Background and Aims:

The Quararibea (Malvaceae) tree genus, typical of the New World, groups about 60 species with a distribution centered in northern South America and southern Mesoamerica. As part of the revision work that is currently being carried out in a morphological group of Quararibea that presents a digitate staminal column, a new species from the wet forests of the Pacific of Ecuador and Colombia is described here, and its IUCN categorization is proposed.

Methods:

A group of herbarium collections of Quararibea from the wet forests of northern Ecuador, that showed some divergences with respect to the described species, was studied. The morphological diagnosis was realized, and the geographical distribution of these plants was delimited, which are described here as a different new taxon. Based on the known localities for the new species and in relation to its conservation, a first categorization proposal is made in accordance with the criteria of the IUCN.

Key results:

The new species Quararibea calycoptera, related to Q. grandifolia and Q. cornejoi, is described and graphically documented. It is separated morphologically from both species by the following characters: the consistency of the blade, the length of the floral pedicel and bracteoles, and the shape and size of the floral calyx.

Conclusions:

Within what had been identified as Quararibea grandifolia in western Ecuador, based on the study of new collections from the wet forests of Esmeraldas, it was possible to diagnose what represents a new species assignable to the small group of Quararibea species that has a digitate staminal column and winged calyces, currently under revision.

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