Monographs Details:
Authority:
1952. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 8: 58.
1952. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 8: 58.
Family:
Ericaceae
Ericaceae
Description:
Species Description - Epiphytic shrub, pendent from a lignotuber to 15 cm diam.; stem subterete, striate, brownish, puberulent or setulose-pilose, glabrate; twigs subterete, bluntly angled, striate, densely setulose-pilose. Leaves coriaceous, ovate, 7-10.5 x 4-6 cm, base rounded, deeply cordate and probably subamplexicaul, apex abruptly short-acuminate with a sharp acumen 1-1.5 cm long, margin entire, slightly thickened, glabrous on both surfaces or sparsely setulose on the midrib beneath; pinnately nerved with ca. 3 lateral nerves per side, the inner pair spreading, the distal ones concurrent with the midrib for 1-2 cm and then ascending, midrib nearly plane above, prominent beneath, lateral nerves slightly raised above and raised beneath, reticulate veinlets slightly raised and prominent on both surfaces or nearly plane; petiole terete, stout, inconspicuous, rugulose, 1-3 mm long, setulose-pilose. Inflorescences axillary (rachis sometimes, but presumably rarely, branched), apparently 5-10-flowered, the rachis, pedicel, calyx and corolla densely short, white pilose and also densely glandular-fimbriate with pale gland-tipped hairs ca. 1 mm long; rachis subterete, sometimes bluntly angled, striate, faintly flexuose, up to 5 cm long; floral bract membranous, lanceolate to deltate-ovate, 5-12 x ca. 3 mm, pubescent as rachis but more sparsely so; pedicel terete, striate, 10-18 mm long; bracteoles located just below the articulation or subapical, membranous, broadly ovate, acuminate, up to 17 mm long and 10 mm broad, conspicuously veined, pilose like the bracts, rose-red. Flowers with calyx conspicuously articulate with the pedicel, 29-30 mm long; hypanthium cylindric to cupuliform, 4-5 mm long and in diam.; limb suberect, membranous, conspicuously reticulate-nerved, 24-25 mm long, pilose on both sides like the bracteoles, deeply 5-lobed; lobes elliptic-lanceolate, acuinate, 18-20 x 5-8 mm, rose-red; corolla cylindric, narrowed distally, ca. 45 mm long and 8 mm in diam. near base, pale rose with pale green lines, the lobes lanceolate, ca. 10 mm long, pale green within, glabrous within; stamen 10, about as long as the corolla, ca. 43-44 mm long; filaments connate in a tube except near apex, ca. 8 mm long, glabrous; anthers 37-41 mm long; thecae conspicuously granular, 10-13 mm long, the base conspicuously mucronulate and incurved; tubules nearly three times as long as the thecae, 27-28 mm long, dehiscing by flaring, subapical, oval pores ca. 1 mm long; nectariferous disc glabrous, carnose, cupuliform; style about as long as corolla. Berry not seen.
Distribution and Ecology - Endemic to Ecuador, and known only from the type collection from forest at 2285 m altitude.
Species Description - Epiphytic shrub, pendent from a lignotuber to 15 cm diam.; stem subterete, striate, brownish, puberulent or setulose-pilose, glabrate; twigs subterete, bluntly angled, striate, densely setulose-pilose. Leaves coriaceous, ovate, 7-10.5 x 4-6 cm, base rounded, deeply cordate and probably subamplexicaul, apex abruptly short-acuminate with a sharp acumen 1-1.5 cm long, margin entire, slightly thickened, glabrous on both surfaces or sparsely setulose on the midrib beneath; pinnately nerved with ca. 3 lateral nerves per side, the inner pair spreading, the distal ones concurrent with the midrib for 1-2 cm and then ascending, midrib nearly plane above, prominent beneath, lateral nerves slightly raised above and raised beneath, reticulate veinlets slightly raised and prominent on both surfaces or nearly plane; petiole terete, stout, inconspicuous, rugulose, 1-3 mm long, setulose-pilose. Inflorescences axillary (rachis sometimes, but presumably rarely, branched), apparently 5-10-flowered, the rachis, pedicel, calyx and corolla densely short, white pilose and also densely glandular-fimbriate with pale gland-tipped hairs ca. 1 mm long; rachis subterete, sometimes bluntly angled, striate, faintly flexuose, up to 5 cm long; floral bract membranous, lanceolate to deltate-ovate, 5-12 x ca. 3 mm, pubescent as rachis but more sparsely so; pedicel terete, striate, 10-18 mm long; bracteoles located just below the articulation or subapical, membranous, broadly ovate, acuminate, up to 17 mm long and 10 mm broad, conspicuously veined, pilose like the bracts, rose-red. Flowers with calyx conspicuously articulate with the pedicel, 29-30 mm long; hypanthium cylindric to cupuliform, 4-5 mm long and in diam.; limb suberect, membranous, conspicuously reticulate-nerved, 24-25 mm long, pilose on both sides like the bracteoles, deeply 5-lobed; lobes elliptic-lanceolate, acuinate, 18-20 x 5-8 mm, rose-red; corolla cylindric, narrowed distally, ca. 45 mm long and 8 mm in diam. near base, pale rose with pale green lines, the lobes lanceolate, ca. 10 mm long, pale green within, glabrous within; stamen 10, about as long as the corolla, ca. 43-44 mm long; filaments connate in a tube except near apex, ca. 8 mm long, glabrous; anthers 37-41 mm long; thecae conspicuously granular, 10-13 mm long, the base conspicuously mucronulate and incurved; tubules nearly three times as long as the thecae, 27-28 mm long, dehiscing by flaring, subapical, oval pores ca. 1 mm long; nectariferous disc glabrous, carnose, cupuliform; style about as long as corolla. Berry not seen.
Distribution and Ecology - Endemic to Ecuador, and known only from the type collection from forest at 2285 m altitude.