A new species of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) for the Brazilian Flora discovered in an anthropic habitat

Ipomoea is one of the most diverse genera of Angiosperms, with 700 to 800 species. Several of them are widespread ruderal, often highly polymorphic, making species delimitation a challenge. When collecting Brazilian Convolvulaceae, one specimen from an anthropic Cerrado area in Mato Grosso do Sul state, caught our attention. Morphological, palynological, and anatomical analyses were performed to compare this unidentified species to its closest relatives. Ipomoea cryptocarpa Belo & Buril, sp. nov., the new species described here, is similar to I. bahiensis, a widespread ruderal plant, due to the shape of the leaves and the presence of an appendage on the sepals. However, they can be distinguished by the shape of the sepals appendage, fruit length, pollen morphology, indument on the leaf blade, petiole, peduncle, and anatomical characters, such as the contour of epidermis, distribution, and types of stomata, the number of laticiferous canals in the petiole, and types of collenchyma observed in the stem. We provide a diagnosis, besides morphological, anatomical, and palynological descriptions, illustrations, and notes on the distribution of the new species. Its informal conservation status is presented as Data Deficient (DD) since only one population is known so far.

Keywords:
Brazilian flora; leaf anatomy; morning glory; palynology; species boundaries