14. Piptolepis procumbens J.B. Cândido & Loeuille (2021: 498). Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, Diamantina, Reserva Ambiental Pau de Fruta, [-18.2785°, -43.674388º], 1,399 m, fl., fr., 07 May 2019, J.B. Cândido 324 (holotype: UFP! [UFP88707]; isotypes: BHCB!, K!, RB!) (Fig. 2 B, 3 H, 26 C–D). Shrub 0.5 m tall, crown 1.5 m diam., procumbent, densely branched. Stems terete, manicate, brownish, old stems rugose, becoming glabrescent, dark grey, leaf scars deltate. Leaves patent to ascending, subsessile, petiole 0.2–0.5 mm long, pad-like leaf sheath ligulate, 0.5–1 mm long; blade ovate to elliptic, 3.5–9 × 4–9 mm, apex subacute, base rounded, chartaceous, venation brochidodromous, midrib adaxially impressed, not concealed by indumentum, abaxially prominent, adaxial surface tomentose, dark olive green, abaxially lanate, light green, margins flat. Inflorescence in pseudoglomerules, terminal at apex of branches, with leaf-like bracts at base of pseudoglomerule, 5–9 × 1–3.5 mm, apex subacute, base rounded to attenuate. Capitula 2–7, sessile or shortly pedunculate, peduncle (0–) 4–6 mm long; involucre cylindrical, 8–9 mm tall × 5–8 mm diam., 7–8 seriate; phyllaries persistent, scarious, lanate, glandular-punctate, apex acute, outer phyllaries narrowly triangular, 2–3.5 × 0.2–1 mm, stramineous, inner phyllaries lanceolate, 6.5–8 × 1–1.2 mm, stramineous with reddish apex; receptacle fimbrillate. Florets 14–22, corolla lilac, glabrous, glandular-punctate, 8–9 mm long, corolla tube 4–5 × 1–1.3 mm., corolla lobes 3–6 × 0.5–0.6 mm, apex acute; anthers lilac, apical appendages acute; style shaft 7–8 mm long, pale lilac, glabrous throughout except for pubescent upper 0.5–1 mm beneath style arms, style arms 2–2.5 mm long. Cypselae prismatic, 2–2.2 × 0.8–1 mm, 10-ribbed, glabrous, furrows glandular-punctate, light brown; pappus setae biseriate unequal, stramineous, paleaceous, outer series 0.6–1.5 mm long, serrulate, persistent, inner series 4–7 mm long, barbellate, tapering towards the apex, deciduous. Distribution and habitat: —Endemic to the Diamantina plateau in the Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais, at the Área de Proteção Especial (APE) Manacial Pau de Fruta, within the boundaries of Diamantina (Fig. 10, 24). Piptolepis procumbens occurs in areas with quartzite rock outcrops in sandy and rocky soils, with nearby peatland areas. Conservation Status: —This species is known from a single collection, locality and population. Therefore, the GeoCAT analysis (Bachman et al. 2011) does not provide a confident evaluation of AOO and EOO. The species should then be classified as Data Deficient (DD) (Amorim & Bicalho 2022f). Etymology: —The epithet refers to the species habit: leaning over or reclining on the ground (Cândido & Loeuille 2021). Phenology: —Flowering and fruiting specimens were found in May. Notes: — Piptolepis procumbens resembles P. campestris by its patent to slightly ascending, chartaceous leaves, with rounded base, and capitula organized in pseudoglomerules. However, P. procumbens differs from the latter by its height (0.5 m vs. 1.2–2 m tall), procumbent stems (vs. virgate), smaller leaves (3.5–9 mm vs. 8–21 mm long) and unequal pappus series (vs. subequal or equal). Both species have populations occurring in Diamantina, but in different localities.

Published as part of Cândido, Jacqueline B., Bicalho, Monira & Loeuille, Benoît, 2025, Taxonomic Revision of Piptolepis (Vernonieae, Asteraceae), pp. 17-72 in Phytotaxa 733 (1) on pages 54-56, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.733.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/18419173