Agalinis schwackeana
Agalinis schwackeana is a small flowering subshrub in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is accepted as a distinct species by Kew.[1]
Appearance
A Brazilian conservation-plan account describes an upright, much-branched plant about thirty centimetres tall. Its very narrow, hairless leaves grow in opposite pairs. Flowers cluster towards the ends of the branches. The account describes their colour as probably pink, retaining uncertainty rather than presenting it as a firmly established field character.[2]
It resembles Agalinis angustifolia, but has smaller leaves and flower parts, with the stamens remaining inside the flower. The same account stresses the value of observing fresh flowers, whose colour and three-dimensional shape are difficult to recover from pressed specimens.[2]
Habitat and knowledge gaps
The Brazilian flora records it in rocky upland vegetation between Serra do Cipó and Ouro Preto.[3] The conservation-plan account describes scarce, old herbarium material and calls attention to the difficulty of establishing its population status. Such a collection gap is not, on its own, proof of extinction.[2]
The plan regards root hemiparasitism as likely, based on its relationship to other Agalinis. Its flowering records include March, April, November and December; these specimen dates do not establish a complete annual flowering calendar.[2]
Conservation and name
Brazil's June 2022 national threatened-flora list classified the species as Critically Endangered.[4]
Diels originally published the name Gerardia schwackeana in 1898. Souza and Giulietti transferred it to Agalinis in 2001. Kew recognises the earlier combination as a synonym.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Agalinis schwackeana (Diels) V.C.Souza & Giul. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Scatigna, A. V., Verdi, M. and Maurenza, D. Agalinis schwackeana, account 37, pp.108–110. Annexes to the national action plan for threatened flora of the southern Espinhaço Range; CNCFlora/Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, using occurrence data compiled in 2015. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Souza, V. C. (2020). Orobanchaceae. Flora do Brasil 2020, Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; Agalinis species accounts, pp.5–8 and 21. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Brazil, Ministério do Meio Ambiente (2022). Portaria MMA no.148, 7 June 2022; national threatened-flora list, entries 2538–2543, PDF p.50. Accessed 9 October 2026.