Rogersonanthus quelchii (B.M.Boom) Maguire

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett. 1989. The Botany of the Guayana Highland- Part XIII. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 51: 1-127.

  • Family

    Gentianaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Rogersonanthus quelchii (B.M.Boom) Maguire

  • Description

    Distribution and Ecology - Small trees or shrubs to 5 m high; summit or upper talus of Roraima chain from Roraima on to Ilu-tepui, thus presumably on Kukunam, and therefore assignable to the comm o n frontier ofVenezuela, Guyana, and Brazil.

  • Discussion

    Type. Summit of Mount Roraima, 8600 feet, McConnell & Quelch 106 & 649 (K).

    Lisianthus quelchii N. E. Brown, Trans. Linn. Soc. II Bot. 6: 50. pl. 9, figs. 6-9. 1901.

    Symbolanthus quelchii (N. E. Brown) Gleason, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 56: 402. 1929.

    Macrocarpaea quelchii (N. E. Brown) Ewan, Contrib. U.S. Natl. Herb. 29: 233. 1948.

    Irlbachia quelchU (N. E. Brown) Maas, Proc. Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetensch. Ser. C. 88(4): 410. 1985

    Gleason (1929) made the transfer oi Lisianthus quelchii N. E. Brown to Symbolanthus quelchii (N. E. Brown) Gleason without comment. He cited Tate 397. collected on Roraima, as belonging to this species. Ewan (1948) said: "This Roraima endemic is most closely related, as N. E. Brown originally pointed out, to Lisianthus ovalis R. & P., that is, to Macrocarpaea ovalis (R. & P.) Ewan ofthe present treatment." This is a rather curious geographic alignment, even in view of the more limited material of 25 years ago. The immediate relative is M . tepuiensis, including Ewan's own M . cerronis and M . salicifolia, here united.

    Specimens examined. VENEZUELA, bolivar: Leaves hard, shining, sepals 5, ovary with persistent style, summit Roraima, 24 Nov 1927, Tate 397 (NY); shrub 8 feet tall, leaves coriaceous, corolla deep olivegreen, forested SW-facing slopes at 2040 m, Roraima, 25 Sep 1944, Steyermark 58672 (F, N Y , VEN); mixed moss forest below Tower Escarpment, 1900 m, Ilutepui, 11 Mar 1952, Maguire 33370-A (NY, VEN); shrub 3-5 m high, flowers green, about cliffs, occasional, cumbre saddle between North Peak and Central Plateau, 2400 m, 15 Mar 1952, Maguire 33410 (GH, K, N Y, VEN); shrub or small tree 4 m, flowers green, openings in "moss" forest, occasional, slopes below uppermost W-facing escarpment, 2400-2600 m, 20 Mar \952, Maguire 33499