When Henriettella/Henriettea meets Loreya/Bellucia: two new species of Henriettea from Northern Peru with pedunculate inflorescences

Goldenberg R.; Fernandez-Hilario R.; Michelangeli F.A. · Botany Letters (2026) · DOI: 10.1080/23818107.2025.2590712

Resumen

We describe two species of Henriettea (Henrietteeae, Melastomataceae) from montane forests in Northern Peru. Both can be recognized by the distinctly pedunculate inflorescences (1.3–4.5 mm long, with up to 10 flowers in H. colanensis; 9–20 mm long, with 9–20 flowers in H. pedunculata) and petals with two distinct portions divided by a thick, lobed sheath on the adaxial surface. The stamens in H. pedunculata have an additional distinctive character in that the anther dehiscence is through two large, rimose-like ventral openings comprising up to 2/3 of the thecae length (vs. two minute, adaxially inclined pores in H. colanensis). All three characters listed above (inflorescences, petals, and anther dehiscence) are discussed in further detail, along with their occurrence in Henriettea and Bellucia, and also Henriettella and Loreya, these last two genera recently synonymized respectively under the former and the latter. In the absence of a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for Henrietteae, we opted to place the two new species in Henriettea, despite the distinctly pedunculate inflorescence that is absent in this genus, and usually present in Bellucia. Henriettea colanensis has been collected eight times in a single locality in the department of Amazonas, province of Bagua. The second, H. pedunculata, has been collected only once, in the department of Cajamarca, province of San Ignacio, despite being searched for and not found by one of the authors in November 2024.