Monographs Details:
Authority:

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. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:

Ericaceae
Scientific Name:

Bejaria cubensis Griseb.
Description:

Species Description - Shrub to 2.5 m tall; bark fibrous, usually glandular-hispid, (also tomentose), reddish-orange to red or brown, glaucous; twigs bluntly angled, densely glandular-hispid and tomentose, rusty-red or brownish-red. Leaves coriaceous, longitudinally curled, linear, 3.5-6 × 0.2-0.5 cm, base narrowly cuneate, apex acuminate, rarely mucronate, margin glandular-ciliate, mid vein and base of the lamina tomentose and glandular-hispid, glabrate, both surfaces glabrous; petiole flattened in cross-section, 1.3-2 mm long, not always distinguishable from the decurrent lamina, glabrous or glandular-hispid. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, 7-15-flowered; rachis 3-10.8 cm long and 1.2-2.2 mm diam., glandular-hispid and tomentose; pedicel 12-30 mm long and 0.5-1 mm diam., densely tomentose and glandular-hispid; bracteoles inserted on the basal 1/2 of the pedicel, flat or usually slightly involute, linear or very narrowly ovate, 3.3-6.3 × 0.2-0.5 mm, base narrowly cuneate, apex narrowly acuminate, margin glandular-ciliate (also ciliolate), both surfaces tomentose; floral bracts usually longitudinally curled, linear, 15-50 x 0.5-3 mm, base narrowly cuneate, apex narrowly acuminate, margin glandular-hispid, the midveins and the base of lamina tomentose and glandular-hispid, glabrate, both surfaces glabrous. Flowers 1-merous; calyx 2.8-3.7 mm long, tube 1.3-2.3 mm long, 2.3-3.5 mm diam., glandular-hispid, dark purple to black, lobes ovate to widely ovate, apex acute or caudate, margin entire, dentate, ciliate or glandular-ciliate (ciliolate), 1.6-3.4 × 1.1-2.2 mm, the longest lobes 2.5-3.4 mm, abaxial surfaces glabrous (glandular-hispid); corolla campanulate, dark purple, petals narrowly obovate, 16-24 x 2.6-4.2 mm, margin entire or distally crenate, glabrous; stamens included, 19-26 mm long, filaments glabrous, anther 1.4-2.6 mm long, ca. 1.2 mm broad, glabrous; ovary glabrous, style exserted, 29-37 mm long, stigma 7-lobed. Capsule depressed obovoid, 4.5-5.0 mm long, 5.8-7.2 mm diam., dark brown to black, exocarp separating from the valves; seeds 0.8-1.0 mm long and 0.3-0.4 mm diam.

Discussion:

Bejaria cubensis is easily recognized by its long, linear, longitudinally curled leaves, campanulate corolla, and glabrous filaments. Longitudinally curled leaves are found in many other Bejaria species and are characteristic of B. ledifolia and B. nana, but such leaves are extremely rare among the species with campanulate corollas, being found in only a few populations of B. aestuans from northern Peru. Glabrous filaments are known only from B. cubensis and a single population of B. aestuans from Chiapas, Mexico.

Bejaria cubensis is closely related to B. aestuans, with which it shares the campanulate corolla, relatively small corolla, and, in at least one instance, glabrous filaments. Mansfeld and Sleumer (1935) and Camp (1941a) believed B. cubensis to be an isolated species, distantly related to B. ledifolia. The two species share longitudinally curled leaves, but the corolla shapes (campanulate in B. cubensis and tubular or fusiform in B. ledifolia), the shape of the flattened leaf (linear in B. cubensis and ovate in B. ledifolia), and the calyx sizes are all very different and do not suggest any relationship between these species. Bearing in mind a close relationship between B. cubensis and B. aestuans, a Central American origin for B. cubensis, as postulated by Fedtschenko and Basilevskaja (1928), makes some sense: B. aestuans is the only species in the area and the connection fits a western Cuba-Central America pattern seen in a number of other plant and animal groups (Rosen, 1975).

A photo showing the flower of B. cubensis was published in Leon and Alain (1957: 95), and another photo showing the habit was published in Marie-Victorin and León (1942: 204).
Distribution:

Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America|

Common Names:

napoleón del pinar, clavellina