C. abbreviata Bentham, London J. Bot. 3: 108. 1844. — "Province of Piauhy [expanded in Martius, 1876: 422, to ‘in districtu Paranagoa’, near 10°20'S, 44°40'W], Brazil, Gardner, n. 2556." — Holotypus, K (hb. Benth., pinnae 2-jug.)! = IPA Neg. 1473; isotypus, K (hb. Hook., pinnae 2-3-jug., not accounted for in the protologue)!. — Note: 2 sheets of Gardner 2835 (K) from Fda. Sta. Rosa on rio Preto in n.-w. Bahia (not Pernambuco) were mistakenly photographed as isotypes (NY Neg. 1972, 19731); they are, however, con- specific. — Feuilleea abbreviata O. Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 187. 1891.

C. dysantha fi pilosa Bentham in Martius, Fl. bras. 15(2): 421. 1876. — "Locis Brasiliae meridionalis non indicatis: St.-Hilaire, Sello." — Lectotypus, Sello 68, K (hb. Hook.)! = NY Neg. 1971.

C. dysantha sensu Bentham, 1844: 109; 1875: 552; 1876: 421, var. beta et gamma exceptis.

C. abbreviata sensu Bentham, 1875: 553; 1876: 188, exclus. loco pernambucensi.

C. macrocephala sensu Glaziou, 1905: 188; non Bentham.

Stems mostly virgate, simple or few-branched distally (3—)4—14(-20) dm and dying (or burned) back annually to the rootstock, but occasionally persistent and fruticose (even arborescent to 4 m), variable in indumentum, that of young stems and lf-axes composed mostly of mixed longer straight needle-like trichomes to 0.9-2.1 mm mixed with shorter incurved ones, the lft-blades usually pilose (sometimes glabrous) beneath and glabrous, papillate, minutely hirtellous, rarely thinly pilose above, cili(ol)ate; stip- ule-blades 7-18 x (1-) 1.3-4 mm, those of brachyblasts sometimes shorter; lf-formula (ii-)iii-vii(-ix)/ (16-) 18-33, the longer lfts 7—18(—21) x (1.8-)2-6 (-7) mm, 2.2-4.3 times as long as wide; peduncles often almost 0, but that of the first capitulum often developed and to 1.5(-2.5) cm; calyx of peripheral fls 5-7.5 mm; corolla 9.5—14(—15) mm; androecium (46-)60-92-merous, the tassel blood-red.

In campo cerrado and campo rupestre, 530-1250 m, widespread and locally plentiful on the Brazilian Planalto from far s. Piauí (Paranagoá) s. through w. Bahia and upland Minas Gerais to ±19°30'S, thence w. abundantly into centr. and s. Goiás and Distrito Federal. — Map 17. — Fl. all months of the year, but most prolifically XII-IV. — Flor do cão; quebra-foice.

The var. dysantha is variable in width of leaflets: the narrow and broad extremes appear very different, and are to some degree correlated with dispersal. In Goiás and Distrito Federal the larger leaflets are almost consistently (3.5-)4-6.5(-7) mm wide, in Bahia and Minas Gerais they are mostly commonly 2-3.5 mm wide. However, the apparent gap between the extremes is bridged in Minas Gerais by leaflets 2.5-6 mm wide (in mun. Gouveia) and 2—4 mm wide (Sa. do Cipó), and on Chapada dos Veadeiros in Goiás by leaflets 3-5 mm wide. Frutescent forms, in which the new stem regenerates from apex of the past year’s growth rather than from the rootstock, are found most frequently in trans-Franciscan Bahia and may be genetically determined, but their flowering branches are not distinguishable from the whole annual growth of the more common forms. In the same general region, the flowers tend to be a trifle smaller than on the Goiás highlands, but not discontinuously so.