Psammisia oreogenes Sleumer
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Authority
1941. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 71: 403.
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Family
Ericaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type: Ecuador. Pichincha: Tandacoto, 2500 m, 4 May 1920 (fl), Heilborn 488 (holotype, S, photo NY neg. 9680 and 9681).
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Description
Species Description - Terrestrial or epiphytic shrub, braches scandent or lianoid to 1 m long; stem terete, striate, glabrous; twigs subterete, complanate, minutely striate, glabrous. Leaves chartaceous, elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, 9-26 x 4.5-14 cm, base cuneate to broadly obtuse, often narrowly revolute, apex long-acuminate to subabruptly short-acuminate, the apex itself 1.5-3.5 cm long, acute, margin entire but thinner than lamina proper, glabrous but glandular-fimbriate beneath, lamina also moderately papillose due probably to immersed hydathodes; pinnately nerved with 6-7 lateral nerves per side, midrib and lateral nerves impressed above and raised beneath, reticulate veinlets slilghtly immersed, plane, or slightly raised but usually inconspicuous above; petiole thick, 2.3-7 mm long. Inflorescence racemose, 1-4-flowered; rachis terete, ca. 7-8 mm long, glabrous; floral bract broadly ovate, acuminate, ca. 1.5-2.5 mm long; pedicel subterete, rigid, 15-22 mm long and 2 mm diam., glabrous, with scattered glandular fimbriae along length and a dense ring of glandular fimbriae at articulation with calyx, deep coral-red; bracteoles basal or located just below middle of pedicel, similar to floral bract. Flowers with calyx ca. 7-9 mm long, glabrous or puberulent, also with scattered glandular fimbriae; hypanthium subcylindric, bluntly 5-winged or deeply grooved, clearly distinct from the limb, narrowed towards the base, ca. 5-5.5 mm long, deep orangish- to coral-red; limb spreading, ca. 2.5-4 mm long, glabrous; lobes broadly ovate, apiculate, ca. 1.5-2 mm long; sinuses acute to broadly rounded or irregularly split and then acute; corolla carnose, tubular, slightly pentagonal, inflated near base, 16-21 mm long and 6-11 mm diam., glabrous but with scattered glandular fimbriae (sometimes more densely glandular-fimbriate in distal half), reddish-orange, the lobes spreading, reflexed, oblong-ovate, acute, ca. 2-3 mm long, yellowish-green; stamen 7-9 mm long; filaments ca. 1.8-2.5 mm long, short-pilose, the connectives alternately thickened or spurred; anthers ca. 7-8.5 mm long; thecae strongly to weakly granular, ca. 4-5 mm long, the base strongly incurved; tubules geniculate, distinct, 2.5-4 mm long, dehiscing by clefts ca. 1.5-1.8 mm long; style exserted or inserted, thin, to ca. 19 mm long, glabrous. Berry not seen.
Distribution and Ecology - Endemic to Ecuador; premontane and montane cloud forest, at 1800-2835 m altitude.
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Discussion
Conservation Status: Rare and endangered.
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Common Names
sacha-gualicón