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Issue: Vol. 705 No. 1: 11 Jun. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-06-11
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.705.1.1
Page range: 1-18
Abstract views: 124
PDF downloaded: 13

Overlooked for 200 years: a new species of Sacoila (Orchidaceae) from the Espinhaço mountain range of Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Engenharia Florestal, Departamento de Botânica, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Engenharia Florestal, Departamento de Botânica, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Engenharia Florestal, Departamento de Botânica, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Rodovia MGT 367 - Km 583, nº 5.000, 39100-000, Alto da Jacuba, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Jardim Botânico, 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu Nacional, Departamento de Botânica, Quinta da Boa Vista s.n., São Cristóvão, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Departamento de Botânica, 70910-900, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
Campo rupestre endemism grasslands montane ecosystem Neotropics Spiranthinae Monocots

Abstract

Sacoila espinhacensis, a new species from Brazil is described, illustrated and compared with other species of the genus. The species is endemic to the Espinhaço Range in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. The first records date back about two centuries, but the species has been misidentified ever since. The new species is corroborated by morphology and molecular phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear and plastid markers. The main distinguishing features of S. espinhacensis are flowering during the rainy season, flat, pseudopetiolate leaves with a conspicuous hyaline margin, present during anthesis, a generally short inflorescence, orange flowers and a distribution restricted to rupestrian field vegetation between 800 and 1600 metres above sea level. The fact that S. espinhacensis has remained unnoticed for over two hundred years highlights the mistaken focus on highly conserved floral morphology in Sacoila taxonomy, and emphasises the importance of other characteristics, such as vegetative morphology, phenology, ecology and distribution, for the characterisation and delimitation of Sacoila species.

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How to Cite

Batista, J.A.N., Moreira, V.A., Cruz-Lustre, G., Menezes, E.L.F. & Meneguzzo, T.E.C. (2025) Overlooked for 200 years: a new species of Sacoila (Orchidaceae) from the Espinhaço mountain range of Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil. Phytotaxa 705 (1): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.705.1.1