THREE NEW PERUVIAN SPECIES OF ECHEVERIA


MYRON KIMNACH

509 Bradbury Rd

Monrovia CA 91016

USA


Summary. Three new species of Echeveria (Crassulaceae), series Racemosae, are described from Peru. Two were given manuscript names by Paul Hutchison but were never published. E. utcubambensis Hutchison ex Kimnach is found in Dept. Amazonas along the Río Utcubamba north of Leimebamba, near Caclic (the type locality) and at Kuélap; it has long trailing stems and small rosettes of narrow, highly succulent leaves. The type locality of E. wurdackii Hutchison ex Kimnach is near Leimebamba; it differs from E. utcubambensis in its shorter stems and much wider leaves. E. oreophila Kimnach is from Cumbe Mayo, near Cajamarca, Dept. Cajamarca; it differs from E. wurdackii in its wider, thicker leaves, short pedicels and entirely red flowers.



Fig. 1. Type locality of Echeveria wurdackii along the Río Pomacocha. Plants are growing along the upper edge of the white cliff at left and on another cliff behind the photographer.


I. Echeveria wurdackii


The first-discovered of the three echeverias described here was found by J.J. Wurdack on July 7, 1962, on cliff-faces of the lower eastern slopes of the Calla-Calla range some 12 km south of Leimebamba on the road to Celendín in northern Peru. It was also found nearby in 1989 by Jeff D. Boeke, along the trail to Pushkán, near Pomacocha, again growing on cliffs. This species seems not to have been collected since 1989 and was never established in cultivation.


I gathered data from herbarium specimens at the University of California and the San Diego Natural History Museum and, together with Ralf Bauer of Offenburg, Germany, collected E. wurdackii on June 5, 2000, at the type locality. There it was fairly common on shaded cliffs or sometimes on the slope at the bottom of the cliff. Looking across the Río Pomacocha, we also saw large clusters of it on the cliffs above the swiftly-flowing stream.



Fig. 2. E. wurdackii at the type locality.


Echeveria wurdackii Hutchison ex Kimnach, sp. nov.


Planta glabra, caulibus plus quam 10 cm longis 10-13 mm crassis, foliis 10-30 obovatis subobtusis 4-9 cm longis 3-5 cm latis ca. 4 mm crassis prope basin et 2-3 mm crassis apicem versus, viridibus leviter glaucis saepe rubromarginatis. Caules floriferi1-4 racemosi 16-25 cm longi, pedicellis 1-4 cm longis ca. 3 mm crassis, sepalis expansis ovatis subobtusis 5-8 mm longis, 2.5-3 mm latis; corolla turbinata 14-15 mm longa 8-10 mm crassa prope basin, petalis recurvis ad apicem, salmoneis, luteis apicem versus, stylis 8 mm longis viridulo-cremeis. Locus typicus: Peru, Dept. Amazonas, Prov. Chachapoyas, in montium Calla-Calla 12 km ex Leimebamba ad Balsas (Km 422), legit J.J. Wurdack (422) 7 July 1962 (UC, holotypus).


Plant entirely glabrous. Stems 10 cm long or more, 10-13 mm thick. Rosettes usually single, sometimes proliferous, forming open, lax clusters, single rosettes 10-13 cm wide, leaves 10-30, obovate, subobtuse, sometimes with a 1-mm-long reddish mucro, 4-9 cm long, 3-5 cm wide ca. 2 cm from apex, ca. 10 mm wide and 4 mm thick at leaf-base, 2-3 mm thick toward apex, smooth and shiny, green, lightly glaucous, often faintly red-margined in strong light, upper surface concave, lower convex and slightly keeled near apex.



Fig. 3. The inflorescence of E. wurdackii.


Inflorescences 1-4, equilaterally racemose but with flowers oriented toward light, 16-25 cm long, peduncle 4-8 cm long, 4-6 mm thick, rachis tapering upwards to 4 mm thick, orange-pink, somewhat glaucous, pedicels (2.5-)3- 4 cm long, 2.5- 3 mm thick, orange-pink, usually with 1 or 2 bracts, bracts absent from peduncle or sometimes 1 present, those on rachis oblong-elliptical, 10-12 mm long, 2.5-5 mm wide, 1-2 mm thick, glaucous bluish green, with a basal spur ca. 1 mm long, sepals unequal, expanding, ovate, subobtuse, 5-8 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, colored like the bracts, corolla turbinate, basal two-thirds salmon-orange, apical third yellow, 14-15 mm long, 8-10 mm wide near base, opening 4-5 mm, petals slightly recurving apically, oblong-ovate, acute, ca. 5 mm wide, concave near base inside, inner side orange-yellow below, darker yellow toward apex, epipetalous stamens 6 mm long, the antesepalous 8 mm long, filaments flattened, 1 mm wide near base, anthers brownish, oblong, ca. 1 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, gynoecium globose, 5 mm thick and high, cream, styles 8 mm long, greenish cream, stigmas ca. 1 mm long, reddish brown, nectaries 1 mm wide, 0.25 mm thick, brownish.


PERU. Dept. Amazonas: Prov. Chachapoyas: lower eastern slopes of the Calla-Calla range, near Km. 422 of the Leimebamba-Balsas road, 2750-2850 m, locally abundant on cliff faces, July 7, 1962, J.J. Wurdack 1163 (UC, holotype); approximately the same locality, 12 km S of Leimebamba on way to Celendín, along Río Pomacocha, on cliff of the Calla-Calla range, June 5, 2000, R. Bauer & M. Kimnach 21 (HNT, SM, paratypes); near Leimebamba and Pomacocha, on cliffs along trail to Pushkán, June 9, 1977, Jeff D. Boeke 1989 (SD, paratype).



Fig. 4. The formerly lush cloud forests around Kuélap are nearly all converted to farmland.


II. Echeveria utcubambensis


In 1964 Paul C. Hutchison of the University of California Botanic Garden, Berkeley, together with zoologist James Wright, found another echeveria growing at the base of a cliff 16 km north of Caclic (Hutchison & Wright 4011), along the Río Utcubamba in northern Peru. Later, Hutchison, together with D. E. Bennett, found the same species on cliffs ca. 41 km north of Leimebamba (Hutchison & Bennett 4531). These collections differed from E. wurdackii in their much longer stems and smaller rosettes of narrower, fleshier leaves. The specimen of Hutchison & Bennett 4531 at UC is labeled as “E. utcubambensis Hutchis. sp. nov.”, but the species was never published.


It has since been collected by Werner Rauh (35148) and, in 1977, by Franz Polz, though the available locality data for both is minimal. In September 1996 Guillermo Pino found it on the road from Luya to Cohechán, Dept. Amazonas, Prov. Luya, at 2400 m and published a photo of it (Pino, 1998). Hutchison & Wright 4011 has been growing in my study collection of echeverias for 16 years and the Rauh and Polz collections nearly as long, but only one has ever flowered (Rauh 35148, deposited at HNT). It was therefore fortunate that Ralf Bauer and I were able to collect flowering plants at several localities in June 2001, enabling me to describe the inflorescence while I was in Peru.


We first encountered E. utcubambensis as a potted plant at a small inn in Leimebamba. The owner said it grew wild in the area. This locality, and those previously reported for this species, were between 1475 and 1775 meters. Unexpectedly, we next found it growing on the ruins and surrounding cliffs of Kuélap, a major pre-Incan ruin at over 3030 meters (10,000 feet) - evidently this echeveria tolerates a wide range in altitude.



Fig. 5. Echeveria utcubambensis growing on the fortification wall at Kuélap.


Kuélap was in the remnants of a cloud forest, nearly all the surrounding forests having been replaced by fields of potatoes and other crops. Along the path to the partially restored ruins we observed over 20 species of orchids, many in bloom. Among them were sobralias, epidendrums, masdevallias, pleurothallids, hundreds of them recently butchered by the machetes of the men hired to maintain the path to this archaeological site. (Note: it is extremely difficult to export wild orchids legally from Peru.)


Before they were defeated by the Incas, the inhabitants of Kuélap resided here until about 1300 A.D., building this fortress-city at the top of a nearly impregnable mountain, with only three narrow, easily defended entrances. It was also surrounded on one side by a precipitous canyon, on the other by a massive stone wall some 50 feet high. On this wall were hundreds of flowering plants of E. utcubambensis and a beautiful, reddish, succulent peperomia (Fig. 7) - the machete men were busily scraping them off. Near the piles of removed plants was a prominent sign declaring that no plants or flowers could be removed from Kuélap - it was therefore not possible to make herbarium specimens or take living plants from this locality.


The final site where we collected E. utcubambensis was near the type locality, along the Río Utcubamba about 19 km NW of Caclic on the road to Pedro Ruiz. Here it was quite common, growing profusely on the shaded vertical road-cuts together with several unidentified peperomia species.


Both the Rauh and Polz collections were received labeled “E. cf. cuencaensis”. Unfortunately, that species, described by von Poellnitz from a herbarium speciment in 1935, is insufficiently known, the original description not even stating whether the plants were short-stemmed or taller and shrubby. Its type locality is near Cuenca, Ecuador. Walther (1972) assigned it to series Elata, and the Missouri Botanical Garden database, TROPICOS, simply lists it as a synonym of the Ecuadorian E. quitensis (H.B.K) Lindl.



Fig. 6. E. utcubambensis on natural rock near the wall.


Echeveria utcubambensis Hutchison ex Kimnach, sp. nov.


Planta glabra, caulibus expanso-pendentibus 12-20 cm longis 5-12 mm crassis, rosulis praesentia non nisi ad apicem 5-7 cm latis, foliis oblongo-obovatis mucronatis 3.5-5 cm longis 14-23 mm latis 3-4 mm crassis azureo-viridis leviter glaucis, caulibus floriferis racemosis sine ramis ca. 16 cm longis, bracteis oblongo-lanceolatis 1.5-3 cm longis 9-13 mm latis 1-2 mm crassis, pedicellis ascendentibus ca. 4-6 mm longis; flores 12-14 mm longi 12 mm crassi prope basin, sepalis ascendentibus-expansis 5-8 mm longis 3-4 mm latis, petalis aurantiacis et luteis, stylis ad 2 mm longis. Locus typicus: Peru, Dept. Amazonas, Prov. Bongará, prope Río Utcubamba, 16 km ab Caclic, 1475 m, P.C. Hutchison & J. Wright 4011(US, holotypus).


Stems sprawling to pendent with age, 12-20 cm long, 5-12 mm thick, yellowish green when young, later brownish grey, often rooting along length, branching mostly near base, unbranched above. Rosettes 5-7 cm wide, leaves 20-30, all at end of stems, lacking below, oblong-obovate, prominently mucronate, the mucro 1-3 mm long, not reddened, entire leaf 3-5.5 cm long, 14-23 mm wide 15-20 mm below apex, 3-4 mm thick, some slightly keeled on upper surface, most pronouncedly on apical half, bluish green, slightly glaucous, margins reddened in bright light.



Fig. 7. An unidentified peperomia on the ruins of Kuélap.



Fig. 8. Ralf Bauer with a bromeliad, one of the "weeds" removed from the Kuélap ruins.


Flowering stem equilaterally racemose, unbranched, ca. 16 cm long, 4-5 mm thick near base, ca. 3 mm thick near apex, bracts below inflorescence up to 10, ascending, oblong-lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm long, 9-13 mm wide, 1-2 mm thick, upper ones ca. 5 mm long, more linear, acute-mucronate, pedicels ascending, 4-6 (-8) mm long, 1.5-2 mm thick, flowers single, 12-14 mm long, ca. 12 mm thick near base, sepals slightly unequal, ascending-expanding, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, 5-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, petals lanceolate, acute, ca. 4 mm wide toward base, striped with broad bands of orange and yellow, gynoecium subglobose, ca. 12 mm long, basal half yellowish, apical half greenish, styles less than 2 mm long, stigmas brownish, stamens ca. 8 mm long.


Specimens examined: PERU. Dept. Amazonas: Prov. Bongará: along Río Utcubamba 16 km below (north of) Caclic, 1475 m alt., at base of cliff, 1964, Hutchison & Wright 4011 (UC, holotype; HNT, SM, isotypes), Huntington Botanical Gardens 42833; 19 km from Caclic on way to Pedro Ruiz, on steep cliffs along road, S 5° 56' 18.3", W 77° 19' 17.3", June 8, 2000, R. Bauer & M. Kimnach 40 (HNT, SM, paratypes). Prov. Chachapoyas, ca. 41 km N of Leimebamba, on cliff faces, 1775 m, Hutchison & Bennett 4531 (HNT, UC [unexamined specimens are also at F, NY, US, USM]), paratypes). Prov. unknown, in mountains east of Chiclayo, Franz Polz s.n. (HNT, paratype).



Fig. 9. Rock formations at Cumbe Mayo.


III. Echeveria oreophila


We found another allied echeveria at Cumbe Mayo, some 10 air-kms southwest of the city of Cajamarca, Dept. Cajamarca. At Cumbe Mayo is an archeological site with an interesting cave, pictographs and a pre-Incan aqueduct that conducted water from the Pacific drainage basin through Cajamarca to the Río Marañón basin, with the water flow adjustable according to need. The site is also famous for its picturesque mountain peaks (Fig. 8) that often resemble huge hooded monks and are thus called Los Frailones (Pino, in litt.). On these often precipitous formations we saw many saxicolous orchids, peperomias, Villadia, puyas and abundant Matucana aurantiaca - but no echeverias. However, as we left the town we nearly missed seeing the flowering echeverias growing on the roof of an adobe house along the road. The house owner assured us that the same plant grew on the surrounding mountain peaks, where he had collected it.



Fig. 10. Freshly collected plant of E. oreophila from Cumbe Mayo (G. Pino 669).


After looking over an earlier draft of this article, Guillermo Pino of Lima informed us that he had observed this species at Cumbe Mayo on November 23 of the previous year and three times since, always growing on vertical, inaccessible cliff-faces 8-10 meters high. None of the several plants he was able to collect survived in his collection. He recorded the exact site as 7° 11' 19.3" S, 78° 34' 40.7" W and the altitude as 3350 m.


Vegetatively these plants are similar to those at the type locality of E. wurdackii, though the leaves are wider and more succulent. Florally the two differ mainly in the short pedicels and entirely red corolla of the Cumbe Mayo plants and the long-pedicelled, pink, yellow-tipped corolla of E. wurdackii. The two localities are some 110 kilometers apart, with no intergrades yet discovered. Other differences are given in Table 1.


The only other echeveria in this general area is E. eurychlamys, which has been collected numerous times around Cajamarca and Celendín. Although we have not seen it in habitat, a collection by Hutchison and several others obtained through Karel Knize of Lima are in cultivation. It is easily distinguished from all three new taxa by its smaller, fleshier, densely rosulate leaves and the numerous, small, ovate bracts on its flowering stem.



Fig. 11. The type plant of Echeveria oreophila in cultivation.


E. oreophila Kimnach, sp. nov.


Planta glabra, caulibus ad 15 cm longis 15-25 mm crassis; rosula 11-15 cm lata, foliis late obovatis subtruncatis mucronatis 5-7 cm longis 3.5-4.5 cm latis 2-4 mm crassis subviridis glaucis saepe rubellis; caules floriferi racemosi sine ramis 12-20 cm alti, bracteis erecto-expansis ca. 12 mm longis 10 mm latis; pedicelli ascendentes 2-4 mm longi; sepala erecta vel leviter expansa 4-6 mm longa; petala 12-14 mm longa leviter glauca omnino rubra.


Differt a E. wurdackii caule crassiore foliis crassioribus et latioribus apicem versus, corolla omnino rubra. Locus typicus: Peru, Dept. Cajamarca, Cumbe Mayo (S 7° 11' 16.5", W 78° 34' 34"), R. Bauer & M. Kimnach 10, 3 June 2000 (SM, holotypus).


Plant entirely glabrous. Stems to 15 cm long or more, 15-25 mm thick, glaucous green when young, later tan. Rosettes slowly proliferous, 11-15 cm wide, leaves 20-30, widely obovate with a nearly truncate apex, with a reddish mucro 1 mm long and 2 mm wide, upcurving, slightly concave and often channelled on upper side, convex beneath and keeled for half to three-quarters of their length, 5-7 cm long, 35-45 mm wide ca. 2 cm below apex, 10-15 mm wide at leaf-base, 2-4 mm thick, pale green with a sparse glaucous bloom, margins and exposed portions reddened in strong light.



Fig. 12. Inflorescence of E. oreophila.


Flowering stems 1 or 2, equilaterally racemose, unbranched, 12-20 cm tall or more, peduncle and rachis smooth, lower bracts erect-expanding, ovate-oblong, acute, upper side slightly concave, lower side slightly obtuse and keeled for most of length, ca. 12 mm long and 10 mm wide, inflorescence 11-13 cm long, flowers erect-expanding, each subtended by an ascending, elliptical, acute, glaucous bract ca. 4 mm long, pedicels ascending, 2-4 mm long, sepals erect to somewhat expanding, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 4-6 mm long, glaucous, petals recurving at apex, ca. 12-14 mm long, uniformly rosy red, slightly glaucous.


PERU: Dept. Cajamarca: Cumbe Mayo, ca. 6 miles SW of Cajamarca, cultivated, said to be native on nearby high peaks, ca. 3000-3500 m alt., June 3, 2000, R. Bauer & M. Kimnach 10 (SM, holotype; HNT, isotype).


E. oreophila (“mountain-loving”) is so named for its high-mountain habitat. Although the above description is based solely on one clone, variation will probably occur in the numerous seedlings that are being grown from seed harvested from the inflorescence attached to the original plant.


Echeveria wurdackii, E. utcubambensis and E. oreophila are more closely related to each other than to any other species, although I believe their differences justify their recognition as three separate species. The following table summarizes these differences.



IV. Propagation and distribution


Although these new taxa are not among the most attractive of echeverias, they will be of interest to those specializing in the genus. The permits to collect and export plants were granted by the Peruvian authorities to the Huntington to enable research by the author. The plants remain the property of the Huntington. As is typical of restrictions by signees of the Convention on Biological Diversity, these plants may not be propagated or further distributed. However, the Huntington Botanical Gardens has filed a formal request to the Peruvian authorities that they be allowed to distribute seedlings of E. oreophila through their ISI (International Succulent Introductions) program.


Acknowledgments


I wish to thank Reid Moran and Guillermo Pino for their careful reviews of my manuscript. I am also grateful to three members of the Peruvian Cactus and Succulent Society (SPECS) - Carlos Ostolaza, Guillermo Pino, and Natividad Martínez - for their assistance in the laborious process of obtaining the necessary Peruvian collecting, export, CITES and phytosanitary permits. Their knowledge and love of the wonderful flora of their country did much to compensate for the restrictive laws that hinder the introduction of new Peruvian plants to other countries.


References


Pino, G. 1998. Cactus y Suculentas del Valle del Río Utcubamba. Quepo 12: 39.

Poellnitz, K. von. 1935. Fedde Repert. 38: 187.

Walther, E. 1972. Echeveria. San Francisco.


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Photos: Fig. 2 by Ralf Bauer, all others by the author.


© Cactus & Succulent Journal of America, 2002