Cipoia ramosa C.P. Bove, C.T. Philbrick & Novelo, sp. nov. -TYPE: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Municipio de Lassance, Estrada Joaquim Felício - Ja tai a 41 Km de Joaquim Felício, Rio Corrento (Serra do Cabrai), 26 jul 2005, C. P. Bove, A. Rodarte & J. Rodarte 1575. (holotype: R!; isotypes: HXBH!, MEXU!, MO!, NYBG!, WCSU!).
Cipoia ramosa aliae speciei generis (C. inserta) per caulis ramosus, stipulis compositis dente utraque latere vaginae instructis, techis prominentioribus divaricatis postea anthesis et stigmatibus satis minoribus ovarium differt.
Small aquatic herbs, perennial (?), attached to rocks in river-rapids and waterfalls. Roots pros trate, elongate, flattened to cylindrical in cross section, branched, occasionally arising from the stems, with asymmetric root cap, (0.2-) 0.4 (-0.9) mm wide. Stems erect, arising (1.2-) 3.0 (-4.8) mm apart along root, opposite or subopposite (occa sionally alternate) along the flanks of roots, (0) 3 (9) times branched, elliptical to terete in cross-section at base, monomorphic, (0.5-) 2.0 (-5.5) cm high, (0.5-) 0.9 (-1.3) mm wide at base, internodes (0.1-) 2.3 (-5.3) mm. Leaves petiolate, distichous, mono morphic, upright, monothecous or dithecous, simple or 1-time dichotomously divided (occasionally trichotomously divided), (3.6-) 7.2 (-16.0) mm long; ultimate leaf segments linear to spathulate, apex acute or obtuse, faint central vein visible from the base of leaf sheath to the base of petiole between stipules, (0.5-) 3.9 (-11.5) mm long, (0.07-) 0.10 (-0.12) mm wide; petiole elliptical in cross section, (0.4-) 2.4 (-6.2) mm long, base persistent, hardened and darkened on older stems; leaf base expanded, sheathing (amplexicaul), (0.4-) 0.8 (-1.2) mm long; stipules composed of two tooth-like marginal extensions of the sheathing leaf base, symmetrical, one on each side of leaf base, acute, often persisting on older stems, (0.19-) 0.40 (-0.70) mm long. Flowers 1-6 per stem (1 per branch), terminal, hermaphroditic, zygomorphic, sessile prior to anthesis, pedicel (0.5-) 0.7 (-1.2) mm long during anthesis, covered by a sac-like spathella; spathella clavate, rupturing apically into several small, irregularly toothed segments, (2.0-) 2.5 (-3.5) mm long, (0.5-) 0.7 (-1.0) mm wide; tepals 2, scale-like, linear, one on either side of the stamen filament, apex acute, 0.2-0.4 mm long; stamen 1, deciduous, filament flattened, wider at the top than bottom, with a faint central vein, elongating and projecting from the ruptured spathella during anthesis, (0.7-) 1.4 (-1.8) mm long prior to anthesis, elongating to (2.1-) 2.6 (-3.0) mm long during anthesis, 0.1-0.2 mm wide; thick (well developed) anther connective, basifixed, triangular, tapering toward the base; thecae acute, joined at the top, of equal or slightly unequal height, dehiscing introrsely and longitudinally, anther thecae prominently divergent after anthesis, anthers (0.3-) 0.8 (-0.9) mm long, (0.3-) 0.4 (-0.5) mm wide; pollen in dyads, acalymate, each pollen grain small, prolate, tricolpate, longicolpate, granulate, polar axis (20.0-) 21.6 (-22.5) µm, equatorial axis (14.0-) 15.0 (-18.0) µm; ovary 2-carpellate, 2-locular, elliptical, with 6 longitudinal dark lines, remaining inside the spathella during anthesis, (1.0-) 1.4 (-1.9) mm long, (0.5-) 0.6 (-0.8) mm wide, borne on a gynophore that elongates, gynophore (0.1-) 0.4 (-0.5) mm long during anthesis, (0.2-) 0.5 (-0.7) mm long in fruit; ovules (10-) 24 (-40), placentation axile, placenta thick, in some places extending to the ovary wall and lacking ovules in that region; stigmas 2, free, linear or spatulate, papillose, upright prior to rupture of the spathella, during anthesis elongating and diverging, shorter than ovary, (0.3-) 0.6 (-0.7) mm long prior to spathella rupture, elongating to (0.7-) 0.8 (-1.2 ) mm during anthesis; pedicel (0.1-) 0.4 (-0.6) mm long prior to spathella rupture, (0.6-) 0.8 (-1.3) mm during anthesis; capsule with two equal valves (isolobous), (1.0-) 1.3 (-1.8) mm long, (0.5-) 0.7 (-0.8) mm wide, valves persistent, each 3-ribbed, suture margins appearing thickened and rib-like, seeds (12-) 25 (-35) per capsule, flattened, elliptical, ovate or obovate, (0.07-) 0.2 (-0.32) mm long, (0.02-) 0.11 (-0.16) mm wide.
Etymology. From the Latin ramosa. A reference to the ramified stems, that distinguish C. ramosa from the only other species of the genus, Cipoia inserta, which has simple stems.
Geographic Distribution and Ecology. Known only from the type locality, upper rio das Velhas drainage, rio São Francisco basin, southeast Brazil (Fig. 2). Cipoia ramosa is a rheophyte that occurs attached to rocks in torrential currents. Plants were collected in close proximity to those of the rheophyte Utricularia neottioides A. St.-Hil. & Girard (Lentibulariaceae).
Additional Specimens Examined. BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Jataí a 41 Km de Joaquim Felício, Municipio de Lassance Estrada Joaquim Felício, Rio Corrento (Serra do Cabrai), 26 Jul 2005, Bove, Rodarte & Rodarte 1584 (R); Serra do Cabrai, Rio Corrento, Jul 2002, Pedralli, Meyer & Santos s.n. (CE 518, R-203668); APA Serra do Cabrai, Rio Corrento, 20 Sep 2004, Meyer, Pires & Souza s.n. (HXBH 13874, R); Idem, APA Serra do Cabrai, Rio Corrento, 3 Jun 2002, Meyer & Freitas s.n. (HXBH 13872, R-204563); Idem, May 2003, Meyer, Pires & Santos s.n. (MACE-859, R).