Mascagnia castanea (Cuatrec.) W.R.Anderson
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Authority
Maguire, Bassett. 1978. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part XI. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 32: 1-391.
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Family
Malpighiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Discussion
7. Mascagnia castanea (Cuatrecasas) Anderson, comb nov Heteropterys castanea Cuatrecasas, Webbia 13(2): 475. 1958. Type. Schultes & Lopez 10014, upper Rio Negro basin, Rio Dimiti, at base Serra Dimiti, Amazonas, BrazH, 12-19 May 1948 flr (holotype US! isotypes IAN! US!). This plant is known only from the type; for a full description see the protologue. Its fruit is not known, but its flowers and many vegetative characters are so like those of Mascagnia benthamiana that I transfer the name to Mascagnia with some confidence. Indeed, they are so similar that perhaps it would be better to treat M. castanea as a variety of M. benthamiana. Resolution of its status had better await revision of this whole variable complex, by which time perhaps more material of M. castanea, including fruits, will be available.