange, with included or excluded stamens and the ovary bilocular with 2 ovules per locule, terminal style split at the apex, with 4 stigmatic branches; the fruit is a drupe-like, carrying 1 seed, with persistent calyx.
The genus Cordia has been revised for Brazil in its traditional concept (Taroda & Gibbs, 1986a;1986b;1987) as a whole or, in the sensu stricto, in part (Stapf, 2010).More recently, a revision of Cordia sect.Gerascanthus P. Browne was elaborated by Miller (2013).According to this same author (2013), their species are characterized by flowers with tubular, ribbed calyces and, marcescent corollas surrounding the developing fruit, aiding in its wind dispersal, and fruits ellipsoid, single-seeded, with a fibrous wall.However, a new species, C. kuhlmannii E.F.Guim., N.T. Ranga & J.I.M. Melo, belonging to Cordia sect.Gerascanthus is here described and illustrated for the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, being recognized for lobes of calyx irregular, corolla with narrow tube, stamens with glabrate base, and long style branches.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Exsiccatae deposited in the major herbaria of the state of Rio de Janeiro were analyzed: GUA, HB, R, RB, RFA and RUSU (Thiers, 2014).For the taxonomic description, the works of Hickey (1974) and Weberling (1995) were consulted for the standardization of morphological terminology.Data on geographical distribution, habitat and flowering are presented, in addition to images containing the species diagnostic characters, and also an identification key of the Brazilian representatives of the section Gerascanthus, based on specimens of the herbaria of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The section Gerascanthus comprises 23 species distributed in the Neotropics (Miller, 2013) and, of these, six species have been recorded so far for Brazil (Miller, 2013;Melo & al., 2014).According to Stapf (2010), phylogenetic studies indicate that the section is monophyletic, being well supported by morphological and molecular data.
Distribution and habitat.The locality where the type specimen was collected (Figueira, Córrego do Capim, Rio Doce), over 80 years ago, currently corresponds to the city of Governador Valadares, formerly named as District of Santo Antonio da Figueira (IBGE, 2014).The species is known only from the type specimen, and for this reason it is considered endemic to the state of Minas Gerais.
Conservation status.Cordia kuhlmannii is probably endemic to Minas Gerais, considering that so far it is known only from the type specimen collected in 1930.Since there are no other records for the species in the consulted herbaria, it may be classified in the ED category (endangered) according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN, 2001).
This species fits into the section Gerascanthus for possessing a marcescent corolla during fructification.Cordia kuhlmannii is morphologically similar to C. latiloba and C. goeldiana, which also possess a campanulate calyx.However, it differs from the above mentioned species by having an urceolate calyx, i.e., with inflated base and narrow at the apex, as well as glabrous filaments at the base and the presence of a discoid expansion at the style base, similar to a stylopodium.According to Kuhlmann (in sched.), this tree is popularly called laurel and the wood was used in the manufacture of doors.The features of Brazilian species of Cordia section Gerascanthus are comparatively presented in Tab. 1.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.Cordia kuhlmannii.A, reproductive branch; B, detail of the indumentum of the branch; C, detail of the foliar venation; D, flower; E, calyx; F, calyx showing the gynoecium; G, detail of the indumentum of the outer portion of the calyx; H, corolla showing the androecium.Drawn by Renato de C. Moraes.

Table 1 .
Comparative features for Brazilian species of Cordia sect.Gerascanthus.