Monographs Details:
Authority:
Elias, Thomas S. 1976. A monograph of the genus Hamelia (Rubiaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 26: 81-144.
Elias, Thomas S. 1976. A monograph of the genus Hamelia (Rubiaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 26: 81-144.
Family:
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
Description:
Species Description - Shrubs or small trees to 7 m tall; bark light brown; branches terete, glabrous, ±:swollen at the nodes, lenticels numerous, small, dzconspicuous. Leaves opposite; petioles terete, glabrous, raphides conspicuous, 0.6-4.2 cm long; lamina elliptic, narrowly obovate, oblong-elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, acuminate to long acuminate at apex, attenuate to short-attenuate at base, 6.5-22.2 cm long, 2.3-6.5 cm broad, membranous, glabrous above, glabrous beneath except for tufts of straight, soft, long trichomes in the axils of the lateral veins, raphides often conspicuous, lateral veins 8-10 pairs, arcuate 40° to 50°, anastomosing, often conspicuously so beneath; stipules 1-1.5 mm broad at base, glabrous, deciduous. Inflorescences terminal, dichasial, 16-48-flowered; peduncles terete, 0.7-2 cm long, glabrous; floral axes 0.6-5.5 cm long, spreading and often recurving at the tips; each axis 3-9-flowered; bracts narrowly triangular, 0.2-0.3 mm long, glabrous, caducous. Flowers secund, 1.7-2.3 cm long, with the pedicels 0.2-1.3 cm long; floral tube narrowly campanulate, 2-3 mm long, glabrous, raphides present or absent, calyx lobes ovate, 0.5-1.5 mm long ca. 1 mm broad at base, acute at apex, glabrous; corolla tubular, slightly constricted near the base, yellowish-orange to bright yellow at anthesis, 1.5-2 cm long, tube 2.5-3.5 mm broad, glabrous, lobes ovate, 2.5-3.5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm broad at base, apiculate at apex, glabrous, erect; stamens slightly included to equalling the corolla lobes, filaments 2-5 mm long, anthers 9-11 mm long, the connective forming an ovate apical appendage 0.6 mm long; gynoecium equal or slightly included, 1.1-1.7 cm long, stigma indistinguishable from style, ovary 5-locular. Berries ellipsoid, becoming globose at maturity, 7-9 mm long, 4.5-7 mm broad, glabrous, 5-costate, green, becoming red and ultimately black (?) at maturity, ovarian disc forming a protruding truncate cone 1 mm tall; seeds suborbicular, lustrous, finely foveolate, 0.5-0.7 mm long.
Species Description - Shrubs or small trees to 7 m tall; bark light brown; branches terete, glabrous, ±:swollen at the nodes, lenticels numerous, small, dzconspicuous. Leaves opposite; petioles terete, glabrous, raphides conspicuous, 0.6-4.2 cm long; lamina elliptic, narrowly obovate, oblong-elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, acuminate to long acuminate at apex, attenuate to short-attenuate at base, 6.5-22.2 cm long, 2.3-6.5 cm broad, membranous, glabrous above, glabrous beneath except for tufts of straight, soft, long trichomes in the axils of the lateral veins, raphides often conspicuous, lateral veins 8-10 pairs, arcuate 40° to 50°, anastomosing, often conspicuously so beneath; stipules 1-1.5 mm broad at base, glabrous, deciduous. Inflorescences terminal, dichasial, 16-48-flowered; peduncles terete, 0.7-2 cm long, glabrous; floral axes 0.6-5.5 cm long, spreading and often recurving at the tips; each axis 3-9-flowered; bracts narrowly triangular, 0.2-0.3 mm long, glabrous, caducous. Flowers secund, 1.7-2.3 cm long, with the pedicels 0.2-1.3 cm long; floral tube narrowly campanulate, 2-3 mm long, glabrous, raphides present or absent, calyx lobes ovate, 0.5-1.5 mm long ca. 1 mm broad at base, acute at apex, glabrous; corolla tubular, slightly constricted near the base, yellowish-orange to bright yellow at anthesis, 1.5-2 cm long, tube 2.5-3.5 mm broad, glabrous, lobes ovate, 2.5-3.5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm broad at base, apiculate at apex, glabrous, erect; stamens slightly included to equalling the corolla lobes, filaments 2-5 mm long, anthers 9-11 mm long, the connective forming an ovate apical appendage 0.6 mm long; gynoecium equal or slightly included, 1.1-1.7 cm long, stigma indistinguishable from style, ovary 5-locular. Berries ellipsoid, becoming globose at maturity, 7-9 mm long, 4.5-7 mm broad, glabrous, 5-costate, green, becoming red and ultimately black (?) at maturity, ovarian disc forming a protruding truncate cone 1 mm tall; seeds suborbicular, lustrous, finely foveolate, 0.5-0.7 mm long.
Discussion:
Type. Guatemala. Escuintla. Finca Monterrey, S slope of Volcan de Fuego, 1140-1260 m , wet forest, 5 Feb. 1939, Standley 64569 (holotype F!; isotypes A! N Y! US!). Distinguished by the yellow, tubular, short-pedicellate flowers and the tufts of trichomes in the axils of the lateral veins on the lower surface of the leaves, H. barbata appears to be closely related to and perhaps derived from H. longipes. The two species are geographically isolated, H. longipes occurring on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala and Honduras and H. barbata on the Pacific slopes of mountains in southern Mexico and western Guatemala. Although the two species are still very similar morphologically, their different ecological requirements (altitude and rainfall) would probably keep them reproductively isolated. Thus the ecological as well as geographical barriers have apparently been present long enough to allow speciation to occur.
Type. Guatemala. Escuintla. Finca Monterrey, S slope of Volcan de Fuego, 1140-1260 m , wet forest, 5 Feb. 1939, Standley 64569 (holotype F!; isotypes A! N Y! US!). Distinguished by the yellow, tubular, short-pedicellate flowers and the tufts of trichomes in the axils of the lateral veins on the lower surface of the leaves, H. barbata appears to be closely related to and perhaps derived from H. longipes. The two species are geographically isolated, H. longipes occurring on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala and Honduras and H. barbata on the Pacific slopes of mountains in southern Mexico and western Guatemala. Although the two species are still very similar morphologically, their different ecological requirements (altitude and rainfall) would probably keep them reproductively isolated. Thus the ecological as well as geographical barriers have apparently been present long enough to allow speciation to occur.
Distribution:
Guatemala Central America| Mexico North America|
Guatemala Central America| Mexico North America|