Burmeistera zamorensis (Campanulaceae, Lobelioideae), a New Species from Southern Ecuador

Abstract

Burmeistera zamorensis Muchhala & Á. J. Pérez (Campanulaceae, Lobelioideae) is described from cloud forests in Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador. It is distinctive in possessing inflated fruit with thick, fleshy walls, and in the maroon coloration of the ventral surface of its leaves, which contrasts sharply with the dark green of the dorsal leaf surfaces. Although similar to B. ceratocarpa Zahlbr. and B. glabrata (Kunth) Benth. & Hook. f. ex B. D. Jacks., the new species can be distinguished from these and all other species of Burmeistera Triana by a combination of characters that includes leaf arrangement, fruit morphology, and calyx lobe morphology.