Abstract
Aphelandra merelloae, a new species from north-central Panama is described, illustrated, and mapped. It is compared to morphologically similar species from southern Central America (A. dolichantha) and Colombia (A. cuatrecasasii). It differs from both by its pinkish to purplish limb of the corolla, among other characters. Aphelandra killipii is treated as distinct from its Colombian congener A. cuatrecasasii based on color and pubescence of the corollas and pubescence of the medial and distal bracts. Twenty species of Aphelandra are now known to occur in Panama.
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Acknowledgments
We thank M. Correa for providing an image of the holotype, L. Martínez and R. Kriebel for permission to reproduce their photographs, G. Schatz for assistance with the conservation assessment, C. Anderson for deciphering and translating a specimen label in German, D. Wasshausen and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments, C. Pfeiffer for assistance with the map, and S. Serata for assistance with SEM. The following herbaria generously provided specimens for this study: CAS, MO, and PMA.
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Daniel, T.F., McPherson, G. A new species of Aphelandra (Acanthaceae: Acantheae) from Panama with notes on some Colombian species. Brittonia 66, 321–328 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-014-9338-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-014-9338-0