Similar to Salvia calaminthifolia, but with the stems strigose (vs. cinereous); the leaves rhombic to trullate with the base cuneate, decurrent, the margin crenate-serrate (vs. deltoid-ovate, base truncate, margin subentire); the flowers bigger, with the calyx 5.5–8 mm long and the corolla tube 7.7–9 mm long (vs. 5–5.5 mm long and 5–6 mm long, respectively), and the lower lip reclinate (vs. reflexed).

Figure 1. 

Salvia claseana and the botanist that honors A flowering branch B leaves C flowers D Teodoro Clase at the JBSD herbarium E calyx F corolla G stamens H detail of the connective tooth (Specimen photographs taken from I. Fragoso et al. 529).

Dominican Republic. Azua, Las Charcas • Paraje Boquerón, cañada subiendo por el puente Juana Guayacán, a 4 km de la desviación de la carretera Sánchez (Bani-Azua); 18°21'0.9138"N, 70°31'51.8118"W; 307 m; 28 Nov 2016; I. Fragoso-Martínez, G.A. Salazar & T. Clase 529 (holotype: JBSD 129667; isotypes: MEXU 1512146, XAL 0154233).

Suffruticose herbs , ca. 0.5 m tall; stems strigose with antrorsely appressed trichomes, internodes 1.5–4 cm long. Leaves rhombic to trullate, 1.3–3.6 × 1–3 cm, base cuneate, decurrent, apex acute, margin crenate-serrate, ciliate; upper leaf surface bullate, glabrescent; lower leaf surface pale, densely pubescent, simple trichomes minute, white, with amber spherical glands; petioles 0.5–1.2 cm long. Flowers axillary, 4(–8) per node; pedicels 2.5–6 mm long, trichomes simple, adpressed. Calyx green, tubular-campanulate, 5.5–8 mm long, strigose, with simple and glandular trichomes; tube 4.7–6.5 × 3 mm; lobes deltate, apex apiculate, upper lobe 1.3–1.8 mm long, straight, 3-veined, margin ciliate, lower lobes 1.3–2.5 mm long, straight. Corolla violet with white nectar guides in the lower lobe, ca. 1 cm long, tube 7.7–9 × 2.6–3 mm, ventricose, invaginate, internally epapillate; lobes unequal in length, upper lobe galeate, 3.8–6 mm long, densely pubescent, lower lobe 5–8 × 7.8–8.4 mm, tetralobate, reclinate. Stamens included in the upper corolla lobe, fused close to the corolla opening; filaments 1.5–2 mm long; connective 7–8 mm long, sparsely pilose, with a bilobed tooth close to the insertion with the filament, straight; upper arm of the connective shorter than the lower arm, 3–3.5 mm long, thecae 1–1.5 mm long; lower arm 4.5–5 mm long. Style 9–11 mm long, densely pubescent near the branches, upper branch longer than the lower one, lower branch spathulate. Nectary disc surface with spherical glands near the base of the mericarps, nectary horn ca. 2 mm long, oblong, laterally compressed. Mericarps ovoid, 1.6–2 × 0.7–0.9 mm, smooth.

Flowers were documented from November to May. Fruits have been observed after this period.

The epithet “claseana” honors the Dominican botanist Teodoro Clase, head of the Botany Department of the Jardín Botánico Nacional “Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso”. His botanical expeditions have resulted in ca. 12,000 collected specimens and he has described ca. 12 new species of angiosperms from Hispaniola. These contributions are undoubtedly crucial to the knowledge of the flora of Dominican Republic.

Endemic to the dry forests with limestone soils from the Sierra Martín García in Azua, Dominican Republic (Fig. 3). Salvia claseana is represented by three collections, each from a different population. In the GeoCat (Bachman et al. 2011) analysis, the species’ extent of occurrence (EEO) is 22.86 km² with an area of occupancy (AOO) of 12 km². Considering these results, combined with the high level of endemism of the region, and taking into account the IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2022), we suggest that S. claseana is placed in the category of Critically Endangered (CR).

Phylogenetically, this species is closely related to Salvia praeterita (Fig. 4); however, the latter has the flowers arranged into racemes, while the new species produces flowers in the leaf axils. Morphologically, Salvia claseana resembles Salvia calaminthifolia the most but differs from it by a number of characters (Table 2), from which the most conspicuous are: the pubescence, which is strigose in the former and cinereus in the latter, the shape and base of the leaves (rhombic to trullate, cuneate vs. deloid-ovate, truncate) and the size of its flowers (bigger in the new species, Table 2). Additionally, Salvia calaminthifolia is not closely related to the new species (Fig. 4) and it seems to be only distributed in Haiti (Liogier, 1994), despite the locality cited in the type specimen (Santo Domingo). No distribution data or collections from Dominican Republic were found representing this species either in the JBSD herbarium or global databases such as GBIF.org (GBIF Secretariat 2023).

Dominican Republic. Azua, Barreras • Sierra Martín García, en los alrededores de Barreras; 170 m; 11 Sep 1984; M. Mejía et al. 1180 (JBSD). Las Charcas • Parque Nacional Francisco Alberto Caamaño, paraje Boquerón; 18° 21'38.4366"N, 70°31'51.24"W; 298 m; 9 May 2014; T. Clase & R. Ovidio S. 8645 (JBSD, MEXU).

Similar to Salvia brachyphylla, but differing from it by the pubescence of the plant (strigose with retrorse trichomes vs. hispid with erect trichomes); having smaller leaves (1–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm vs. 1.5–3 × 1–2.5) with a tomentulose lower leaf side (vs. hispid); flowers axillary (vs. forming racemes), calyx campanulate (vs. tubular-campanulate) and lower lobe of the corolla reflexed (vs. reclinate).

Figure 2. 

Salvia martineziana and the botanist that honors A flowering branch B leaves C flowers D Martha Martínez-Gordillo conducting fieldwork in Mexico E calyx F corolla G stamens H detail of the connective tooth (Specimen photographs taken from I. Fragoso et al. 497).

Dominican Republic. Independencia, Duvergé • Parque Nacional Sie­rra de Bahoruco, 6.8 km al S de Puerto Escondido por el camino a la Caseta 1; 18°17'10.4994"N, 71°34'6.3978"W; 965 m; 24 Nov 2016; I. Fragoso-Martínez, G.A. Salazar & T. Clase 497 (holotype: JBSD 129573; isotypes: MEXU 1512142, XAL 0154234).

Suffruticose herbs , 0.3–0.5 m tall; stems strigose with retrorsely appressed trichomes, internodes 0.8–2.4 cm long. Leaves obovate to flabellate, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, base cuneate, decurrent, apex acute to obtuse, margin crenate-serrate, ciliate; upper leaf surface bullate, densely hirsute; lower leaf surface whitish, tomentulose simple trichomes minute, curved, white, with yellow spherical glands; petioles 4–8 mm long. Flowers axillary, 2 per node; pedicels 1.5–4.5 mm long, hirsute. Calyx green, campanulate, 5–6.8 mm long, densely hirsute, with simple and glandular trichomes; tube 3–5 × 3 mm; lobes ovate-deltate, apex apiculate, upper lobe 2.5–4 mm long, curved backwards, 3-veined, margin ciliate, lower lobes 1.6–2.5 mm long, straight. Corolla violet with white nectar guides in the lower lobe, 1.2–1.4 cm long, tube 7–9 × 2.9 mm, ventricose, invaginate, internally epapillate, lobes unequal in length, upper lobe galeate, 4.5–6.5 mm long, densely pubescent, lower lobe 7–7.5 × 8.4 mm, tetralobate, reflexed. Stamens included in the upper corolla lobe, fused close to the corolla opening; filaments 1.5–2 mm long; connective 7.5–8.5 mm long, sparsely pilose, with an entire tooth close to the insertion with the filament, retrorse; upper arm of the connective slightly longer than the lower arm, 4–4.5 mm long, thecae 1–1.5 mm long; lower arm 3.5–4 mm long. Style 13–15 mm long, densely pubescent near the branches, with simple and capitate glandular trichomes, upper branch longer than the lower one, lower branch spathulate. Nectary disc surface with spherical glands near the base of the mericarps, nectary horn ca. 1 mm long, oblong, laterally compressed. Mericarps ovoid, 1.5–2 × 0.4–0.6 mm, smooth.

Flowers were documented from November to May. Fruits have been observed after this period.

The epithet “martineziana” honors the Mexican botanist Martha Martínez Gordillo, specialist of the Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae families. Dr. Martínez works at the FCME herbarium at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She has conducted fieldwork mainly in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Mexico and Oaxaca. Her study of the Mexican flora, particularly that of Gue­rrero, has led to the description of more than 30 species of angiosperms, many of them from the genus Salvia. Dr. Martínez has taught botany to numerous generations of Mexican biologists, and her exemplary professional and academic ethics, determination, kindness and generosity are an inspiration to her students.

Endemic to the dry forests with limestone soils from Sierra de Bahoruco in Independencia, Dominical Republic (Fig. 3). Salvia martineziana is represented by two collections, each seemingly belonging to different populations, both from the southern region of Puerto Escondido in the Sierra de Barohuco. In the GeoCat (Bachman et al. 2011) analysis, the species’ extent of occurrence (EEO) is 0.09 km² with an area of occupancy (AOO) of 8 km². Considering these results, combined with the high level of endemism of the region, and taking into account the IUCN criteria (IUCN 2022), we suggest that S. martineziana should be placed in the category of Critically Endangered (CR).

Figure 3. 

Distribution map of the four taxa of Salvia section Urbania from Dominican Republic. Salvia calaminthifolia was excluded from the map due to the lack of distribution data in the country aside from the type specimen.

This species is sister to a clade formed by two other Dominican species of Salvia section Urbania (Fig. 4). It differs from S. praeterita by lacking flowers in racemes and from S. claseana by the size of the leaves (smaller in S. martineziana: 1–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm vs. 1.3–3.6 × 1–3 cm) and the pubescence of the lower side of the blades (tomentulose vs. densely pubescent). Morphologically, S. martineziana resembles S. brachyphylla the most, a Haitian species. However, it differs mainly by the lack of racemes, having the flowers distributed in the axils of the upper portion of the branches.

Figure 4. 

Phylogenetic relationships of the Angulatae clade based on three molecular markers (nrITS, trnH-psbA and trnL-trnF) with an increased taxon sampling including the new species and other Hispaniolan taxa. Bootstrap values ≥80% are shown above the branches. The names of the new species are written in purple, while the names in gray correspond to the sections of the taxa from the Hispaniolan subclade. An extended version of the phylogenetic tree is provided in Suppl. material 2.

Dominican Republic. Independencia, Duvergé • 5.2 km al S de Puerto Escondido en camino a Acetillar, Sierra de Bahoruco; 170 m; 9 May 1985; T. Zanoni et al. 34648 (JBSD).