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Family:

Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 29: 143, fig. 73A-H. 1978

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Holotype -- J. A. Steyermark

Description:

Description: Rhizomatous, decumbent, spreading to erect subshrub, 0.1-0.3(-0.5) m tall; mature stems subterete to terete, glabrous; bark ± smooth but coarsely cracking reticulately; twigs subterete, striate, glabrous. Leaves opposite to subopposite, imbricate, bases often equitant, appressed and usually restricted to tips of twigs, linear-oblong, 6-11 x 1-1.3 mm, base tapering imperceptibly into petiole, apex acute, mucronate into a long, translucent seta to ca. 0.8 mm long, actual margins usually not converging or overlapping but forming two parallel lines along the length of the leaf beneath (converging and then contiguous close to apex), apparent margins pectinate with sharp, translucent, eglandular (minutely glandular) setae to ca. 0.5 mm long with basal ones sometimes thinner and more ciliate, then branched, otherwise lamina glabrous; petiole barely distinguishable from lamina, but ca. 1-1.5 mm long, ciliate. Inflorescence axillary, flowers solitary; floral bract leaf-like in all aspects; pedicels subterete, ribbed to striate, (12-)15-30 mm long, glabrous to weakly puberulent, also moderately to densely glandular-hispid (eglandular) with hairs to 1.8 mm long; bracteoles leaf-like but 2.5-6.0 mm long. Flowers 6-merous; calyx 5.5-8 mm long, lobes wide-spreading, linear-ovate, 5-7.5 mm long, acuminate, glandular-hispid dorsally and at margin and apex (eglandular); petals wide-spreading (corolla rotate), oblong-elliptic to obovate, 8-12 x 4-7 mm, rounded to obtuse, scarlet (or rose-salmon) when fresh, glabrous; stamens 6-8(-10) mm long; filaments 5.2-7(-9) mm long; anthers 1.8-2.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; style 2.3-3 mm long, glabrous. Capsule ovoid-globose, 5-6 mm diam.

Distribution: Endemic to Venezuela, and known only from the Chimantá Massif, where it is found in waterlogged, sandy, open savannas, low shrubbery, or rocky, open savannas, at elevations of 1920 t0 2600 m. Flowering and fruiting collections have been made in Jan, Feb, Mar, and Jun (also the only months this species has been collected). The species sometimes forms dense colonies, and apparently hybridizes with L. luteus.

Type: Venezuela. Bolívar: Chimantá Massif, Central Section, headwaters of the Río Tirica, 2200 m, 11 Feb 1955 (fl, fr), Steyermark & Wurdack 737 (holotype, NY; isotypes, AAU, F, photo F neg. 59489, GH, K, US, VEN).

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Ledothamnus decumbens Maguire, Steyerm. & Luteyn: [Article] Luteyn, James L., et al. 1995. Ericaceae, Part II. The Superior-Ovaried Genera (Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Rhododendroideae, and Vaccinioideae P.P.). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 66: 560.
Ledothamnus decumbens Maguire, Steyerm. & Luteyn: [Article] Maguire, Bassett. 1978. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part X. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 29: 1-288.