First record of Aristolochia wankeana (Aristolochiaceae, Piperales) from Brazil with a key to the species of Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Aristolochia comprises about 450 species, occurring mainly in tropical regions. Here, we record for the first time Aristolochia wankeana in Brazil, specifically in two municipalities in the state of Amazonas (Presidente Figueiredo and Rio Preto da Eva).
Previously, this species had only been recorded in Guyana and French Guiana. We provide the species description based on the new records, a preliminary extinction risk assessment, photographic plates, an updated geographic distribution map, ecological comments, and an updated key for species identification of Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae from the Brazilian Amazon.

Full text

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202401281
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BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION | SHORT COMMUNICATION
CITE AS: Araújo, A.M. de; Batista, C.A. dos S.; Perdiz, R. de O.; Mello, A.T.; Soares, M.M.M.; Freitas, J. 2024. First record of Aristolochia wankeana (Aristolochiaceae,
Piperales) from Brazil with a key to the species of Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae from the Brazilian Amazon. Acta Amazonica 54: e54bc24128.
First record of Aristolochia wankeana (Aristolochiaceae,
Piperales) from Brazil with a key to the species of
Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae from the Brazilian
Amazon
Adriane Maciel de ARAÚJO1,6* , Caio Augusto dos Santos BATISTA2 , Ricardo de Oliveira PERDIZ3 ,
Antonio Tavares MELLO1, Matheus Mickael Mota SOARES4 , Joelcio FREITAS5
1 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, 69060-001 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
2 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, 69057-970 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
3 Universidade Federal de Roraima, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais, 69304-000 Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil
4 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, 69067-375 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
5 Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, 29650-000 Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil
6 Museu da Amazônia, 69099-415 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
*Corresponding author: adrianne.maciel.a@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Aristolochia comprises about 450 species, occurring mainly in tropical regions. Here, we record for the first time Aristolochia
wankeana in Brazil, specifically in two municipalities in the state of Amazonas (Presidente Figueiredo and Rio Preto da Eva).
Previously, this species had only been recorded in Guyana and French Guiana. We provide the species description based on the
new records, a preliminary extinction risk assessment, photographic plates, an updated geographic distribution map, ecological
comments, and an updated key for species identification of Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae from the Brazilian Amazon.
KEYWORDS: cauliflory, flora of South America, Guiana Shield, lianas, Neotropical region
Primeiro registro de Aristolochia wankeana (Aristolochiaceae, Piperales)
no Brasil, com uma chave para as espécies de Aristolochia subser.
Anthocaulicae da Amazônia brasileira
RESUMO
Aristolochia possui cerca de 450 espécies, ocorrendo principalmente em regiões tropicais. Aqui registramos pela primeira vez
Aristolochia wankeana no Brasil, especificamente em dois municípios do estado do Amazonas (Presidente Figueiredo e Rio
Preto da Eva). A espécie havia sido anteriormente registrada apenas na Guiana e Guiana Francesa. Neste estudo, fornecemos
a descrição da espécie com base nos novos registros, a avaliação preliminar do risco de extinção, pranchas fotográficas, um
mapa de distribuição geográfica atualizado, comentários ecológicos, e uma chave atualizada de identificação das espécies de
Aristolochia subser. Anthocaulicae da Amazônia brasileira.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: caulifloria, Escudo das Guianas, flora da América do Sul, lianas, região Neotropical
Aristolochia L. is the largest genus of the family Aristolochiaceae
(Piperales), with about 450 species distributed mainly in
tropical regions (POWO 2023). In Brazil, the genus is
represented by 85 species distributed across all phytogeographic
domains, except the Pantanal (BFG 2024; Freitas et al. 2022).
In the Brazilian Amazon, 37 species are known (BFG 2024).
The genus Aristolochia includes plants with climbing
habit, herbs or shrubs, corky stems, alternate simple,
petiolate or sessile leaves (with pseudostipules present
or absent), leaf blades with 3–7 primary veins, axillary
cauliflorous and racemose inflorescences (pauciflorum or not),
monochlamydeous gamosepalous flowers presenting utricle,
tube and limb, capsular, usually cylindrical or fusiform fruits
with numerous concave-convex or flat seeds (alates or not)
(Freitas and Alves-Araújo 2017; Freitas et al. 2022).
Within the taxonomic groups of Aristolochia that occur
in South America, 25 species are part of Aristolochia subseries
Anthocaulicae F. González, which present inflorescences in

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ramiflorous or cauliflorous racemes, with internodes between
the flowers reduced 5 mm, and flowers subtended by small
bracts (González 1990; 1991). This subseries is distributed in
the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, as well as in some countries
of Central America (BFG 2024; POWO 2023). Aristolochia
wankeana J. Freitas, F. González & Poncy is a representative
of this subseries and was described in 2020, with known
occurrences at that time in Guyana and French Guiana.
It forms a species complex with A. cornuta Mast. and A.
iquitensis O.C.Schmidt, both being distinguished by perianth
analysis using geometric morphometry (Freitas et al. 2020).
Recent collections in Amazonas state, Brazil, expanded the
distribution of A. wankeana and here we present the first record
of this species for Brazil, with a morphological description,
taxonomic comments, an updated distribution map, high-
resolution photographs and an updated identification key for
the species that occur in the Brazilian Amazon.
Specimens of A. wankeana were collected in August 2019
and August 2023 in the municipalities of Rio Preto da Eva
and Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas state, Brazil, respectively.
The climate in the region is tropical humid with no dry season
(Sombroek 2001), of the type Af according to the Köppen-
Geiger climate classification (Beck et al. 2018). The material was
deposited in the INPA herbarium [acronym according to Thiers
(2024, continuously updated)]. The species determination was
based on Freitas et al. (2020). We used characters collected in
the field and observed the material available in the herbarium.
We also dissected the flowers stored in 70% alcohol. We
obtained the measurements presented here through image
analysis using the ImageJ software (Schneider et al. 2012).
We created a geographic distribution map of the known
records of A. wankeana in the R environment, version 4.3.3
(R Core Team 2024), with the R packages grid (R Core Team
2024), sf (Pebesma 2018; Pebesma and Bivand 2023) and tmap
(Tennekes 2018). We obtained the shapes of South American
countries and Brazilian states by R packages rnaturalearth
(Massicotte 2023) and geobr (Pereira and Gonçalves 2024),
respectively. Based on the available records, we estimated the
extension of occurrence (EOO) and the area of occupation
(AOO) of the species using the GeoCAT platform (Bachman
et al. 2011) to determine the preliminary conservation status
of A. wankeana using the criteria of IUCN (2012).
Aristolochia wankeana J. Freitas, F. González & Poncy
(Figures 1 and 2)
Type – FRENCH GUIANA. Village de Saint-Elie, 4°50’0’’N,
53°18’0’’W, 120 m, 16 November 1998 (fl.), Poncy et al. 1160
(Holotype: P00187008!; isotypes: CAY014365!, NY!).
Description – Woody climbers with stems 0.5–0.8 cm in
diameter, twigs with internodes 9–9.9 cm long. Pseudostipules
absent. Petiole 4.2–5.3 cm long, pubescent; leaves obovate,
9.1–15.5 × 3–7.2 cm, chartaceous, adaxial surface glabrous,
abaxial surface pubescent, lobed base, lobes with 1.3–1.7
cm of invagination, acuminate apex, basal primary veins 5.
Inflorescences cauliflorous 13.6–14 cm long, ca. 20 cm above
the ground, ca. 8 to 10 flowers. Peduncle 3–6.7 cm long, cream
to yellowish perianth with vinaceous lines externally; utricle
obovoid, 1.9–2 cm long; syrinx 0.5–0.6 cm long, tube tapering,
1–1.2 cm long and 0.5–0.6 cm in diameter proximally, 0.6–0.7
cm in diameter distally; limb falcate, two oblong lateral lobes,
3.6–5.1 × 1–1.2 cm, stripes yellow with purple, adaxially
fimbriated at the apex of the lobes, yellow fimbriae with purple
apex, base of the limb emarginate, yellow with red trichomes at
the entrance of the tube, apex obtuse. Gynostemium 6-lobed,
0.3–0.4 cm long; anthers ca. 0.2 cm long. Capsule mature
dehiscent, 6-carpellate, ca. 9 × 2.7 cm. Seeds not seen.
Material examined – BRAZIL. Amazonas: Presidente
Figueiredo, Balbina, Trilha da Sussuarana, 1°54’50’’S,
59°24’36’’W, 176 m, 27 August 2023 (fl.), Araújo, A.M. et
al. 191 (INPA![298855]); ibid., 1°54’54’’S, 59°24’32’’W,
178 m, 28 August 2023 (fl.), Araújo, A.M. et al. 211
(INPA![298875]); Amazonas: Rio Preto da Eva, BR-174,
Parcelas do PDBFF, acampamento Porto Alegre, 2°22’11’’S,
Figure 1. Aristolochia wankeana. A – habit; B – ower bud; C – ower; D – side
view of ower with oral visitor; E – mbriae; F – trichomes at the entrance to
the ower tube; G – gynostemium and oral visitor Megaselia scalaris; H – oral
visitor Megaselia scalaris. Credits: A–C, E by A.M. Araújo; D, F–H by C.A.S. Batista.

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Figure 2. Aristolochia wankeana. A – leaves; B – abaxial leaf; C – abaxial leaf showing the base and primary veins; D – fruit; E – inorescence showing the mbriae.
Specimens: A-B = Araújo A. M. 211; E = Araújo A. M. 191; C = Batista C.A.S. 19; D-F = Batista, C.A.S. 18). Credits: Adriane Maciel.

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59°58’2’’W, 121 m,14 August 2019 (fl.; fr.), Batista, C.A.S.
18 (INPA![284468]); ibid., 2°22’11’’S, 59°58’2’’W, 106 m,
20 August 2019 (ste.), Batista, C.A.S. 19 (INPA![298894]).
Preliminary conservation status – Aristolochia wankeana
occurs in Guyana, French Guiana, and Brazil, with EOO of
362,257.561 km², and AOO of 56,000 km². e estimated
number of populations was >10 (“condition a”) with no
observed decrease in the populations (“condition b”), therefore
the species was categorized as of Least Concern - LC (B1a,
B2biii) according to IUCN criteria.
Distribution, habitat, and phenology – Aristolochia wankeana
is found in French Guiana, Guyana (Freitas et al. 2020) and
the state of Amazonas in Brazil (this study) occurring in both
primary and secondary tropical rainforests (Figure 3). In Brazil,
individuals were found in terra firme forests, at elevation ranging
from 106 to 178 m.a.s.l. In Rio Preto da Eva, the species was
found within the conservation area of the Biological Dynamics
of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP; https://pdbff.org.br/), and
in Presidente Figueiredo near the Uatumã Biological Reserve
(Uatumã Rebio; https://www.gov.br/icmbio/pt-br/assuntos/
biodiversidade/unidade-de-conservacao/unidades-de-biomas/
amazonia/lista-de-ucs/rebio-do-uatuma). In both areas the
species occurred in primary tropical rainforest with canopy
up to 30 m and clayey soil. e new collections, observed
bearing flowers and fruits in August, represent a novelty in the
phenological knowledge of the species. According to Freitas et
al. (2020), specimens bearing flowers were collected in April,
July, and between October and December, while specimens
bearing both flowers and fruits were collected in April and
between October and December.
Remarks – While collecting specimen Batista C.A.S. 19 (INPA
298894), a visiting fly of the superfamily Muscoidea (Diptera:
Calyptratae) was observed landing on a flower (Figure 1d),
although it was not possible to capture it for identification to
specific level. Specimens of the fly Megaselia scalaris (Loew,
1866) (Diptera: Phoridae) (Figure 1h) were found inside the
flowers of specimen Araújo, A.M. et al. 191 (INPA 298855).
e presence of M. scalaris may indicate a potential pollinator
of A. wankeana, as this genus is commonly found in Aristolochia
flowers (Hipólito et al. 2012). However, studies of pollination
biology are recommended. Flies are typically attracted to
Aristolochia flowers due to their unpleasant odor, where they
oviposit (Hipólito et al. 2012). e presence of trichomes on
the flower tube precludes the exit of flower visitors until pollen
grains are released, allowing them to be transported to another
flower (Freitas and Alves-Araújo 2017).
Key to the species of Aristolochia subseries
Anthocaulicae F. González in the Brazilian Amazon
forest
1. Limb of the perianth unilobed ......................................2
1’. Limb of the perianth bilobed (side lobes) or bilabiate
(upper and lower lips) .......................................................8
2. Limb of the perianth peltate at its base .......................... 3
2’. Limb of the perianth not peltate at its base ................... 6
3. Leaf lamina peltate or slightly peltate at its base ............. 4
3’. Leaf lamina not peltate at its base ...........A. lagesiana Ule
4. Leaf base deeply cordate. Capsule 2–3 cm long ...............
.................................................................A. goudotii Duch.
4. Leaf base truncate, slightly cordate or rounded. Capsule
6–12.5 cm long ................................................................. 5
5. Tube 1.6–3 cm long; syrinx present, inequilateral ...........
................................................................A. ruiziana Duch.
5’. Tube 1–1.3 cm long; syrinx absent .................................
....................................................A. guentheri O.C.Schmidt
6. Limb of the perianth with caudated apex.........................
..................................................A. lanceolatolorata S.Moore
6’. Limb of the perianth not caudated ............................... 7
7. Limb ovate, 0.4–0.9 cm wide ................ A. disticha Mast.
7’. Limb very widely ovate, 2.8–3 cm wide ..........................
.........................................A. lorenae J.Freitas & F.González
8. Limb bilobed .................................................................9
8’. Limb bilabiate ............................................................ 11
9. Lobes of the perianth limb oblong, slightly curved
downwards, with fimbriae on the distal portion of their inner
surfaces ..............A. wankeana J.Freitas, F.González & Poncy
9. Lobes of the perianth limb linear or strongly curved
downwards, efimbriate ....................................................10
Figure 3. Geographical distribution of the known locality records of Aristolochia
wankeana. Grey circles = previous records; black triangles = new records.

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10. Lobes of the perianth limb upright, lineariform, 1.0–3.0
× 0.1–0.2 cm ..............................................A. cornuta Mast.
10. Lobes of the perianth limb curved downwards, oblong,
hypocrepiform, 1–2 × 0.5–1.2 cm ... A. iquitensis O.C.Schmidt
11’. Leaf lamina not peltate at its base; inflorescences ca. 15
cm long ........................................... A. klugii O.C. Schmidt
11. Leaf lamina peltate at its base; inflorescences ca. 2 cm
long ......................................................... A. cremersii Poncy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was financed in part by Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES),
Brazil – Finance Code 001. AMA thanks the Graduate
Program in Botany (INPA), INPA herbarium, CAPES for a
doctoral fellowship, and Francisco Farroñay for assistance with
Photoshop. CASB thanks CAPES for a doctoral fellowship,
the Graduate Program in Ecology (INPA) and the Biological
Dynamics of Forest Fragment Project (BDFFP) for technical
and financial support. ROP thanks CAPES for a postdoctoral
fellowship with the Graduate Program in Natural Resources
(PRONAT) at Universidade Federal de Roraima. AMA, ROP
and ATM thank Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da
Biodiversidade – ICMBIO for field support in Vila de Balbina.
MMMS thanks Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento
Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for a postdoctoral fellowship
(PROTAX-PDJ 151271/2023-2). JF thanks CNPq and the
Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
(MCTI) (within the scope of the Programa de Capacitação
Institucional - PCI) at Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica
(INMA) for the fellowship granted (grant # 301430/2024-
1). is is study 873 of the BDFFP Technical Series (BDFFP
INPA/STRI). We thank an anonymous reviewer, the associate
editor and the editor-in-chief for their suggestions.
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RECEIVED: 03/04/2024
ACCEPTED: 22/08/2024
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ricarda Riina
DATA AVAILABILITY: The data that support the ndings of this study are
available, upon reasonable request, from the corresponding author,
Adriane Maciel de Araújo.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.