Aldina macrophylla Spruce ex Benth.

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett & Wurdack, John J. 1958. The botany of the Guayana Highland--Part III. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 10: 1-156.

  • Family

    Fabaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Aldina macrophylla Spruce ex Benth.

  • Description

    Distribution and Ecology - VENEZUELA: Amazonas: along Yapacana caño from laguna to junction with Rio Orinoco, elev. 150 m, Maguire & Wurdack 34586; spreading tree, occasional on Laja Catipan near Rio Yatua, 100-140 m elev., Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37553; tree at edge of savanna on left bank of Cano Hechimoni 8 km above mouth, Rio Siapa, Casiquiare, elev. 100-130 m, Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37618; bushy tree at edge of savanna on left bank of Cano Hechimoni 8 km above mouth, Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37620.

  • Discussion

    Aldina yapacanmsis Cowan, Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 8: 108. 1053.

    The large number of recent collections of this species has made it necessary to join one of my species with an earlier one, but there is some consolation in the fact that the range of variation in the species is now much better understood. There is not a single key character used to distinguish A. yapacanensis which will now serve to identify it. The size of the flower-parts is especially variable in flowers of different ages; petals and ovary stipes, which are relatively small in bud, elongate enormously during anthesis and maturation of the flower. The type material of A. macrophylla shows mostly very large leaflets, but these recent collections indicate remarkable variability in leaflet size and shape. The following previously unreported collections represent this species.

  • Distribution

    VENEZUELA: Amazonas: along Yapacana caño from laguna to junction with Rio Orinoco, elev. 150 m, Maguire & Wurdack 34586; spreading tree, occasional on Laja Catipan near Rio Yatua, 100-140 m elev., Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37553; tree at edge of savanna on left bank of Cano Hechimoni 8 km above mouth, Rio Siapa, Casiquiare, elev. 100-130 m, Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37618; bushy tree at edge of savanna on left bank of Cano Hechimoni 8 km above mouth, Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 37620.

    Venezuela South America|