KEW BULLETIN 62: 605–608 (2007)
A new species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)
endemic to Bolivia
M. Atahuachi B.1 & Lourdes Rico2
Summary. A new species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae), A. riograndensis Atahuachi & L. Rico, endemic to
the valley of the Rio Grande in Bolivia is described and illustrated. Affinities to closely related species are
discussed.
Key words. Acacia, Leguminosae, Mimosoideae, Bolivia, endemic.
Introduction
Thirty-one species of Acacia are recorded from Bolivia
in the most recent published account (Killeen et al.
1993) of which eight are introduced and sometimes
naturalised, seven are near endemics, being found
also in adjacent areas of Paraguay and Argentina, and
one is endemic (A. feddeana Harms). Here, we
describe a second endemic species discovered during
ongoing fieldwork to document the endemic plants
of the dry central valleys of Bolivia.
Acacia riograndensis Atahuachi & L. Rico sp. nov.
subgeneris Aculeiferum Vassal sectionis Monacantheae
Vassal. A. compactae Rose e Mexico similis sed floribus
eburnis (non albis), leguminibus 0.5 – 1.4 cm (non 1
– 2.2 cm), latis, inter semina constrictis, exocarpio
rubro (non ochraceo) distincta. Arbor usque ad 12
m, sine aculeis; stipulae spinescentes, 1.5 – 2 mm
longae, tarde caducae; flores in spiculis 1.7 – 3.8(– 6)
cm longis dispositi; pedunculi sine bracteis; stamina
sine glande apicale; ovarium glabrum stipitatum,
stipite 2 mm longo; nectarium interstaminale non est;
stylus sub anthesi supra stamina exsertus; legumina
ex ambobis lateribus dehiscentia. Ab ea, species
ceterae austroamericanae spinis persistentibus veris
vel stipulis foliosis dignoscendae. Typus Bolivia, Dept.
Cochabamba, Prov. Campero, Pasorapa, en la bajada
de Buena Vista hacia el Río Grande, 27 Dec. 2004, J.
R. I. Wood, M. Atahuachi & M. Mercado 21251,
(holotypus BOLV; isotypi K, LPB).
Accepted for publication January 2007.
1 Herbario Nacional Forestal ‘Martin Cardenas’, Centro de Biodiversidad y Genetica, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologia, Universidad Mayor de San Simon,
Cochabamba, Casilla 538, Bolivia.
2 Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK.
605
Small to medium-sized tree 3 – 12 m tall with a
single bole. Bark whitish, superficially fissured.
Shoots lacking prickles, glabrous, slightly glossy,
orange-brown. Stipules 1.5 – 2 mm long, weakly
spinescent, setiform, late caducous. Leaves crowded
on short side shoots or brachyblasts, bipinnate, 4 –
5.5 cm long, almost glabrous; petioles 0.5 – 1 cm
long, channelled on upper surface, extrafloral
nectary lacking, rachis 0.5 – 2.5 cm long, channelled
along upper surface, leaf with 3 – 5(– 7) pairs of 1 –
1.5(– 2) cm long pinnae, the apex of the rachis
extending beyond the terminal pinnae pair as a
pointed mucro 1.2 – 1.6 mm long, the rachis
charged between the first, and sometimes the
terminal pair of pinnae with an elliptic disciform or
shallow crateriform extrafloral nectary, this 0.5 – 0.6
× 0.25 – 0.35 mm. Leaflets (12 –)17 – 23 pairs per
pinna, 1 × 2.3(– 3) mm, narrow-linear, apex rounded,
base asymmetric, the midrib near the anterior
margin, inconspicuous, secondary veins not visible,
almost glabrous but sparsely ciliate and densely
covered with translucent punctate glandular
structures. Inflorescences axillary, solitary, 3.8 – 6 cm
long including a peduncle of 0.7 – 1.5 cm long, c. 1
– 1.7 cm in diam. at anthesis, glabrous, without
bracts. Flowers cream in colour, sessile, floral bracts
0.75 – 1 mm long, spathulate, internally glabrous,
externally pubescent towards the apex with
translucent trichomes, persistent after anthesis;
calyx campanulate, pale green-yellow, puberulent
externally, hairs translucent, (1.5 –)2 mm long, 5-
© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2007
606
lobed, ciliate at the apex; corolla campanulate, 5 – 6
mm long, 5-lobed, puberulent, more densely so
before anthesis; stamens more than 100 per flower,
free, 7.5 – 8(– 10) mm long, inserted on a 0.7 mm
long stemonozone, anthers eglandular, dorsifixed
and with longitudinal dehiscence; gynoecium 6 – 8.5
mm long, ovary 2.5 mm long, glabrous, with a stipe
1.8 – 2 mm long, lacking an intrastaminal nectary,
style 3.5 mm long, exserted beyond the anthers.
Pods 9.5 – 12 cm long, 5 – 14 mm wide, dehiscent
along both sutures, flat, constricted between the
seeds, apex mucronate, base acute without a stipe,
exocarp membranous or weakly coriaceous, reddish,
slightly reticulate, glabrescent, endocarp pale tan
coloured. Seeds (2 –)3 – 8(– 10) per pod, 9 – 11 × 6 –
7 × 2 mm, ellipsoid, pleurogram U-shaped, open,
testa slightly glossy, reddish brown. Fig. 1.
HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. Acacia riograndensis is
known from only two collections both from the same
area in the Río Grande valley below Pasorapa. Several
other narrowly restricted endemic plants, including
an undescribed species of Varronia (Boraginaceae),
Brongniartia ulbrichiana Harms, Bougainvillea
berberidifolia Heimerl, Myrocarpus emarginatus A. L. B.
Sartori & A. M. G. Azevedo and Espostoa guentheri
(Kupper) Buxb. are recorded from this area. Based
on the first author’s field observations it is locally
common in relatively undisturbed, open, seasonally
dry tropical forest, between 1300 and 1500 m on dry,
freely drained, rocky river terraces with minimal soil.
There is little ground vegetation but common trees
and shrubs in the area include Schinopsis haenkeana
Engl. (‘soto’), Athyana weinmannifolia Radkl. (‘sotillo’),
Cochlospermum tetraporum Hallier f. (‘calapierna’),
Jatropha spp., Bougainvillea spp., Loxopterygium
grisebachii Hieron. ex Griseb. (‘Sotomara’) and
numerous cacti including Neoraimondia herzogiana
(Backeb.) Buxb. & Krainz.
BOLIVIA. Cochabamba, Prov. Campero, camino de
Pasorapa pasando (“a”) Buena Vista, 1300 m, 24 Nov.
1999, C. Antezana et al. 1325 (BOLV); ibid, camino de
Pasorapa, en la bajada de Buena Vista hacia el Río
Grande, 18°36'32"S, 64°32'85"W, 1447 m, 27 Dec.
2004, J. R. I. Wood, M. Atahuachi & M. Mercado 21251
(holotype BOLV; isotypes K, LPB).
CONSERVATION STATUS. Although Acacia riograndensis is
locally abundant and apparently under no immediate
threat from human settlement, its total range is
highly restricted and the species is thus globally rare,
particularly as there are plans to construct a bridge
over the Río Grande in the area, thus opening the
site to access by vehicular traffic.
PHENOLOGY. Acacia riograndensis flowers in November
and December.
NOTES. Acacia riograndensis is placed in subgenus
Aculeiferum Vassal section Monocanthea Vassal of
© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2007
KEW BULLETIN VOL. 62(4)
Acacia sensu lato based primarily on the pollen which
occurs in 16-grained polyads of colporate grains.
Amongst the South American species of Acacia with
spicate inflorescences, A. riograndensis is unique in
having late falling spinescent stipules. All other
species in South America have either persistent true
spines or foliaceous stipules. Among neotropical
Acacias, A. riograndensis most closely resembles A.
compacta Rose from the semi-arid Teotitlán-Cuicatlán
valley of south-central Mexico, an area similarly rich
in cacti species at elevations between 500 and 850 m.
In A. riograndensis the flowers are cream in colour,
and the pod only 0.5 – 1.4 cm wide. In addition the
pod is constricted between the seeds, which are
reddish-brown in colour. In contrast in A. compacta
the flowers are whitish and the pod 1 – 2.2 cm in
width but not constricted between the seeds which
are yellowish-brown in colour. A full description and
illustration of A. compacta is given in Rico &
Rodríguez (1998).
Within Bolivia, Acacia riograndensis resembles A.
visco Lorentz ex Griseb. in leaf characters, but can
be distinguished from that species by its spicate
inflorescence and leaves with more pairs of pinnae
and longer and wider fruit. A. bonariensis Gill. is also
vegetatively similar to A. riograndensis but has shoots
with scattered prickles and more persistent
spinescent stipules, as well as fruits that are not
constricted between the seeds and differ in size.
Finally, although the striking whitish bark of A.
feddeana is similar to that of A. riograndensis, these
two species can be readily distinguished based on
leaf, inflorescence and pod characters. A. feddeana
consistently has a single pair of pinnae per leaf
while A. riograndensis has leaves with 3 – 5(– 7) pairs
of pinnae. The infloresence of A. riograndensis is
long-spicate with numerous flowers while in A.
feddeana it is few-flowered and compact-oblong. The
pods of A. feddeana are broader and more robust
than those of A. riograndensis with coriaceous valves
which are hardly constricted between the seeds.
Furthermore, A. riograndensis generally forms an
erect single-stemmed tree up to 12 m, while A.
feddeana is usually a much smaller and more
branched treelet (to 4 m) that is consistently multi-
stemmed from the base. These two endemic
Bolivian Acacias occupy distinct ranges. A. feddeana
is frequent over wide areas of semi-arid bushland at
2300 – 2900 m in the valleys of the Río Tumusla and
the Río San Juan del Oro in Nor Chichas Province
(Potosi), Nor and Sud Cinti Provinces (Chuquisaca)
and Mendez Province (Tarija) (Killeen et al. 1993:
425; Torrico et al. 1994; Wood pers. comm.), being
especially abundant between El Puente and
Iscayachi. A. riograndensis is restricted to 1300 – 1500
m in the Río Grande valley further north in
Cochabamba Department.
A NEW SPECIES OF ACACIA ENDEMIC TO BOLIVIA 607

M C

H G

Fig. 1. Acacia riograndensis. A habit with inflorescences × 0.65; B spinescent stipules showing canaliculate petiole and extrafloral
nectary × 5; C leaflet upper surface × 13; D apex of leaf rachis showing extrafloral nectary and mucro × 5; E flower and floral bract × 5;
F calyx opened out × 10; G corolla opened out × 10; H longitudinal section of base of flower showing the receptacle ×13; J gynoecium
× 5; K seed front and side view × 2; L pod × 0.65; M open pod valve showing seed × 0.65. From J. R. I. Wood, M. Atahuachi & M.
Mercado 21251. DRAWN BY ROSEMARY WISE.

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2007

608 KEW BULLETIN VOL. 62(4)

Acknowledgements
We thank Rosemary Wise for the illustration, John
Wood for preparing the Latin diagnosis, Colin
Hughes, Gwilym Lewis and John Wood for assistance
in assembling the manuscript, and the Darwin
Initiative, Department for the Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), U.K. which funded the
fieldwork on which this publication is based.

References
Killeen T. J., García, E. & Beck, S. G.(1993). Guía de
Árboles de Bolivia. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia &
Missouri Botanical Garden. La Paz, Bolivia.
Rico, A. M. de L. & Rodríguez, A. (1998). Mimosaceae
R. Br. Tribu Acacieae. Flora del valle de Tehuacán –
Cuicatlán. Fasc. 20: 1 – 27. Universidad Nacional
Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City.
Torrico, G., Peca, C., Beck, S. G. & García, E. (1994).
Leñosas útiles de Potosi-Proyecto FAO/
Holanda/CDF “Desarrollo Forestal Comunal en el
Altiplano Boliviano. Potosi, Bolivia.

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2007