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Family:

Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 283. 1935

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Common Names:

cachuito, chibunda, cuso pata, mullaca negra, pampa macho macha, pasa, pata de gallo, rapadara quemada, rapadera quemada, Ruun'ccoto, chigunda, borrachera, mullaca

Description:

Description: Prostrate, decumbent and spreading, rhizomatous subshrub to erect shrub 0.3-1(-1.5) m tall; mature stems and twigs terete, striate, short-pilose with white hairs and often extremely densely hirsute to appressed subsetose with golden to ferruginous, eglandular hairs 2-4 mm long; bark reddish-brown; buds terete, ovate, scales ovate, obtuse, striate, ciliolate, reddish-brown. Leaves coriaceous, ovate, narrowly to broadly ovate, elliptic-ovate to oblong, rarely suborbicular, (1-)2-5.5(-6.5) x (-0.8)1.5-3(-4.3) cm, base rounded to less frequently subcordate, apex acute to short-acuminate or rounded, bluntly apiculate, margin inconspicuously crenate with each tooth terminating in a deciduous, basally swollen hair to 2 mm long, young leaves usually densely strigose to hirsute with golden to ferruginous, basally swollen, eglandular hairs which obscure surfaces, but when mature the upper surface is appressed subsetose and glabrate, and also sometimes short-pilose at base and along midvein with white hairs, lower surface densely and usually persistently hirsute to subsetose (glabrate); midrib usually impressed and conspicuous above and raised beneath, lateral nerves (3-4 per side) plane to impressed above but usually obscure, raised beneath, reticulate veinlets slightly impressed but usually obscure above, raised beneath; petiole subterete to canaliculate above, 2.5-4(-5.5) mm long, puberulent and strigose to hirsute. Inflorescence axillary, racemose, congested at anthesis, the 7-15 flowers usually overlapping broadly, often partially hidden beneath leaves, usually about as long as or slightly shorter (or longer) than the leaves; rachis subterete, bluntly angled, (1.2-)2-3(-3.5) cm long at anthesis, somewhat elongating after anthesis, densely short-pilose with white hairs and also often weakly to very densely hirsute (so as to obscure surface) with straight to distally crisped, golden to ferruginous, eglandular to minutely gland-tipped hairs to ca. 2 mm long, at base circumscribed by a series of ovate, obtuse, striate, ciliolate bracts 1-6 mm long; pedicels subterete, (3.5-)4-8 mm long at anthesis, pubescent as rachis or sometimes only pilose; bracteoles nearly basal, chartaceous, narrowly ovate to linear-ovate, (2.5-)3-4 x 0.8-1(-1.2) mm, acuminate, ciliolate and rarely marginally weakly subsetose; floral bract subcoriaceous, concave to cochleariform, striate, ovate to obovate, 5-8(-10) x 3-4 mm, acute to obtuse, ciliolate (weakly subsetose or pilose dorsally), often subclasping the fruits. Flowers with calyx 3.5-4.5(-5) mm long, glabrous, lobes ovate-triangular, (2-)2.7-3(-3.4) x (1.7-)2-2.2 mm, acute to acuminate, ciliolate; corolla urceolate, subterete, bluntly 5-angled, (4-)4.2-6(-7) x 3-4(-5) mm, glabrous, short-pilose at base with white hairs, or distally golden- to rufous-strigose only along angles opposite lobes (both weakly pilose at base and strigose at apex), never densely strigose all over, white, pink, or rose-red when fresh, lobes triangular, ca. 1 mm long, obtuse; stamens 3-4 mm long; filaments 2.6-3.3 mm long, glabrous; anthers 1-1.2 mm long, awns conspicuous; dehiscence by relatively long slits; ovary globose, basically glabrous or sometimes very weakly short-pilose distally; style 3-4 mm long, glabrous. Fruiting calyx 6-9 mm diam., blue-black. Chromosome number: 2n=22 (Callan, 1941; Middleton & Wilcock, 1990b); n=11, 2n=22 (Luteyn et al. 8006, 8790, and 11109).

Distribution: Widespread from western Venezuela south through the Andes to northern Bolivia. Found in various habitats including rocky hillsides, road embankments, cliffs and joints in rocks, wet ditches, rocky outcrops, páramo, and puna grasslands at elevations of (2300-)2600-3800(-4150) m. Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year.

Type: Ecuador. Tungurahua: "Alto del Volcán de Tungurahua," Née s.n. (holotype, MA, photo F neg. 29339). Several sheets, also ex herbarium Née, may be seen at MA, one of which has been annotated as an isotype, but the exact provenance of this specimen is uncertain. The sheet at MA shown in photo MA neg. 1034 has subsequently been split up and remounted.

Common names: Colombia: pata de gallo (Nariño). Venezuela: cachuito (Mérida); borrachera (Trujillo). Ecuador: rapadara que mada (Cañar); pasa (Pichincha). Peru: Ruun'ccoto (Apurimac); pampa macho macha (Quechua) (Cuzco); mullaca negra (La Libertad); mullaca (San Martín).

Uses: The fruits are said to be edible (Boeke 5042, Dillon 2787) and "very sweet" (Holm-Nielsen et al. 28999). Fruits are eaten by birds and also used as a "remedy for rage...fruit made into juice in a small glass and taken before eating in the morning" (Franquemont 220).

Cultivated: E, K.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Gaultheria glomerata (Cav.) Sleumer: [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.