Mimosa gracilis subsp. capillipes (Benth.) Barneby var. capillipes

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Barneby, Rupert C. 1991. Sensitivae Censitae. A description of the genus Mimosa Linnaeus (Mimosaceae) in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 65: 1-835.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mimosa gracilis subsp. capillipes (Benth.) Barneby var. capillipes

  • Type

    126/Ia. Mimosa gracilis subsp. capillipes (Bentham) Barneby var. capillipes. M. capillipes Bentham, 1875, 1876, 11. cc., sens. str.— "Habitat in provincia Minas Geraës: Claussen; ad Uberaba et Caldas: Regnell Coll. Ill, n. 509, 509* et 509**; ad Lagoa San

  • Synonyms

    Mimosa capillipes Benth., Mimosa capillipes var. brevifolia Benth., Mimosa capillipes var. microphylla Benth.

  • Description

    Variety Description - Leaf-formula iii-ix(-xi)/6-14(-l 8); other characters of subsp. capillipes except as modified in key to varieties.

    Distribution and Ecology - In dry or transiently moist campo and at margin of cerrado thickets, sometimes prevalent in disturbed places and along roadsides, ascending on the centr. Brazilian Planalto to 1025(-1380) m, frequent over Goiás s.-ward from ±13°50'S but replaced in Distrito Federal by subsp. gracilis, from Goiás extending w. into s.-e. comer of Mato Grosso, to centr. Mato Grosso do Sul, e. to both slopes of upper S. Francisco valley in centr. and w. Minas Gerais, s. in Brazil to Paraná and immediately adj. Sta. Catarina; Misiones, Argentina.—Fl. XI-V, and sometimes again, but sporadically, from year-old fruiting stems. Map 19.

  • Discussion

    The var. capillipes varies substantially in leaf- formula and length of pinnae not only between populations but sometimes also serially from leaf to leaf along the stem, which in favorable circumstance may extend more than a meter from the rootstock, becoming progressively less leafy distally. Number of leaflets per pinna and length of pinna-rachis are poorly correlated, but size and number of leaflets, whether on longer or shorter pinnae, are often reciprocally adjusted, the leaflet-blades becoming ampler with decrease in number. In southern Goiás and the Triângulo Mineiro the distinction that I have drawn between var. capillipes and subsp. gracilis var. gracilis is sometimes arbitrary.

    A specimen from Mato Grosso (mun. Rosario do Oeste, de Carvalho & Lewis 2196, NY), unlike all other material of var. capillipes, is perfectly glabrous throughout and would key, in consequence, to subsp. filipes. In relatively coarse stems and plump capitula it seems, nevertheless, closer to var. capillipes, of which I suppose it to be a minor variant.

    In selecting a lectotype for M. capillipes from among specimens cited in the protologue I have preferred Regnell III/509* from Caldas over the rest because its exceptionally long peduncles seem to have suggested the epithet. The typus of var. brevifolia is an over-mature plant that had shed its primary cauline leaves. Its diminished rameal leaves, which have a formula of about ii—iii/11, appear superficially different from those of common var. capillipes, but residual leaf-stks show that early cauline leaves had up to eight pairs of pinnae, like those of modem collections from the same region.

  • Distribution

    Argentina South America| Misiones Argentina South America| Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| Distrito Federal Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America|