Mastigostyla torotoroensis

Restricted to Torotoro National Park in Bolivia, where it is found from 2,550 to 2,750 m above sea level.

Mastigostyla torotoroensis (Image: Darwin Project 11-010)

An erect, perennial herb reaching 17-60 cm in height. The dark, shiny chestnut-brown to very dark brown bulb is ovoid or rounded with papery tunics. The bulb is 2.2-3 × 1.2-1.5 cm with a neck about 3-6 cm long. The plant is hairless with the exception of the leaf veins and margins which have a covering of minute stiff hairs. The linear leaves have parallel veins and longitudinal folds and taper to a long tip; there is normally one basal leaf and one or two leaves arising from the stem. The leaf-blades are 14-44 × 0.1-0.25 cm.

The 2-6 flowered inflorescence is cymose with a grooved peduncle (stalk) 64-95 mm long and two bracts of 19-28 × 3-5 mm, which are yellow-green to dark green or grey-green, and turn russet-brown at the tip when in fruit. The erect flowers have spreading, free tepals. The outer tepals are 13-16 × 3-7 mm, and dark to light blue with a white blotch at the base, sometimes with darker speckling elsewhere. The base is not differentiated into a claw and blade. The inner tepals are 8-11 × 2-3 cm, and are the same colour as the outer tepals. The filaments are united to form a 4-7 cm long, erect column. The anthers are 3-5 mm long and are each sited between a pair of the three style branches. The style branches are 3-6 mm long and divided into slender, white to bluish arms 2.5-4 mm long with a golden-yellow head. The egg-shaped ovary is 6-9 × 2-6 mm and is grooved. Details of the fruit and seeds are unknown. 

Mastigostyla torotoroensis (Image: Darwin Project 11-010)

Mastigostyla torotoroensis is only found in the Torotoro National Park in Bolivia’s Potosí Department. Despite being very local in distribution it is considered to be of Least Concern (LC) according to IUCN Red List criteria, because the populations of this species are quite extensive, and no immediate threat is obvious. It has been recommended that regular monitoring be carried out to ensure populations do not decline, as M. torotoroensis is of special botanical interest in this protected area due to it being endemic to the Park and an attractive and charismatic plant.

Pressed and dried specimens of Mastigostyla torotoroensis are held in the Herbarium, one of the behind-the-scenes areas of Kew. Details, including images, of some of these can be seen on-line in the Herbarium Catalogue.

Search Kew's databases for more information on this species

Kew’s Lilioid & Alismatid Monocots Team

Darwin Initiative project to study plant endemism in the Inter-Andean valleys of Bolivia 

Guardian/The Observer - New to Nature No 29: Mastigostyla torotoroensis