Agarista minensis

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Agarista minensis is a shrub or small tree of southern Brazil, in the heath family, Ericaceae. A Brazilian conservation assessment records it in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. It is accepted as a species by Kew.

Appearance

Judd describes shrubs up to four metres tall, with narrow, leathery leaves. The leaf edges are smooth and mostly flat, sometimes turning slightly under near the base. The short flower clusters arise beside the leaves. White, tubular flowers have petal tubes about six and a half to eleven millimetres long. Their rounded capsules contain small seeds.

Habitat and distribution

The 2022 Brazilian assessment places the species in high-altitude shrubland and grassland within the Atlantic Forest and Pampa regions. Judd also records scrub and forest beside streams and rivers, at 900–1,300 metres. His account records flowering mainly in November and December, extending into January.

Kew's range summary lists Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. The Brazilian assessment additionally includes Paraná, with records from Bocaiúva do Sul and Rio Branco do Sul; the two sources therefore differ in the range they report.

Conservation

The 2022 Brazilian Red List assessment classified the species as Near Threatened. Its authors considered the estimated occupied area likely to be too small, noted more than ten threat-defined locations and recorded occurrences in protected areas. They identified habitat conversion for agriculture, tree plantations and pasture as pressures, while reporting that population data were unavailable. The assessment called for further field research on distribution and populations.

Botanical name

The name Leucothoe minensis was validly published in 1935. Walter Judd transferred the species to Agarista in 1984.