Trimezia campanula, a new species of Trimezieae (Iridaceae) from Brazil

Abstract

Trimezia campanula (Iridaceae: Iridoideae), here described and illustrated, is endemic to Caparaó Mountains, Brazil. The new species broadens the circumscription of Trimezia. Its distinctive features include a golden-yellow campanulate perianth and filiform style branches with undivided apices that lack crests and have an apical stigmatic zone. The flowers of T. campanula most closely resemble those of Pseudotrimezia, but species of that genus have yellow anthers and cylindrical leaves, whereas T. campanula has black anthers and flat leaves. Although different from the other species of Trimezia, the new species is here placed because of a combination of characters that includes cylindrical flowering stems, flat leaves, a spotted perianth, and ellipsoid fruits. Phylogenetic analyses also strongly support its inclusion in Trimezia, where the new species emerges in a clade close to T. martinicensis, the type species of the genus. © 2010 The New York Botanical Garden.