Panopsis ornatinervia Steyerm.

  • Authority

    Prance, Ghillean T., et al. 2007. Proteaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 100: 1-218. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Proteaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Panopsis ornatinervia Steyerm.

  • Type

    Type. Venezuela. Bolívar: Chimantá Massif, Torono-tepuí, N-facing slopes on summit above valley of Caño Mojado, 2030-2150 m, 21 Feb 1955 (fl), Steyermark & Wurdack 1036 (holotype, VEN; isotypes, F, NY, photo M0-05045, MO).

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub. Young branches mid brown (occasionally rufous) villous to tomentose, the hairs soft to hispid, glabrescent, the bark dark gray or dark brown; lenticels few, small, plane (rarely slightly raised), granular orange-brown. Axillary buds dense with compacted hairs, deep red, appressed, hispid to villous. Leaves coriaceous, decussate (rarely subopposite), occasionally spiral towards shoot apex, short-petiolate, the indumentum closely appressed, long-sericeous (shorter beneath) pubescent to pilose, hairs soft to hispid, pale yellow to brown, denser towards base of lamina, gradually glabrescent, more persistent beneath. Petioles 3-5(-8)× 0.5-1 (-1.5) mm, flat, the indumentum at times hispid or villous, appressed, brown, becoming short-omentose and fading, rugose beneath. Lamina 2-5.2(-7.4) × 1.2-3 (3.5) cm, widely oblong, suborbiculate, widely elliptic or elliptic, less frequently oblong, widely obovate or narrowly obovate; base symmetrical or eccentric, acute, obtuse or rounded, sometimes rapidly decurrent; apex obtuse to rounded sometimes slightly mucronate; margin slightly revolute, often more so at base; venation obscure, rarely conspicuous, minutely raised above, brochidodromous mostly from the lowermost secondary vein; midrib plane to raised at base above, rarely with narrow groove extending centrally; lateral veins 5-9 pairs, leaving midrib at 50-90°, running straight and parallel before arcing, or arcing immediately. Primary axis of inflorescence branched, 3-5.5 cmx 1-2 mm; 2-3(-6) the lateral inflorescences at 1-3(-4) nodes, 2.2-4.5 cm × 0.5-1 mm, spiral or decussate; indumentum brown to red-brown, appressed-villous to short hispid-tomentose. Common bracts 0.5-1 mm long, ligulate, red-brown, appressed-hispid. Pedicels 2.4-4.8 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide at midlength, elongating after perianth parts lost to 7 mm long, conspicuously shorter at branch apices than bases irrespective of developmental, red-brown short-tomentose, sometimes hispid. Flowers 2.5-4.3 mm long, the perianth indumentum closely appressed, sometimes somewhat hispid, red brown; free part of filaments 0.5-1.5 mm long, adnate 1.5-2 mm from base perianth parts, anthers 0.6-1 × 0.5 mm, elliptic or oblong; hypogynous nectary, 0.4-0.7 mm long, the lobes acute; style 0.2-0.3 mm wide at midlength, clavate; ovary orange-red villous, the hairs reaching to 1.5-2.2 mm from base of ovary, often with few hairs continuing up style. Not known in fruit. Field characters. Shrub, 1-2.5 m tall. Leaves subcoriaceous to chartaceous, dull green above, brownish-green or green-blue beneath, midrib prominent. Young leaves, shoots, inflorescences, peduncles, pedicels and outer surface of perianth parts ferruginous-brown; inner surface of perianth parts yellowish-white to pale green. Style pale green.

  • Discussion

    Panopsis omatinervia most closely resembles P. cinnamomea and P. ferruginea. It differs from P. cin-namomea in having a weaker and darker indumentum on the undersides of leaves, dull rather than sericeous, the leaves which are generally smaller and have less raised, less conspicuous venation, and stamens which are attached 1.5-2 mm from the base of the perianth parts with a free filament 0.5-1.5 mm long, compared to basal attachment to the perianth parts with free filament 1.5-3 mm long. Panopsis ornatinervia is a shrub, 1-2.5 m tall, growing in dwarf forest and shrubby savanna at 2030-2300 m altitude in the interior of Venezuela, while P. cinnamomea is a tree, 4-13 m tall, which grows in cloud forests of the western coastal cordillera at altitudes of 850-1600 m.

    The most striking difference between Panopsis omatinervia and P. ferruginea is in the indumentum of leaves and inflorescences, being sparser and less conspicuous in P. omatinervia. The leaves of P. ornatinervia are short pilose beneath, compared with densely crispate, while the inflorescences (including pedicels and perianth parts) of P omatinervia are rufous, tomentose-pubescent, compared with yellow-brown to orange-ferruginous, tomentose-crispate. The venation of leaves of P. omatinervia is inconspicuously brochidodromous, rarely visible on the uppermost side of the leaf, with 6-9 primary vein pairs, compared with being conspicuously brochidodromous above with 9-11 (-12) primary vein pairs. Inflorescences have few branches of which the main axis are narrow, ca. 1 mm, while P. ferruginea has many-branched inflorescences, the main axes wide, (1.7-)2-3 mm. Bracteoles are short, 0.5-1 mm long, ferruginous- to rufous-pubescent compared with 2 mm long and densely yellow-brown to ferruginous-crispate. Pedicels 2.4-4.8x0.5-0.7mm support flowers 2.5-4.3mm long, those of P. ferruginea are 1.5-4 × ca. 0.8-1 mm supporting flowers 4-5.5 mm long. Filaments are inserted 1.5-2 mm from the base of the perianth parts, the free parts measuring 0.5-1.5 mm long while filaments of P. ferruginea are inserted at or near to the base of perianth parts and measure 3-4 mm in length. Panopsis omatinervia is a low shrub, 1-2.5 m tall, found in Bolivar state of Venezuela at 2030-2300 m alt., differing from P. ferruginea, a tree, 6-10 m tall, and growing in the high Andes of Ecuador at 2300-3000 m alt.

    Phenology. Flowering Nov-Feb.

  • Distribution

    Collected rarely in Venezuela, on tepuis associated with the Chimanta Massif, in Bolivar state, 2030-2300 m elevation. Found on sandstone or on rocky hematite exposures, either in dwarf forest or in areas of dense shrub land among peat bogs, herbaceous savanna and riverine woods.

    Bolívar Venezuela South America|