Mahurea

  • Authority

    Maguire, Bassett. 1972. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part IX. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 23: 1-832.

  • Family

    Clusiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mahurea Aubl.

  • Discussion

    The small genus Mahurea is composed of perhaps fewer than eight closely related species with a natural range extending from the Guayana Highland at least to the southern coastal regions of the Guianas, and chiefly to the north portion of the Amazon Basin as far as Loreto in Peru. The chief population center seems to be Guayana, with Mahurea exstipulata Benth. the commonest and most frequently collected species. Careful study is needed to permit more adequate judgment as to the specific organization of the genus. The published names are:

    1. Mahurea palustre Aublet, PI. Guiane 558. 1775. No type designated. French Guiana and Amapa, Brazil.

    2. Mahurea exstipulata Bentham, London Jour. Bot. 2: 365. 1843. Type. Banks of rivers, British Guiana, Schomburgk 280 (K). Common at middle altitudes, Guayana Highland.

    3. Mahurea casiquiarensis Spruce ex Bentham, Jour. Proc. Linn. Soc. Bot. 5: 64. 1861. Type. In sandy woods at the foot of Mount Guanari on the Casiquiare in Territorio Amazonas, Venezuela, R. Spruce 3161 (K, NY). Insufficiently known, presumably at low altitudes of the Casiquiare-upper Rio Negro drainages. Possibly not separable from M. exstipulata.

    4. Mahurea linguiformis Tulasne, Ann. Sci. Nat. III. Bot. 8: 340. 1847. Type. Herbarii Schomburgkiani quae no 518 gerunt et juxta Roraimam Guianae britannicae fuerunt collecta. Not seen by me. Probably indistinguishable from M. exstipulata.

    5. Mahurea duckii Huber, Bol. Mus. Goeldi 7: 300. 1913. Type. Hab. in silvis ripariis fl. Yapurá-Caquetá [Colombia], La Pedrera, 25 Nov 1892 (MG). Low-altitude drainage of the Río Negro. Possibly a variant of M. exstipulata.

    6. Mahurea tomentosa Ducke, Arquivos Inst. Biol. Veg. Rio de Janeiro 1: 208. 1935. Type. São Jeronymo, infra Tabatingu, Rio Solimões, civ. Amazonas [Brazil], silva non inundabili loco paludoso, 27 Nov 1931, A. Ducke 23779 (RB, NY). Probably equivalent to M. duckii and a variant of M. exstipulata.

    7. Mahurea sororopantepuiana Steyermark, Fieldiana, Bot. 28: 395, fig 81. 1952. Type. Shrub 5-8 ft tall, by wooded streamlet at 2255 m alt, Sororopán-tepuí [Ptari-tepuí], Edo. Bolívar, Venezuela, 14 Nov 1944, Julian A. Steyermark 60129 (holotype F, isotype NY). Probably a small narrow-leafed variant of M. exstipulata.

    Excluded name. M. ?speciosa Choisy. DC. Prodr. 1: 558. 1824.