Monographs Details – Ericaceae

Monographs Details:

Authority:

Pedraza-Peñalosa, Paola. 2010. (Ericaceae, Vaccinieae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 108: 1-126. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family:

Ericaceae

Scientific Name:

Disterigma noyesiae Luteyn

Description:

Species Description - Epiphytic or terrestrial shrubs, scandent or erect, 0.3–4 m tall. Young branchlets ridged, ± smooth, villous or villosulous, the hairs eglandular and brown, the indumentum of the mature branches similar but glabrate. Leaves 3–11 per cm, apparently distichous, diffuse or patent; petiole 0.5–1.6(–2) mm long, glabrous or glabrate, the hairs eglandular or glandular; lamina ovate or elliptic, 0.4–2(–2.4) × 0.3–1(–1.5) cm, basally cuneate or obtuse, marginally entire, apically ciliolate with eglandular hairs, apically acute or acuminate or sometimes subacute or blunt-acute, adaxially glabrous or glabrate with minute eglandular hairs, abaxially glabrate with glandular hairs, the venation obscure or 3-nerved on both sides, the midvein adaxially impressed and abaxially raised. Axillary solitary flowers and rarely 2-flowered fascicles; bracts 5–8, chartaceous, ovate, elliptic, or transverse-elliptic, 0.6– 3.2 × 0.6–2.7 mm, marginally eciliate or sometimes apically ciliolate with minute eglandular hairs, apically obtuse, abaxially glabrous; pedicel 1–4(–5) mm long, evident or at least with a portion of it not completely obscured by overlapping bracts, or sometimes reduced and hidden by overlapping bracts, glabrate or rarely glabrous, the hairs eglandular or glandular; differentiated apical bracteoles 2, distinct, chartaceous, enveloping entire calyx (92–100% of calyx) or extending beyond calyx (0.5–2 mm beyond the calyx), elliptic, suborbicular or transverse-elliptic, 2.4–6(–7) × 2.6–7.5 mm, marginally eciliate or apically ciliate with eglandular hairs, apically obtuse (and usually splitting when large), the surface smooth, abaxially and adaxially glabrous. Flowers 4-merous. Calyx aestivation valvate, campanulate to cylindric, (2–)2.3–5.2 mm long; tube weakly angled, 0.8–3.6 mm long, abaxially glabrous or glabrate with glandular hairs; limb 0.8–2.5 mm long, abaxially and adaxially glabrous; lobes triangular, 0.4– 2.2 × 0.5–2.2 mm, marginally eciliate, apically acute; sinuses acute (V-shaped) or rarely rounded (U-shaped). Corolla pink or white, thin-fleshy, bistratose, tubular or urceolate (inflated at the middle), 4–10(–11) mm long, (2.7–)4–4.4 mm diam., (1.6–)3–3.2 mm wide at throat, abaxially glabrate with glandular hairs, adaxially glabrous; lobes 0.6–1.6 × 0.8–2 mm, apically acute, adaxially rugose. Stamens 8, (3.6–)4–8(–9.1) mm long, included or sometimes the tips exserted; filaments distinct, straight, ± linear with parallel sides or broader at base, (2–)2.5–5.2 mm long, abaxially and adaxially pilulose or puberulous; anthers distinct, papillae only on thecae; thecae 1–2.4 mm long, basally appendaged; tubules 2, distinct, 1.1–2.8 mm long, dehiscing introrsely by longitudinal slits, (0.4–)0.6–1.5 mm long. Ovary 4-locular; style 4–9.9 mm long, exserted (the style often remains enclosed by the enveloping differentiated apical bracteoles after the corolla is shed; when the fruit is maturing it falls off and the bracteoles spread out). Berry white, ± spherical, 6–12 mm diam., the persistent calyx lobes erect or spreading, becoming succulent (at least at base), same color as mature berry; embryo white.

Distribution and Ecology - Disterigma noyesiae is frequent in the Ecuadorian Andes, less frequent in central and southern Colombia, and with only a few scattered collections in northern Colombia (Fig. 32). This species has a great altitudinal range, growing in premontane and montane cloud forests at 1000–3500 m. Flowering year-round except in Jan and Mar; fruiting year-round except in Jan.

Local Names and Uses - This species is known as "queremillo" in Colombia around El Queremal (Valle del Cauca); there it is harvested and mixed with other members of the Ericaceae to prepare cleansing and aromatic extractions.

Discussion:

When Disterigma noyesiae was described by Luteyn (1996), based on a collection from El Chical, at the border area between Ecuador and Colombia, the species was circumscribed by plants with leaves ovatesubrotund and small (4–5.5 mm long), with equally small flowers (calyx ca. 1.5 mm long, corolla 3.7–4.3 mm long), and with the differentiated apical bracteoles enclosing the calyx and the lower half of the corolla. However, fieldwork along the Andes and the study of all available herbarium collections have revealed that plants with differentiated apical bracteoles extending beyond the calyx (sometimes combined with flowers with differentiated apical bracteoles just covering the entire calyx) and with equally smaller or gradually larger flowers are much more widespread in Carchi and Ecuador in general. The size and shape of the leaves vary within the same geographic general area (e.g., Tulcán–Maldonado rd) and they vary independently of the flower size variation; consequently, leaf size and shape are not regarded as good specific characters. As one moves north from the border between Ecuador and Colombia, the size variation in the corolla and leaves gradually increases. For these reasons, the circumscription of D. noyesiae is here expanded to embrace a wider morphological variation and geographic distribution, including specimens identified as possible hybrids between D. alaternoides and D. cryptocalyx, and, D. acuminatum and D. cryptocalyx for Ecuador by Luteyn (1996). So far the molecular phylogenetic analyses have not shown evidence of hybridization, and the putative parental species of these putative hybrids were not found occurring near the areas where D. noyesiae was collected. However, possible hybrid populations of D. alaternoides × D. noyesiae have been identified in Colombia (see D. alaternoides). The morphological variation of Disterigma noyesiae is difficult to interpret, especially when one looks at the extremes of the gradient. Nevertheless, this species (Fig. 28C,D) can be characterized by its differentiated apical bracteoles with smooth surfaces covering the entire calyx and often extending beyond it to 2 mm; its calyx cylindric-campanulate and angulate at the tube; its corollas adaxially glabrous; its stamens with filaments pilulose on both sides; and its papillae only developed on the thecae. The differences between D. noyesiae and other species have already been discussed under D. cryptocalyx and in Table IX. The largeleaved specimens of D. noyesiae can be separated from D. humboldtii because of the leaf apex (mostly acute to acuminate vs. subacute, blunt-acute, or obtuse, respectively), the calyx coverage of the differentiated apical bracteoles (100% to 2 mm beyond the calyx vs. [40–]50–90%), and the conspicuousness of the pedicel (at least partially evident vs. reduced and hidden by the bracts).

Common Names:

queremillo

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