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Family:

Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Fieldiana, Bot. 28(3): 450. 1953

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Description: Shrub 0.3-1.0 m tall; bark fissured, glabrous, gray, with persistent and projecting leaf bases; twigs bluntly angled, maroon, hispid or sometimes glandular-hispid. Leaves coriaceous, slightly revolute or slightly longitudinally-curled, narrowly ovate to ovate, 0.8-2.3 x 0.25-0.7 cm, base cuneate, apex acute, bluntly mucronate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous; petiole slightly flattened in cross-section, 0.7-2.2(-3) mm long, glabrous. Inflorescence terminal, racemose, 2-14-flowered; rachis 0.9-2.1 cm long, 0.5-0.7 mm diam., reddish-purple, hispid (glandular-hispid); pedicels ascending or divergent, 6.5-14 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm diam., hispid (glandular-hispid); bracteoles inserted near the middle of the pedicel, linear to narrowly ovate, flat or often involute, 1.8-3 x 0.3-0.5 mm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous or slightly tomentose; floral bracts narrowly ovate to ovate, revolute, 4.2-15 x 0.5-3.8 mm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, mucronate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous. Flowers 7-merous; calyx 3-4.3 mm long; tube 0.7-2 mm long, 2.2-3.5 mm in diam., orange, brown, red or maroon, glabrous; lobes ovate to widely ovate, apex acute to acuminate, 2.5-3.3 x 2-3 mm, longest lobe 2.8-3.3 mm, margin ciliolate, abaxial surface glabrous; corolla globose-campanulate, pink or red, petals obovate to widely obovate, 11-12 x 5.1-8.2 mm, margin distally ciliolate, lamina glabrous; stamens included, alternately 5.4-6.8 and 7.1-9.2 mm long; filaments tomentose; anthers 1.5-1.9 mm long, 1-1.4 mm in diam., glabrous; ovary glabrous; style included, 9.5-10 mm long; stigma 7-lobed. Capsules depressed ellipsoid, 3.5-5 mm long, 6.3-11 mm diam., orange-brown, exocarp not separating from the valves; seeds 0.9-1.4 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm diam.

Distribution: Endemic to Páramo de Tamá on the Colombia/Venezuela border, and the Sierra de Cocuy, Colombia, where it occurs primarily on sandstone outcrops and grass páramos, at 2400-3560 m elev. Flowering specimens have been collected from October to June, fruiting specimens have been collected sporadically throughout the year.

Illustrations: Clemants (1995), figs. 9F and 10A-J.

Type: Venezuela. Táchira: Páramo de Tamá, 3045-3475 m, 15 Jul 1944 (fl, fr), Steyermark 57412 (holotype: F, photos F neg. 52522, NY neg. 9672; isotypes: A, fragment US, photo US neg. 3227).

Source: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/res/lut2/

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Bejaria tachirensis A.C.Sm.: [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.