Grias lucindoae (Lecythidaceae), a new species from wet montane forest of Serranía de las Quinchas, Boyacá Department, Colombia

Abstract

Grias lucindoae, a new species from the Western Andean slopes of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (Serranía de Las Quinchas), is described and illustrated, and its morphological similarities with comparable species are discussed. This new species is a tree between 10 and 15 m tall from montane forest remnants (900–1200 m). Grias lucindoae shares several features with G. angustipetala and G. cauliflora. It differs in the size and pubescence of the leaf blade, pedicels, the number of secondary veins and stamens, calyx dehiscence, size, shape, and color of the petals, and the 4-lobed stigma, which is truncated when mature. Additionally, a table comparing morphological characters of G. lucindoae to the other Grias species that occur in Colombia is presented, as well as an identification key of the Neotropical species. With this new species, there are now nine species of Grias in the flora of Colombia, which, along with Ecuador, are countries with the highest diversity of the genus.