Monographs Details:
Authority:

Luteyn, James L. 1976. A revision of the Mexican Central American species of Cavendishia (Vacciniaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 28 (3): 1-138.
Family:

Ericaceae
Description:

Species Description - Terrestrial and epiphytic shrubs, 1-2.5 m tall; stem base 2.5-4 cm in diameter. Mature branches terete, often ridged and striate, glabrous, green to green suffused with red when living, but drying brick-red or grayish; bark brown or reddish-brown when living; immature branches and twigs of n e w growth subterete to obtusely angled, striate, densely puberulent and usually also provided with red, clavate glandular fimbriae which are soon caducous, green or reddish when living but drying brick-red or reddish-brown. Petioles terete, rugose, 2.5-5(-7) mm long and 1-1.5 mm in diameter, densely puberulent adaxially, rarely becoming glabrate, dark reddish-brown. Leaves lanceolate, ellipticlanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate, (3.5-)5-8.5(-11) cm long and 1-2 cm broad, basally acute or infrequently obtuse or rounded, apicallv long acuminate, glabrous except for adaxial surface of midrib which is densely puberulent proximally becoming glabrate distally, and leaf apex which may be conspicuously ciliate (to 0.3 mm long) along margins; pinnately veined or conspicuously (3-)5(-7)-pIinerved with lateral nerves arising above base and always much thinner than midrib, usually only inner pair of lateral nerves extending to apex, midrib raised and conspicuous on both surfaces, lateral nerves and veinlets plane or more commonly slightly elevated and conspicuous above, raised but usually only lateral nerves obvious beneath. Infiorescence (3-)4-5(-8) flowered, narrowly fusiform in bud; rachis bluntiy angled, minutely striate, viscid, glabrous, 1 - 3 cm long and 1 mm in diameter, pale green to pinkish, rarely provided with few, red clavate glands at base. Floral bracts oblong to oblanceolate, basally narrowed and sessile, apically rounded to acute, marginally scarious, short ciliate and often revolute, 1.5-2(-2.5) cm long and 0.5-1(-1.5) cm broad, purple to reddish-purple, rarely rose. Pedicels swollen apically, smooth or ridged, glabrous, (3.5-)5-9 mm long and 0.5 mm in diameter, pale green to pinkish, with the distal swoUen tip completely encircled with sessile, angular or disc-shaped glands. Bracteoles minute, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 0.5-1.5 mm long and 0.5-1 mm broad, glabrous, green, completely callose-thickened and glandular except for small central, basal portion. Calyx glabrous, 3-4 mm long, pink to dark wine-red at anthesis but turning pale green post anthesis, lobes always dark green; tube bluntiy 5-angled or ribbed, 1-1.5 mm long, conspicuously apophysate basally; limb campanulate, rarely cylindric, smooth, (1.5-)2-2.5(-3) mm long induding lobes; lobes triangular, 0.5-1 mm long and 0.5-1.5 mm broad, erect after anthesis, completely glandular callose-thickened; sinus broadly rounded to almost flat. Corolla slightly constricted basally, slightiy narrowed to throat, glabrous, (1-)1.5-2 cm long and 2.5-5 mm in diameter, tube white at base and upper one-quarter to one-third, purple or reddish-purple or rarely rose in middle, lobes white with purple or rose tips and margins; lobes triangular to oblong, 1.5-2 mm long. Stamens 12.5-16 mm long;filaments glabrate, alternately either 1.5-3.5 mm or 3.5-5.5 mm long, white or reddish-white; anthers induding tubules alternately either 8.5-12.5 mm or 10.5-15 mm long, orange or yellow; thecae 2-4 mm long. Style exserted at anthesis, 14.5-19 mm long. Phenology: Flowering May-August.

Discussion:

Chupalon endresii (Hemsl.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 383. 1891.

Cavendishia glutinosa Hoerold, Bot. Jahrb. 42: 321. 1909. Type: Costa Rica: Province of San Jose. La Palma and vicinity, Werckle 19 (Holotype: B, not seen, presumably destroyed).

C. Smith (1932) allied C. endresii with C. wercklei. This relationship, however was based primarily upon Panamanian taxa misidentified asC. endresii andC. wercklei. The two taxa here circumscribed are both endemic to Costa Rica and do not show dose affinitites. In fact, C. endresii has no dose rdatives in Central America. It does, however, show phenetic affinities with the Colombian C. violacea A. G. Smith. Both bear at the distal tip ofthe pedicel, numerous angular glands not to be found in any other taxa. Their calyces, floral bracts, and leaves are virtually identical with only moderate size differences. They differ in that C. violacea has a longer rachis (5-10 c m long) with more flowers (10-16), and its bracteoles are glandular callose-thickened for only the distal half, whereas the bracteoles of C. endresii are glandular throughout.

Although I have not seen the type of Hoerold's C. glutinosa, the original description (Hoerold, 1909) matches C. endresii. Also A. C. Smith saw the type prior to its presumed destruction at Berlin, and he included it in synonymy under C. endresii (Smith, 1932). Hoerold evidently did not see the type of C. endresii since he merely listed it under his species incertae sedis (Hoerold, 1909).

Type: Costa Rica: Endres 173 (Holotype: K! photo of type DUKE! isotype: W!).

Distribution:

Costa Rica South America|