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Family:

Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 29: 146, fig. 73J-P. 1978

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Type Specimens:

Specimen 1: Holotype -- J. A. Steyermark

Description:

Description: Virgate, wiry shrub, 0.1-1.5 m tall; mature stem terete to subterete, smooth to striate, lustrous, glabrous; twigs subterete to bluntly angled, glabrous or very weakly puberulent, glabrate. Leaves in whorls of 3 or rarely leaves subopposite, strongly imbricate, usually ascending and concealing stem, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 1.2-5(-6) x 0.6-1.0 mm, base rounded to broadly cuneate, short-decurrent, apex bluntly acute to obtuse, or rounded, often keeled, often provided with a tiny, subglobular terminal gland, apparent margins glabrous or minutely ciliate at very base of lamina, also bearing tiny, translucent to reddish or brownish, subglobular glands ca. 0.1 mm diam. along entire length, these may fuse at apex, or rarely these glands absent or replaced by short, translucent setae (Steyermark & Wurdack 771), otherwise lamina glabrous or puberulent in the middle to all over at base; petiole 0.3-0.6 mm long, glabrous or puberulent above. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, flowers up to 5, often clustered at tips of new growth; pedicels subterete, striate, ribbed, 1.3-6.5 mm long, glabrous to short-white-pilose, and also with or without glandular-hispid hairs to 0.4 mm long; floral bract ca. 3 mm long; bracteoles linear, 3-4 mm long. Flowers 5-7(-9)-merous; calyx campanulate, 3.5-5 mm long, lobes spreading, linear-ovate, ca. 3.2-4.5 mm long, bluntly acute (short-mucronate), essentially glabrous but margins usually ciliate near base (with tiny, acicular hairs), also bearing sessile to short-stipitate, subglobular glands similar to leaves which sometimes fuse at the apex; petals wide-spreading (corolla rotate), oblong to elliptic-oblong, rounded, 6-9 x 2.5-4 mm, yellow to yellowish-green or orange tinted when fresh, glabrous; stamens 4-6 mm long; filaments 3-5 mm long; anthers ca. 1-2 mm long; ovary glabrous; style 1.5-3 mm long, glabrous. Capsule ovoid to globose, ca. 3-4 mm long.

Distribution: Endemic to the Venezuelan Guayana and known only from the various tepuis which compose the Chimantá Massif. The plants are found in wet savannas, swampy depressions, along stream banks, rocky savannas, exposed rocks, and sandstone formations, at elevations from 1850 to 2600 m. Flowering and fruiting material has been collected from Jan to Mar and Jun. This species apparently hybridizes with L. decumbens and possibly with L. atroadenus.

Type: Venezuela. Bolívar: Chimantá Massif, Torono-tepui, along Caño Mojado, 1895-1910 m, 20 Feb 1955 (fl, fr), Steyermark & Wurdack 953 (holotype, NY; isotypes, CAS, F, photo F neg. 59491, K, US, VEN, W).

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Ledothamnus luteus 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 luteus Maguire, Steyerm. & Luteyn: [Article] Maguire, Bassett. 1978. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part X. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 29: 1-288.