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Issue: Vol. 714 No. 4: 14 Aug. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-08-14
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.714.4.2
Page range: 270-280
Abstract views: 443
PDF downloaded: 16

Passiflora nosferatu sp. nov., the second exclusively unipetalous species within Passiflora supersect. Tacsonia (Passifloraceae); including notes on P. brachyantha from central-southern Ecuador

School of Environment, Faculty of Sciences, University of Auckland, City Campus for science and engineering, Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand
University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Basel, Northwestern Switzerland
Herbario HUTPL, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, San Cayetano Alto s/n 11-01-608, Loja, Ecuador; Jungle Dave’s Science Foundation, San Juan Bosco, Ecuador
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Science & Horticultre Researchers, London, United Kingdom
Universidad Nacional de Loja (UNL), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Ecuador
Grupo de Investigación en Medio Ambiente y Salud (BIOMAS), Ingeniería en Agroindustria, Facultad de Ingenierías y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Vía a Nayón, Quito 170124, Ecuador
Herbario GUAY, Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad de Guayaquil, Av. Raúl Gómez Lince s.n. y Av. Juan Tanca Marengo (campus Mapasingue), Guayaquil, Ecuador
Curuba ecuador granadilla loja passionflower passionfruit Tacsonia Eudicots

Abstract

Two rare endemic species of genus Passiflora (Passifloraceae) from Ecuador have been studied and illustrated. This study has uncovered a new consistently unipetalous species closely related to the Ecuadorean P. unipetala. Field studies have shown maintainable vegetative and floral differences between the new species from Bolívar province proposed here as Passiflora nosferatu sp.nov. and P. unipetala found just west of Quito in Pichincha province. A comparison between P. unipetala and P. nosferatu has been provided, along with notes on the conservation, distribution, ecology and taxonomy of these two species. In addition, this study provides new and improved notes on P. brachyantha, a species of P. supersect. Tacsonia found only in southern Ecuador. This species is showing an alarming decline in population and distribution, where much of its original forest has been destroyed. Two new populations were observed, though recent road construction has already damaged both these localities leaving the future of the species uncertain.

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How to Cite

Kuethe, J., Wettges, M., Garzón-Suárez, H.X., Magdalena, C., Torres, A., Jiménez, M.M. & Cornejo, X. (2025) Passiflora nosferatu sp. nov., the second exclusively unipetalous species within Passiflora supersect. Tacsonia (Passifloraceae); including notes on P. brachyantha from central-southern Ecuador. Phytotaxa 714 (4): 270–280. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.714.4.2