Ernestia pullei Gleason

• Authority

  Maguire, Bassett & Wurdack, John J. 1964. The botany of the Guayana Highland--Part V. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 10: 1-278.

• Family

  Melastomataceae

• Scientific Name

  Ernestia pullei Gleason

• Description

  Species Description - Two Venezuelan collections (Maguire 32697, Maguire, Wurdack, & Bunting 35855), from iron-ore mountains (Cerro Bolivar, Cerro Altamira) in Edo. Bolivar, agree fairly well with the holotype (from Surinam) and with Guppy 333 (Acarai Mts., British Guiana-Brazil frontier), differing only in the finer leaf serrulation and somewhat more granular lower leaf surface pubescence. In the original description, Gleason described the ovary as 4-celled, mentioning, however, Pulle's 3-celled adnot on the type sheet. The type is in poor condition, but all of the non-disintegrated fruits seem to be 3-celled; both the Acarai Mts. and Venezuelan collections have predominantly 3-celled ovaries, with only one of the many available fruits on 35855 being 4-celled. I have compared a photograph and fragment (leaf and capsule, NY) of the type of Brachypremna petiolata Gleason with E. pullei and the match is excellent. In his discussion of the new genus, Gleason compared Brachypremna with Ernestia, but erred in differentiating the genera on the bases of flower-mery and habit. Absolute synonymization of Brachypremna pends my personal examination of the holotype; since both species were published in the same paper, no nomenclatural adjustment will be needed.