Monographs Details

Monographs Details:

Authority:

Maas, Paulus J. M. & Ruyters, P. 1986. Voyria and Voyriella (saprophytic Gentianaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 41: 1-93. (Published by NYBG Press)

Family:

Gentianaceae

Scientific Name:

Voyria aphylla (Jacq.) Pers.

Synonyms:

Gentiana aphylla Jacq., Voyria uniflora Lam., Lita aphylla (Jacq.) F.Dietr., Ciminalis aphylla (Jacq.) Raf., Voyria pallida Garcke, Leiphaimos uniflora (Lam.) Miq., Leiphaimos pallida (Garcke) Walp., Voyria araguensis H.Karst., Leiphaimos aphylla (Jacq.) Gilg, Leiphaimos feildenii Urb., Leiphaimos costaricensis Standl., Leiphaimos eximia Sandwith, Leiphaimos lutea C.V.Morton

Description:

Species Description - Herbs, 15-30 cm high. Rhizome creeping. Stems simple, rarely branched near the base, pale orange or yellowish to white, internodes 1-2 cm long. Leaves yellowish to white, connate in their lower half, narrowly triangular to narrowly ovate, 4-8 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, apex acute. Flowers solitary, 5-merous. Bracts and bracteoles similar to the upper leaves but smaller. Pedicels 1-3 mm long, sometimes longer. Calyx campanulate to cylindric, 4-8 mm long, tube 3-6 mm long, lobes triangular to broadly triangular, 1-2 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, apex acute to acuminate, sinuses obtuse to acute, calyx scales present. Corolla salverform, yellow to orange, 25-65 mm long, tube cylindric, 20-50 mm long, dilated at the base by the maturing capsule, lobes narrowly ovate to narrowly obovate, 4-15 mm long, 1-5 mm wide, sometimes minutely hairy. Stamens inserted 3-5 mm below the throat, anthers subsessile, 0.3-0.8 mm long, dorsifixed, thecae tapering toward the base, apex rounded. Ovary fusiform, 5-8 x 1 mm, subsessile to stipitate, stipe 0.5-3 mm long in fruit. Style 10-30 mm long, stigma capitate-peltate, 5-lobed. Discoid glands absent. Capsule fusiform, 8-10 x 1.5-2.5 mm, medially septicidal. Seeds filiform to fusiform, with slender projections, 0.6-0.9 x 0.04-0.06 mm, paraphyses present.

Discussion:

Voyria aphylla is the most common species of the genus, occurring throughout the Neotropics. It is the only species often found in drier vegetations like savannas and savanna-forest and it prefers white sandy soils. It can hardly be confused with any other species, except for Voyria spruceana. The latter, however, differs by its appendaged stamens and by a shorter corolla.

Distribution and Ecology: Throughout the Neotropics: Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and tropical South America; in various forest types (rain forest, swamp forest, savanna forest, Amazonian caatinga forest), restingas, or savannas, often on white sand; growing in leaf mold or on decaying tree trunks, or on hummocks formed by ferns like Blechnum sp. and Schizaea sp.; from sea level to 1800 m. Flowering all year.