Lobelia vivaldii (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae), a remarkable new species of sect. Tylomium from Isla de Mona,Puerto rico

A new species ofLobelia (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae) is described from Isla de Mona, a Caribbean island not previously known to harbor the genus. The small woody rosette-plants were collected in 1988 and 1992 at the northeastern corner of the island, where they grew from crevices in the vertical limestone cliffs, approximately 60 m above the sea. The new species,Lobelia vivaldii, belongs to sect.Tylomium, a group of approximately 36 suffruticose and woody species endemic to the Caribbean basin. Within that section, it is most similar to and apparently derived fromL. cirsiifolia, a less woody rain forest species found at higher elevations on several islands in the Lesser Antilles.