A new section within Passiflora subgenus Decaloba (Passifloraceae) borne from the “Passiflora lobbii group”, with three new species from the montane forests of southern Ecuador and Bolivia

Various previous authors have questioned the cohesion and taxonomic association of a group of Central Andean Passiflora species hereto commonly referred to as “The Lobbii group”. Following targeted studies, both literature and in the field, we here elevate this monophyletic group to the independent rank of section within subgenus Decaloba, supersection Multiflora. The alleged infraspecific variability and the highly disjunct distribution of the Bolivian typified Passiflora exoperculata has also been evaluated. Following targeted fieldwork to Ecuador and Bolivia, previously unavailable high-resolution photos allow the definition of distinct morphological features to separate the Ecuadorean Passiflora skrabaliana sp. nov. from the Bolivian Passiflora exoperculata; and Passiflora justinianoi sp. nov. and Passiflora lobbii subsp. charazanica subsp. nov. from the enigmatic Passiflora solomonii. The ecology and taxonomic association of the Passiflora lobbii group, now Lobbii sect. nov., is highlighted. A key to the species of this new section depicting morphological details between these close relatives is presented.