Taxon Details: Gaultheria oreogena A.C.Sm.
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Family:
Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Scientific Name:
Gaultheria oreogena A.C.Sm.
Gaultheria oreogena A.C.Sm.
Primary Citation:
Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 29: 342. 1950
Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 29: 342. 1950
Accepted Name:
This name is currently accepted.
This name is currently accepted.
Description:
Description: Erect shrub 0.3-0.4 m tall; mature stems subterete, glabrous; bark cracking into rectangular strips, grayish- to reddish-brown; twigs subterete, ribbed, striate, puberulent and also strigose with eglandular, basally swollen, straight to crisped, appressed, thick setae ca. 2 mm long; buds ovate, complanate, scales glabrous but ciliolate. Leaves thick-coriaceous, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 1.3-2 x 0.6-1.2 cm, base rounded or obtuse, apex acute and obtusely callose-apiculate, margin coarsely and bluntly serrate with the margin itself usually much thickened, glabrous above and glabrous or with a few scattered setose hairs (as stems) beneath; venation conspicuous on both surfaces, midrib plane to slightly impressed above and raised beneath, lateral nerves 3(-4) per side and along with reticulate veinlets slightly raised and conspicuous on both surfaces; petiole thick, subterete, rugose, somewhat flattened and weakly puberulent above, 2-4 mm long, weakly setose. Inflorescence usually with flowers solitary in axils of normal upper leaves (also bearing on same plant few-flowered racemes with up to 4 flowers, then rachis short, densely puberulent and also setose with long coarse, eglandular hairs); pedicel subterete, striate, 10(-20) mm long, densely puberulent, also strigose or hirsute with eglandular, straight to crisped, appressed, thick setae; bracteoles up to 9 in number, usually 3-5 clustered at base of pedicel and ca. 2.5 x 2 mm long, and another 3-4 scattered distally and ca. 4-6 x 2.5 mm, membranous, striate, oblong to elliptic, acute, ± mucronate, glabrous, ciliate; floral bract indistinguishable from basal bracteoles. Flowers with calyx 5-9 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular to ovate, (5-)6.2-7 x 2.5-3.7 mm, long-acuminate, reaching well above middle of corolla, somewhat striate, ciliate and often puberulent at distal tips, weakly short-pilose within; corolla urceolate, much inflated at base, narrowly constricted at throat, apparently 5-angled or ribbed, 9-12 x 6-8 mm, red, glabrous without and only very sparsely short-pilose within, lobes oblong, obtuse; stamens 5-6.5 mm long; filaments 3.5-5.2 mm long, glabrous; anthers 1.5-2.4 mm long, awns conspicuous; ovary densely puberulent; style 4-7.2 mm long, glabrous. Fruiting calyx not seen.
Distribution: Endemic to Colombia and known with certainty from the Farallones de Cali region of Valle department, in páramo thickets, at elevations of 3550-3750 m. Flowering in Jan, Aug, and Oct. Rare and probably endangered.
Type: Colombia. Valle: Cordillera Occidental, Los Farallones, between La Torre and Alto del Buey, 3400-3550 m, 10 Aug 1946 (fl), Cuatrecasas 21898 (holotype, A, photos US neg. 3235 and NY neg. 11915; isotypes, COL, F, photo NY negs. 11944 & 11945, US, photo NY neg. 12070).
Description: Erect shrub 0.3-0.4 m tall; mature stems subterete, glabrous; bark cracking into rectangular strips, grayish- to reddish-brown; twigs subterete, ribbed, striate, puberulent and also strigose with eglandular, basally swollen, straight to crisped, appressed, thick setae ca. 2 mm long; buds ovate, complanate, scales glabrous but ciliolate. Leaves thick-coriaceous, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 1.3-2 x 0.6-1.2 cm, base rounded or obtuse, apex acute and obtusely callose-apiculate, margin coarsely and bluntly serrate with the margin itself usually much thickened, glabrous above and glabrous or with a few scattered setose hairs (as stems) beneath; venation conspicuous on both surfaces, midrib plane to slightly impressed above and raised beneath, lateral nerves 3(-4) per side and along with reticulate veinlets slightly raised and conspicuous on both surfaces; petiole thick, subterete, rugose, somewhat flattened and weakly puberulent above, 2-4 mm long, weakly setose. Inflorescence usually with flowers solitary in axils of normal upper leaves (also bearing on same plant few-flowered racemes with up to 4 flowers, then rachis short, densely puberulent and also setose with long coarse, eglandular hairs); pedicel subterete, striate, 10(-20) mm long, densely puberulent, also strigose or hirsute with eglandular, straight to crisped, appressed, thick setae; bracteoles up to 9 in number, usually 3-5 clustered at base of pedicel and ca. 2.5 x 2 mm long, and another 3-4 scattered distally and ca. 4-6 x 2.5 mm, membranous, striate, oblong to elliptic, acute, ± mucronate, glabrous, ciliate; floral bract indistinguishable from basal bracteoles. Flowers with calyx 5-9 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular to ovate, (5-)6.2-7 x 2.5-3.7 mm, long-acuminate, reaching well above middle of corolla, somewhat striate, ciliate and often puberulent at distal tips, weakly short-pilose within; corolla urceolate, much inflated at base, narrowly constricted at throat, apparently 5-angled or ribbed, 9-12 x 6-8 mm, red, glabrous without and only very sparsely short-pilose within, lobes oblong, obtuse; stamens 5-6.5 mm long; filaments 3.5-5.2 mm long, glabrous; anthers 1.5-2.4 mm long, awns conspicuous; ovary densely puberulent; style 4-7.2 mm long, glabrous. Fruiting calyx not seen.
Distribution: Endemic to Colombia and known with certainty from the Farallones de Cali region of Valle department, in páramo thickets, at elevations of 3550-3750 m. Flowering in Jan, Aug, and Oct. Rare and probably endangered.
Type: Colombia. Valle: Cordillera Occidental, Los Farallones, between La Torre and Alto del Buey, 3400-3550 m, 10 Aug 1946 (fl), Cuatrecasas 21898 (holotype, A, photos US neg. 3235 and NY neg. 11915; isotypes, COL, F, photo NY negs. 11944 & 11945, US, photo NY neg. 12070).
Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):
Gaultheria oreogena 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.
Gaultheria oreogena 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.