A NEW SPECIES OF
HYBANTHUS (VIOLACEAE)
FROM PANAMA
Hybanthus is a very poorly known genus of
150 species of herbs, trees, and shrubs from the
Old and New World. The last synopsis of the genus
throughout its range enumerated 32 species in the
New World (Melchior, 1925); Morton (1944) pro-
vided the most recent synopsis of the Central Amer-
ican species. The new species proposed here, Hy-
banthus jefensis, is clearly distinct from all species
in Central America and is not placed within any
species presently known from Colombia (Smith &
Fernandez-P�rez, 1954).
Hybanthus jefensis Todzia, sp. nov. TYPE: Pan-
ama. Panama: Cerro Jefe, near Rio Indio,
2,100-2,200 ft., 17 Feb. 1968, Dwyer 1969
(holotype, MO). Figure 1.
Frutices caulibus juvenibus strigulosis; stipulae anguste
triangulares in siccitate chartaceae; folia alterna crenulata
glabra in siccitate rubropunctata in pagina inferna; inflo-
rescentiae axillares fasciculatae in brachyblastis, floribus
1-4 in pedicellis 1-2 cm longis; petalum panduratum
0.7-1 cm longum rotundatum ad apicem; capsulae 7-8
mm longae.
Shrubs 1-2.5 m tall; older stems terete, reddish
brown, glabrous, sparsely branched; younger stems
terete to quadrangular, dark to light brown, strig-
ulose with hairs curving upwards, with leaves erect
and � adpressed to stems; stipules narrowly tri-
angular, 1.5-2 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm broad at
base, drying chartaceous, brown. Leaves alternate,
elliptic to narrowly obovate, 3-12 cm long, 1-3.8
cm broad; petioles terete, 0.5-1 cm long, glabrous;
the blade acute at apex, attenuate at base, smooth,
glabrous, drying chartaceous with red dots and
reticulations beneath, each side with 5-7 usually
obscure, gradually arcuate lateral veins; the margin
crenulate with 8-17 glandular teeth on each side.
Inflorescences 1-4-flowered, axillary, fasciculate
on short shoots ca. 2 mm long; bracts inserted at
base of pedicels, lanceolate, 1-2 mm long, acute,
drying chartaceous, brown; bracteoles on lower half
of pedicels 0.5-1 mm long, lanceolate; pedicels 1-
2 cm long, slender, glabrous, articulate above the
middle. Flowers white, zygomorphic; sepals 5, lan-
ceolate, 2-2.5 mm long, acute, glabrous; lateral
petals 4, 4-5 mm long, falcate, with irregularly
crenate margins; anterior petal pandurate, 0.7-1
cm long, with claw 4-5 mm long, sparsely pilose,
lip 3-5 mm long, 4-5 mm broad at widest point,
rounded at apex, glabrous; stamens 5, sessile, free
or connate; filaments very short, the anterior 2
stamens with a subglobose gland dorsally; anthers
1-1.5 mm long, sparsely pilose dorsally and at
base; connective appendages ca. 2 mm long, 0.5-
1 mm broad, rounded at apex, membranaceous;
ovary globose, ca. 1 mm long, glabrous, with 3
locules containing 1-2 ovules each; style 2-3 mm
long, curved at apex. Capsules loculicidally and
elastically 3-valvate, 7-8 mm long, glabrous, with
3-6 seeds, often with persistent style and sepals;
seeds globose to ovoid, 2-3 mm diam., smooth,
black.
Distribution, habitat, and phenology. Endemic
to the Cerro Jefe region of the Prov. Panama,
Panama, at 650-1,000 m elevation in disturbed
and undisturbed premontane wet forest. Flowering
and fruiting October, November, December, Jan-
uary, and February.
Representative specimens examined. PANAMA.
PANAMA: region of Cerro Jefe, ca. 1,000 m, 3 Oct. 1969,
Correa et al. 1598 (MO); between Cerro Azul and Cerro
Jefe, 24 Dec. 1967, Dressler 3270 (MO); between Cerro
Jefe and La Eneida, 17 Jan. 1968, Dwyer et al. 8195
(MO); 6.5 km by road N of Lago Cerro Azul, 650-730
m, 13 Jan. 1974, Nee 9292 (MO).
This species is distinctive by virtue of its small
crenulate leaves with red dots and punctations when
dried; axillary inflorescences fasciculate on short
shoots ca. 2 mm long; stipules that are chartaceous
when dry; and pedicels 1-2 mm long. The anterior
petal, one of the most diagnostic characters of the
genus, is pandurate, 0.7-1 cm long, and rounded
apically. In southern Central America H. jej�nsis
appears to be most similar to H. guanacastensis
Standley from which the new species differs by its
chartaceous (vs. indurate) stipules, crenulate (vs.
doubly serrate) leaf margins, shorter anterior petals
(0.7-1 cm long vs. ca. 1.2 cm long), and smaller
capsules (0.7-0.8 cm long vs. 1.5-2 cm long).
Hybanthusjefensis is probably most closely related
to H. sylvicola Standley & Steyerm. of southern
ANN. MISSOURI BOT. GARD. 76: 360-362. 1989.


Notes
Volume 76, Number 1
1989
2.5mm
FIGURE 1. Hybanthus jefensis. -A. Habit with close-ups of leaf margin and leaf axil showing bracts at base of
fascicles.-B. Flower.-C. Close-up of anthers and style with sepals and petals removed.-D. Close-up of an anterior
anther. (A-D from Dwyer 1969.)-E. Fruit (from Dwyer 8195).
Mexico and Guatemala but differs by having strig-
ulose (vs. glabrous) young branches, leaves with
(vs. without) red punctations beneath, and lip 0.7-
1 cm vs. 1.1-1.3 cm long.
Hybanthus jefensis is yet another endemic to
the region of Cerro Jefe in central Panama (Lewis,
1971). In addition to the three Hybanthus species
reported in the Flora of Panama (Robyns, 1967),
two other species are presently known from Pan-
ama (D'Arcy, 1987; pers. obs).
361


Annals of the
Missouri Botanical Garden
KEY TO HYBANTHUS IN PANAMA
la. Shrubs or small trees, woody; flowers in fascicles borne on short shoots.
2a. Shrubs or small trees 1-7 m tall; capsules 0.7-2 cm long.
3a. Stipules drying white, indurate; leaves sharply serrate, drying uniform in color beneath, without
red dots; anterior petal 1.2-4 cm long; capsules 1-2 cm long.
4a. Anterior petal up to 4 cm long; capsules 1.5-2 cm long; seeds 4-5 mm long ........ H. prunifolius
4b. Anterior petal ca. 1.2 cm long; capsules 1-1.3 cm long; seeds 2-3 mm long .....................................
..........................................H . guanacastensis
3b. Stipules drying brown, chartaceous; leaves crenulate, drying with red dots and reticulations beneath;
anterior petal 0.7-1 cm long; capsules 0.7-0.8 cm long ..................................................... H. jefensis
2b. Shrubs less than 1 m tall; capsules 0.3-0.6 cm long . ........................................................ ................................ H . galeottii
lb. Annual or perennial herbs, not woody; flowers solitary, not borne on short shoots.
5a. Leaves opposite to subopposite at base, elliptic to lanceolate, long-attenuate at apex; plants annual ...
........ ... .......................................................... . a tten u a tu s
5b. Leaves alternate, ovate to oblong-ovate, acute at apex; plants perennial ........................................................ H. thiemii
I thank Guy Nesom for providing the Latin
description, Doris Lee Tischler for the handsome
illustration, and James W. Grimes, George Rogers,
and Henk van der Werff for reviewing the manu-
script. This work was supported by a Noyes Foun-
dation grant to the Missouri Botanical Garden.
LITERATURE CITED
D'ARCY, W. G. 1987. Flora of Panama. Checklist and
Index. Part 1: The Introduction and Checklist. Mono.
gr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 17.
LEWIS, W. H. 1971. High floristic endemism in low
cloud forests of Panama. Biotropica 3: 78-80.
MELCHIOR, M. 1925. Violaceae. In: A. Engler & K.
Prantl, Die Natfirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, ed. 2. 21:
329-377.
MORTON, C. V. 1944. The genus Hybanthus in con-
tinental North America. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 29:
74-82.
ROBYNS, A. 1967. Violaceae. In: R. E. Woodson, Jr.
& R. W. Schery (editors), Flora of Panama. Ann.
Missouri Bot. Gard. 54: 65-84.
SMITI, L. B. & A. FERN�NDEZ-P�REZ. 1954. Revisio
Violacearum Colombiae. Caldasia 6(28): 83-181.
-Carol A. Todzia, Department of Botany, Uni-
versity of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, U.S.A.
362